Participating in a game show can be a thrilling experience, especially when the money can be life-changing. However, as DW Medoff (I Will Never Leave You Alone) shows in his latest feature, which is based on Joey Miller’s script, a game show can also be life-altering in a totally different, much more horrific way. What if your life is the ultimate price, and what if the only way to survive is playing a much darker version of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ or ‘Spin the Wheel’? You get Your Host, a movie that, despite a shaky and familiar script, still delivers the scares and nastiness to make it enjoyable.
Ahead of the feature’s world premiere at FrightFest 2025, Geek Vibes Nation spoke to director Medoff and producer Sara Sometti Michaels (Walden).
Geek Vibes Nation: Congratulations on the film. What was it about the script that made you want to direct it, and how is directing a script from someone else different from directing a script you wrote yourself?
DW Medoff (director): The thing I loved about this script was that there’s a lot about the relationships, a lot about the characters working together, being together and fighting. I was really drawn to that, and there was also a lot of violence, which gave me some opportunities to have fun. Directing someone else’s script versus directing my own, it’s a different thing. There’s a greater burden to make someone else proud of it. I read the script and took it, knowing it was going to be mine, but still, there was a burden — a good burden —to want to make someone else feel like their art was represented.
GVN: How is it for you as a producer to see that the film that you produced has two sold-out screenings at FrightFest here and is gaining loads of positive attention?
Sara Sometti Michaels (producer): Well, it’s very exciting. I’m a producer and a horror fan, so to me it’s like a dream come true. The first screening sold out within minutes, and the second screening also sold out quickly, which was exciting. I’m also thrilled that more people get to watch it, and that they love it.
GVN: How was it to shoot this film, especially with all the fake blood? Because it looked great!
DWM: On set, it was probably like tons of blood and tons of acid. I love it. This is actually 100% Sara’s answer, but I will say I love watching people scream and scream. I love watching people being in agony and screaming. Sara is the captain of blood, definitely.
SSM: For me, blood is always a big thing because when I watch a movie, it has to be the right colour, the right consistency, the right everything. We had numerous lengthy meetings with our special effects team to discuss this, and we conducted extensive tests, involving all the creative individuals who needed to be involved to find the perfect shade of blood, as well as various textures and thicknesses. I have a lot of pictures where I’m covered in blood because I was like, hands-on.
GVN: Were you on set as well to check if everything came together the way you had tested it? Or were the tests done behind the scenes, and once you’ve found the right colour and the right texture, you could sit back and relax?
SSM: I was on set, too. We had extra prosthetics made to test them on the set, and also in case something went wrong with the first or second, we could redo it.
GVN: In this movie, there are loads of different games being played. Many of them are the horror versions of (children’s) games we’ve all played. What’s the game that stuck with you in particular?
DWM: While I can’t answer that because I love all the games, I will say that I loved spinning that wheel for fun. I was having a great time all the time. I was a kid in the candy store and I love it
SSM: For me, I’ll say the ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ version. Just because I played as a kid, I never thought it would be like that, so terrifying and cruel. So that game is the one that shocked me,
GVN: Will this movie be screened during any other festivals apart from FrightFest 2025?
SSM Yes, there are a few more festivals lined up before the release, scheduled for the end of the year.
Read our review of Your Host here.
Subtitle translator by day. Film journalist by night.
