Sometimes going out to the theater is hard work, especially during Thanksgiving break when you’re trapped at home and being forced to socialize with your family. You’ve reached the end of your queue and have already seen everything worth seeing on Netflix, so what can you do? That’s right, I have a solution that you don’t need to leave home for, because let’s face it, you’re basically under house arrest at the moment. Rent something on Video On Demand (VOD). There’s a recent trend where films are being released online before they even hit theaters, and it’s usually cheaper than the price of admission. Every week when movies come out on VOD, I’ll narrow down the best one for that week. This week’s holiday pick is: Housebound
We’ve all been there, especially now, during the holidays. We are trapped for 4 days surrounded by family we see only a couple of times a year. We go home for Thanksgiving weekend and find ourselves in all sorts of family drama. We laugh, we cry, we drink (maybe a little more than we should), and we spend most of our time trying to solve a murder. Well maybe not that last part, but we sometimes feel close to contemplating murder depending on our situation. Housebound is like that visit home, you get a bit of drama, a touch a comedy and of course, a sense of horror.
Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) isn’t a stranger to law enforcement. It seems like she’s been in trouble all of her life. After an ATM robbery gone horribly wrong, she is put under house arrest with her parents, who she had run away from years before. Nothing says, “Hi Mom,” better than an ankle bracelet and an eight month sentence, but her happy-go-lucky, well-intentioned mother Myriam (Rima Te Wiata) doesn’t seem to mind much. Now she has company, and somebody else to experience the haunting taking place in the house, if the mom is to be believed that is. After Kylie has a terrifying incident, her ankle monitor goes off, and in comes Amos (Glen-Paul Waru) the friendly local security guy to the rescue. Amos is a little too quick to believe Kylie and Myriam’s story about paranormal activity, bringing EMF readers and trying to establish contact with the entity, but all to no avail.
For Kylie’s sentence, she must also see a psychiatrist, Dennis (Cameron Rhodes), who tries to help Kylie in between her telling him to fuck off. She’s going to need more help than she realizes, especially when she finds out that the house she grew up in used to be a sort of mental hospital for wayward adolescents. That’s not even the worst part. Apparently someone was murdered and the murdered was never caught. Thinking the bumps in the night are a ghost wanting vengeance, Kylie decides to investigate with her paranormal-enthusiast partner Amos. A pair of dentures, a creepy neighbor, and a lot of Scoody Doo-like investigation later, we find out nothing (and no one) is what it seems.
Housebound is bloody hilarious, both in the slang sense and the literal sense. There is the signature violence and gore that the horror genre is known for these day, but there is also very dark humor to keep you on your toes. The story also carries with it a mystery and suspense thriller over-arching story to keep the horror and comedy united towards a common goal. This weird combination creates a unique viewing experience, having you laughing loudly one moment, and on the edge of your seat in fear the next. The perfect formula to creating a perfect hybridization like this film is a lot more difficult than you realize. Too much humor and the film just comes off like a cheesy, Scary Movie franchise-esque catastrophe. On the other hand, too much horror and the humor seems out of place and slightly awkward.
The cinematography in the film uses many comedy/horror hybrid film conventions (think Shaun of the Dead and Evil Dead), but with enough character driven laughs and smartly executed scares to deliver on both fronts. Easily one of the best horror films in the past few years, with the other being The Babadook. I just have to take a moment to make mention of how Australian and New Zealander/Kiwi cinema is producing quality films like Tracks, The Rover, and Predestination (which comes out next year, but I can at least tell you I enjoyed it). Housebound is easily another notch on it’s belt.
Housebound delivers more balanced scares, laughs and intrigue than that weird uncle your mom forces you to talk to at all the holiday functions. This film is sure to become a Kiwi cult classic because of how effortlessly it succeeded where so many films before it have failed. So if you’re trapped at home and in need of a laugh, some crying or even something to keep your brain from atrophying out of boredom, this film will do all that for you and more.
Advertisement
RATING: ★★★★★★★★★(9/10 stars)
Advertisement
