FrightFest to Host World Premiere of “Your Host” – A Twisted, Gruesome Game of Survival

Benacus Entertainment, in association with RNF Productions, shares its latest horror creation, Your Host, with a highly anticipated world premiere at this year’s FrightFest on August 22nd.

Directed by DW Medoff, Your Host boasts a stellar cast, including Academy Award-nominee Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, A Nightmare on Elm Street), Ella-Rae Smith (The Stranger), Jamie Flatters (Black Dog), David Angland, and Joelle Rae.

The film plunges viewers into a chilling nightmare as four friends, each 23 years old, embark on what should be a celebratory birthday retreat to a luxury cabin. Their festivities take a sinister turn when a VHS camcorder is discovered filming them from the shadows of the woods. What begins as an eerie intrusion quickly escalates—overnight, the group is drugged and abducted by a mysterious figure clad in black. They awaken not to the comfort of their cabin, but to the cold, industrial confines of an abandoned factory—now transformed into a grotesque gameshow set.

Their captor, a deranged host dressed in an orange-velvet suit and terrifying mask, forces the friends to participate in a series of sadistic games. The rules are simple: play, survive, and betray—or suffer the consequences. But the torment isn’t random; the host’s vendetta is deeply personal, and he offers the group a chilling ultimatum: confess the secret connection, and three will walk free while one pays the ultimate price. As the truth remains hidden, the games grow ever more brutal, driving the friends to turn on one another in a desperate bid for survival.

Director DW Medoff describes the project as an unflinching exploration of morality, consequence, and the human capacity for both good and evil. “When I first read Joey Miller’s script for Your Host, I was immediately drawn in. It wasn’t just the sharp dialogue or relentless pace—it gave me a raw, unapologetic framework to explore the good and bad that coexists in all of us, and the brutal fallout of selfish choices,” Medoff shares. “Every character is a victim and a wrongdoer. The line is blurred because no one can decide right from wrong for you. Violence in this film isn’t just for shock value. This movie traps us in a game show, and you are its audience watching the blood-soaked spectacle of pain. Ultimately, making this movie is an exploration of a question: what is right and what is wrong when no one has the moral high ground?” Medoff hopes audiences leave the screening both disturbed and reflective. “I hope audiences walk away grossed out, disturbed, and hopefully a little excited to apologize to someone they wronged!”

Producer Seth Michaels also expressed his excitement about the film’s selection, saying, “It’s a true honour to have our world premiere at FrightFest, a festival that has showcased some of the most iconic and trailblazing films over the decades. We hope the audience connects with Your Host in the same powerful way they’ve embraced past genre-defining works.”

With its world premiere set for August 22nd, Your Host promises to deliver a fresh, terrifying twist on the survival horror genre—one that will leave audiences questioning not just who survives, but what it means to be innocent or guilty when the stakes are life and death.