Matt's Movie Reviews logo
Custom Search
AWFUL
POOR
GOOD
EXCELLENT
MASTERPIECE
*
**
***
****
*****
iTunes subscribes
Youtube image
Housebound poster

CAST
MORGANA O’REILLY
ROSS HARPER
MICK INNES
RYAN LAMPP
CAMERON RHODES
GLEN-PAUL WARU
RIMA TE WIATA

WRITTEN BY
GERALD JOHNSTONE

PRODUCED BY
LUKE SHARPE

DIRECTED BY
GERALD JOHNSTONE

GENRE
COMEDY
HORROR
THRILLER

RATING
AUS:MA
UK:NA
USA:NA

RUNNING TIME
107 MIN

HOUSEBOUND (2014)

Clever, funny and scary, Housebound is a glorious addition to the cannon of New Zealand horror comedies, as writer/director Gerald Johnstone brilliantly plays with conventions to deliver an entertaining fright-fest full of surprises.

Since Wes Craven’s ground breaking Scream, horror filmmakers just love to poke fun at the genre they so clearly adore, without stepping into spoof territory. Masters of this approach are Edgar Wright and Drew Goodard, whose Shaun of the Dead and Cabin in the Woods (respectively) delivered brilliant self-analysis of the horror genre while being great horror movies.

New Zealand filmmaker Gerald Johnstone does the same with his Housebound. With every scare and chuckle, Johnstone delivers a terrifically entertaining genre movie that will hopefully find an audience outside of Australasia (as Australian horror movie The Babadook has).

Housebound stars Morgana O’Reilly as Kylie, a career criminal with a bad attitude whose latest failed escapade has her sentenced to house arrest with her estranged mother Miriam (Rita Te Wiata). However, Kylie returns home to more than just suburban boredom, with a mysterious presence that harbors a dark past haunting her domestic abode, which the no BS taking Kylie takes to investigating.

From its opening frame there is a definite feel of the ‘80s to Housebound, with Johnstone no doubt influenced by the decade that spawned horror comedy classics such as Fright Night and Evil Dead 2. Yet this is not a nostalgia trip. Rather, Housebound takes those well-honed horror conventions and flips them on their head, making us second guess every twisty movie Johnstone makes.

The biggest flip of the script is Johnstone’s reinvention of the scream queen from hunted virgin to snarling punk bitch (think less Heather Langenkamp, and more Joan Jett). Morgan O’Reilly is great in the part, burning a hole in the screen with her great-white stare, while also allowing that all too human emotion of fear to create a haunted person, but never in any way a victim.

That her character Kylie finds the experience of living with her mom one of hellish torment brings with it many laughs, Rita Te Wiatan’s portrayal of Miriam a thing of comedy gold with all of its nosy, daggy, and sincere earnestness a thing of comedy gold.

Many great horror filmmakers have made their mark with their debuts (Tobe Hopper with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Sam Raimi with The Evil Dead). Johnstone has done the same here, with Housebound sure to be a classic of the genre. Here’s hoping he continues to deliver many more.

****
  RELATED CONTENT  
Cabin in the Woods poster
Cabin in the Woods
film review
Fright Night poster
Top Ten
Horror Comedies
What We Do in the Shadows poster
What We Do in the Shadows film review

 

 

Created and Edited by Matthew Pejkovic / Contact: mattsm@mattsmoviereviews.net
Logo created by Colony Graphic Design / Copyright © Matthew Pejkovic

Twitter logo
Facebook logo
    Youtube
Matthew Pejkovic is a member of the following organizations:
AFCA logo