Treatment
The opening of ‘The Host’ begins with a dark and uneasy build in non diagetic music, along with some opening credits that are white, creepy text on a black background. The camera then cuts to a creepy forest to show an establishing shot. The camera pans and tracks around before cutting away to a room. The camera then moves around the room. The camera views a tv that is still turned on and also a lamp which is turned on. The camera then shows and birds eye view shot of a couple in bed together. The camera zooms into the woman in bed, who starts to become restless. The camera then cuts away back to a forest and the woman is walking through it. Still throughout sinister music is being played. The camera cuts back to the bedroom where the woman, who is called Angel is seemingly having a nightmare. The camera then moves around the room and paranormal activities seem to be occurring. The tv starts to switch channel and the lamp begins to clicker. The non diagetic music builds again. The camera once more cuts to the forest and Angel is seemingly in danger. She starts to run away. The camera keeps cutting back and too from the dream to the bedroom where Angel becomes more stressed. She then sees an image of her boyfriend dead, on the floor after an image of an angel figure was seen in the forest. Angel awakes and for a brief moment seems to be possessed. She then awakes normally, realising it was a dream, she then turns over and cuddles her boyfriend Matt. Unknown to her as she falls back to sleep, the camera slowly zooms into Matt’s face, he has blood around his mouth, the non diagetic sounds begin to increase in volume. A close up of Matt’s face is revealed. Matt has died an unexplainable death. The scene then cuts to the title ‘The Host’ in white bold text, across a dark background.
Many weeks later, after Matt’s funeral, Angel becomes increasing alarmed and scared by the gruesome image in her mind of Matt dead in a forest and the next morning he has suffered a death that is deemed unexplainable, even by post mortem. The images in her mind begin to scare her as she feels responsible for the death. However, ever since that day, she has been having horrible nightmares of people dying, and each morning someone has died, either someone she knows, or someone on the news, however, the deaths are remarkably like what she dreams about. However as the dreams become much clearer and more revealing, she starts to witness horrific deaths in the street. She seeks help from her friends and from doctors, however they become alert to her behaviour, believing that she is suffering from the trauma of her boyfriend’s death. They can’t see anything wrong with her, and begin to question her mental health and try to convince her there may be a problem. She then seeks help from a Priest, Reverend Jeremy Thomas. He believes that she is under the influence of an evil spirit and she is what’s known as a Host to the unknown, which are dark spirits. She thinks the Reverend is mocking her mental state.
Towards the end of the film, she has several violent images of members of her family being killed, including the Priest, however they are still alive. She begins to believe Reverend Thomas as paranormal activities increase in her home. However, when she begins to warn her family, they take matters into their own hands, believing she has some mental health issues. Images within her dreams become much more realistic, and Angel begins to believe that they are soon about to die. Unknown to Angel but known to the Priest the Host has almost sucked the life from Angel. The Priest rushes to find her, but she is locked away for her own good due to her families fears. The Priest then suffers a horrific death before he can warn her that all her dreams will become reality the next time she sleeps, which will cause a major catastrophe as the Host could cause an entire population to suffer an unexplainable fate. However, as the Host can cause paranormal activities, as she falls asleep, Matt appears and whispers something into her ear, she herself then enters her own dream. This has catastrophic consequences as she rushes to try and prevent the Host from gaining control of her body, but racing to regain control of her body before something horrific happens to her body in reality and the population around her.
