You often have to try to stay in the mood when you’re watching “Host.” Every new plot point feels like a pretext for programmatic jump scares.

But it’s not impossible, as you can see in other recent video-chat-centric “Screenlife” horror movies, most of which feel like the Web 2.0 descendants of “ The Blair Witch Project” (“ Unfriended” is still the best example of this already played-out trend).

To be fair, convincing jaded horror fans to look past a gimmicky premise like 'possessed online group chat' is a hard bar to clear. Savage and co-writers Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd do a fine enough job setting up their movie’s better set pieces, but it’s hard to overlook some obvious foreshadowing here, and some ham-fisted symbolism there. How many times can you look at the same dark corners, and expect to be terrified when various household objects either fly towards or away from the camera? How much dead air can you take before the movie goes from 'creepy' to 'clammy'? And how many irrelevant and/or unexplained supernatural props need to be introduced before you realize that you’re being setting up for some good smack-you-in-the-face jump scares? The movie’s haunted carnival ride vibe is inevitably tested by the movie’s high-concept premise. I mean, maybe you’ll chuckle when Haley and the gang take a drink every time Seylan says “astral plane.” But even if you do laugh, you’ll still be waiting with the rest of us for something to leap out of a perilously under-lit doorway, closet, or staircase. Naturally, it’s only a matter of minutes before Haley’s besties are giggling, though their snotty behavior is too mild to be memorable, let alone worthy of the grisly events that follow. Nobody but Seylan takes this ritual seriously, though Haley ( Haley Bishop), the group’s obligatory scold, does try to get her friends to appear respectful. Savage's project starts, continues, and ends simply: six friends log on to Zoom for a video chat seance, led by the flakey, but serious-minded Scottish spiritualist Seylan ( Seylan Baxter).

Host zoom horror movie