Housebound

With a few exemptions I'm not a huge fan of horror comedies as they are rarely scary nor really that funny. What I like about Housebound is that it is first and foremost a horror film, which also happens to be funny. The humor develops naturally out of the situations and the characters. The gags don't feel shoehorned in and it isn't a parody of the horror genre. And in a genre where characterisation often comes as an afterthought, the characters here feel well rounded and very real.

The performances are fantastic all round. Morgana O'Reilly as Kylie is one tough cookie of a scream queen. After participating in a failed ATM robbery she gets sentenced to eight months house arrest at her mother's rambling country house, which her mother suspects may be haunted. The fact that she is trapped in the house with her ineffectual stepdad and her blabbermouth of a mother, makes Kylie even more cranky than she already was and the fact that something spooky stalks the house at night isn't helping her mood either. In a great cast the stand out is Rima Te Wiata as Kylie's none too bright but well intentioned mother. There will be people complaining about unlikeable characters but who cares when they are as fun and as well drawn as they are here. Nobody strains to give a comedy performance, in best Antipodean tradition the humor is totally deadpan.

The set-up is similar to the forgettable Famke Janssen horror flick 100 Feet but this film does the premise of being under house arrest in a haunted house justice. If the film has one flaw then it's one typical of many a first film: Housebound runs on a little too long and would have made a perfect 90 minute film. It takes a while to get going. But that's a small complaint when the film gets so much right. The film really hits its stride in the last third, when all hell breaks lose and the plot twists and turns. Best horror film of 2014.

Delinquent serial-offender Kylie is sentenced to nine month's house arrest at her family home in a small town on New Zealand's Twin Coast Highway, forcing her to move back in after many years with her slightly loopy mother, who we learn has long been convinced that the house is haunted. Initially more than a little sceptical, Kylie soon begins to experience unexplained phenomena herself, and before long local security contractor/probation officer Amos (who is principally responsible for ensuring Kylie doesn't leave the premises) offers his services as an amateur paranormal investigator.

Part ghost story, part murder mystery, it would be counter- productive to know any more about the plot before viewing, as various revelations and red herrings keep the mystery quotient high. There are also underlying themes relating to family and loss that lend the film a welcome human dimension.

One slight negative is that the many twists and turns stretch out the runtime beyond the ideal for this sort of film, and there are times when it starts to drag. Also one particular character is presented in a manner that pushes the film firmly into farce territory; one of a couple of aspects that could have been executed slightly more believably, as absurd as that sounds in relation to a film of this type.

The performances are all top notch; Morgana O'Reilly has great fun with Kylie's mardy persona, Glen-Paul Waru is perfect as likable doofus Amos and Rima Te Wiata excels as Kylie's dotty but ultimately caring mother. Refreshingly, the main characters all develop convincingly over the course of the film, which is far from a given when it comes to horrors, comedies and indeed horror-comedies. You'd have to be pretty hard-hearted not to care about them by the end.

Horror-comedies are difficult to pull off, and it's rare that a film strikes a genuine balance without ending up as a full-on horror with a darkly comic edge, or an out-and-out comedy with horror themes, but Housebound gets very close to doing so. At time it leans more towards comedy and farce, and the tone is often light-hearted, but there are enough moments of tension – and violence – to ensure that there are plenty of thrills among the laughs.

'Housebound' is a very well crafted movie, mostly because it perfectly balances suspense/horror with comedic tones that laugh in the face of classic horror moments. But even with all those great comedy bits, there are quite a few creepy moments in the movie that gets your heart pounding. The story on the other hand is quite original, I won't give too much away, but it plays out like a ghost story with the main character trapped inside the house, because of a house arrest warrant. The movie is full of surprises and comical elements that keeps the somewhat darker story light at heart. Having the main character on house arrest is a nice touch that forces her to stay inside the house even though there is something sinister going on inside those walls. 'Housebound' plays out with some typical horror elements, but the main character refuses to follow suit and every time something 'unusual' happens, she tackles those situations more level headed than most horror movie characters, which creates some great humor. As I said above, I loved how the movie easily transitioned between being quite comical to some very solid scares, it also has a very strong creep factor as well! I was not expecting a whole lot going into this movie so it turned out to be quite a surprise, even though the movie certainly would have been better had it trimmed it's runtime down! And as for a warning, if you for some odd reason you struggle through the first 1/2 of the movie, just know that the 3rd act is where all the excitement and mayhem lives! This movie is along the likes of Tucker & Dale vs Evil, and although it is definitely a darker movie, it features a lot more (and welcomed) surprises!

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What a GREAT film. It's Kiwi to the bone, no Hollywood glitz here just an entertaining film. To make a film like this on shoe string budget is a truly fantastic achievement. Anyone who was involved in putting this together, go ahead and give yourselves a big pat on the back.

Kylie Bucknell is a troubled girl in New Zealand. She gets arrested for trying to break into an ATM. She is sentenced to house arrest and forced to move back in with her mother Miriam. Miriam suspects the house is haunted. Strange things start to happen. Amos sets up her ankle bracelet and is a paranormal enthusiast. Dennis is the psychologist assigned to her case.

There are surprising moments of light humor in this odd little horror. It's not particularly scary. It has a bit of fun like the Cornetto Trilogy. The lead character is not necessarily a nice girl but she still maintains some rooting interest. The story doesn't completely hold together but the last act has plenty of fun.