Housebound

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.

Housebound is really something. It's part ghost story, part People Under the Stairs, part murder mystery, part slapstick comedy and part family drama. The dialog, facial expression and spot on timing of the action keep this mash up of genres amusing every step of the way. Just when you think you know which way it's heading, it either makes fun of the standard clichés or skips them entirely, casting us into a twist and turn that starts it all over again with an entirely new plot development. And when you think you know where that plot line is headed, it does it again. I really enjoyed the character Amos played by Glen-Paul Waru. His bumbling energy kept me chuckling. I also enjoyed the fact that even though this film gets pretty violent and gory at times, overall it is a good-natured, feel good movie that, like a roller coaster ride, is scary and fun and shocking and harmless all at the same time. Good job Gerard Johnstone!

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.

'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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