The Host

Most student films by first-time showoffs are boring examples of style over substance, but this one written and directed by exploitation veteran Jack Hill is an exception with a fully realized script that plays like a crude western-themed episode of The Twilight Zone.

In his screen debut, longtime character actor (and latter day horror star) Sid Haig plays a jail house escapee who stumbles upon a crumbling ruin inhabited by a strange Indian woman with a gruesome story to tell and a very scared Spaniard who's about to become the tale's latest chapter. Needless to say, the audience sees the writing on the wall long before poor Sid does!

The Host is pretty interesting, though judged by today's standards it's not as experimental or unique as it once was. The cinematography, Jack Hill's direction, and Haig's performance are all pretty good.

According to the DVD on-screen introduction, this was quite possibly the uncredited inspiration for the last act of (Hill's classmate) Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now!

The Host (1960) *** (out of 4) Interesting and rather bizarre student film from director Jack Hill has an escaped fugitive (Sig Haig) riding up to a damaged house looking for water but instead finding an Indian woman (Sharon Bercutt). The two strike up a conversation but before long the fugitive is fighting for his life against a Spaniard (Joseph Hanwright) who is trying to shoot him.

THE HOST is a rather interesting film that Hill made while he was a student at UCLA. This 30 minute short remains interesting today for a couple reasons. For starters, it features Haig in his very first role, which fans of his are going to love to be able to see. It's also worth noting how much hair he has here. Another thing that makes this short so interesting is that the final portion of the movie seems to have inspired the final act in Francis Ford Coppola's APOCALYPSE NOW. It's worth noting that Coppola and Hill were classmates so it's very likely that Coppola saw this movie and it must have left an impact on him.

With that said, I was really surprised to see how good this movie actually was. Most student films keep it simple and dumb but that's certainly not the case here as it really does seem like Hill wanted to make a deeper meaning movie. The movie manages to hold you interest even as the two characters just talk. Haig's performance is actually pretty good considering it was his first role and he really sells himself in the part. The cinematography was also quite good and you can tell there was a lot of imagination going on behind-the-camera. It's also worth noting that Hill's editing is also very good.

THE HOST has a lot of things going for it so if you're a fan of the director then you should really check it out.