Housebound

And these are only two of the ingredients that will make Housebound at least a cult and hopefully a classic. It's hard enough to make the public laugh, the most difficult thing to achieve in fact. Now imagine that you can never guess if the next minute will crack you up or alarm you. How much fun that is !.

One aspect of Housebound that I particularly enjoy is the fact that the characters are as multi-layered as the story itself. They start with one facet, one role, and naturally reveal more of their humanity all along the way. They can bring as much surprises as the events do. It must have been a pleasure for the actors. Who, by the way, are excellent.

There are no scream queens here. Watch Housebound and you'll find yourself rooting for a brat or the housewife next door, between two guffaws.

Kylie (Morgana O'Reilly) is a wild child methamphetamine & drink fueled girl who's not averse to engaging in petty crime to fund her lifestyle. One night, after her spot of smash 'n' grab badly backfires, Kylie is put under house arrest, complete with delinquent offender ankle bracelet, to live with her long suffering mother and her mother's almost permanently silent husband and has to endure being checked in on by her social worker Dennis (Cameron Rhodes) and likable security guard Amos (Glen-Paul Waru)

Kylie and her mother don't get on at all, with neither particularly happy with this state of affairs. Worse still, her mother who tends to believe in the paranormal gets even more annoying by insisting the house is haunted, due to the strange noises and weird sighting in the basement she had. Kylie scoffs at this and finds her mother's incessant chatter and claims even more irritating...

...Until she hears the noises herself one night. Things get even worse when Kylie starts having her own sightings & observations of weird stuff happening. Desperate for help, she and her mother confides in Amos the security guard. Amos, a keen amateur paranormal investigator decides to look into things, which leads to them uncovering some rather creepy info about the house in the process. As the mystery deepens, Kyleigh, her mother and Amos all realise that they're gonna have to solve it before whatever it is that dwells in the house engulfs and destroys them all...

Housebound is a very pleasant surprise comedy horror gem from New Zealand, but with nicely done scares and a creepy atmosphere to go with the chuckles, which come mainly via hilarious interactions with the dysfunctional trio. It also turns into a surprisingly layered film plot wise with some twists & turns in the third act to keep things nicely interesting. With some gold one liners and effective scares, it's emerged as one of the better horror viewings of this year and while frequently hilarious, it's primarily a horror thriller that simply tempers things with some very deft comedic relief.

Overall a highly recommended gem from New Zealand and it went down well with the audience at the Dead by Dawn festival where I caught it, so any horror fan should keep an eye out for this one. 8/10, really decent little horror flick.

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.

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.

This movie, has given me a new appreciation of the New Zealand movie industry. What a surprise!... and a worthy one at that. This was hilarious! The director/writers/actors/editors were brilliant. Some of the scenes left you laughing out loud and were so cleverly thought out. It not your usually 'horror' theme, with the usual gore, so if you expect that, then move on. The main character and her mother really make the movie, and as I wrote earlier, this movie opened my eyes up to the New Zealand movie trade. I'm not going to spoil you with what it about, so the best way to watch this movie is to not know much at all, and you will be pleasantly surprised. This movie, has been one I recommend for others to see, as its entertaining, funny, and you won't just get a smirk on your face but a good laugh out loud experience. Well done New Zealand.