The Horror Show
Housebound
by Gerard Johnstone
I’d heard of New Zealand horror film Housebound quite some time ago. The trailer looked promising enough with bits of good humor thrown in alongside some scary parts, so I decided it was worth the watch.
In Housebound we meet Kylie as she attempts to steal the cashbox out of an ATM. Naturally, she gets caught. Being that Kylie has a history with substance abuse and mental illness, the courts decide that she needs to be in a stable environment and sentence her to house arrest at her mother’s. It seems right off the bat we know that Kylie would rather spend her short sentence in prison.
The film is a little slow to start, but once it’s done fleshing out initial characters, you know right away that you’re going to be in for an exciting ride. It turns out that Kylie’s mother, Miriam, believes the house is haunted. After Kylie hears her mother calling in to a talk radio show about it, Kylie begins to wonder if there really are ghosts in the house or if she’s just being paranoid. As it turns out, Kylie’s assigned security officer also happens to be a paranormal investigator. Who’d a thunk?! So the two set out to unravel the mysteries of Miriam’s old house.
I really can’t give much more away regarding plotline because even the smallest of spoilers would ruin the movie. There are quite a few elements of horror thrown into one movie and that made it a delightful experience. Elements of home invasion, paranormal, psychological thriller, murder/mystery, and suspense thriller all make their marks in this film. With the slight plot twists here and there, I never really knew which direction they were going to go with Housebound but I knew that whichever path they took, I’d enjoy it. The veil of dark comedy thrown over everything was fantastic and this made for some much needed comic relief during the darkest parts of the movie (and some awesome one-liners as well).
The actors executed their roles across the board with just the perfect amount of campiness thrown in. And in my opinion, a horror comedy needs to have a certain level of campiness, otherwise it’s taking itself too seriously, therefore muddling up the comedy aspect.
For a movie that primarily takes place in one setting, Housebound is a refreshing addition to the horror genre that blurs lines so that it can’t be placed in one bag. I’d definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a super fun horror comedy to enjoy with friends or even alone. There are some fantastic laugh out loud moments and the hilarious yet gory final act is the ultimate payout.
Stevie Kopas, HMS
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