Following a botched smash and grab attack on an ATM, wild child Kylie Bucknell (Morgana O’Reilly) is sentenced to an 8 months home detention curfew back at her old family home. If this didn’t seem bad enough for poor Kylie, she was to remain under the supervision of her mother Miriam Bucknell ( Rima Te Wiata).

 

To complicate matters further her mother is convinced that her house is haunted and when things start to go bump in the night, Kylie begins to question her own sanity and wonder if there really is something lurking in the shadows. 

 

New Zealand based Gerard Johnstone is both the writer and director of Housebound. This was his first stab at a horror/comedy feature and it has already won awards and impressed some of the most seasoned of film makers, including Peter Jackson.

 

From the very first opening scene, there is an inexplicable charm and quality that instantly gets you hooked and this feeling does not dissipate until the end credits have stopped rolling.

 

Housebound is skilfully written with good characters, plot developments and enough twists and turns to keep the audience dizzy in theories. It is fair to say that all actors in this film are convincing and their performances believable. 

 

The chemistry between mother and daughter is extremely entertaining to watch with Rima Te Wiata being an absolute gem in her ability to annoy everyone with her incessant talking. The subtleties of humour remain at a constant but neither the wit nor the horror element over shadows one another. Housebound strikes a perfect balance between the two and there are some outstanding moments of unforeseen surprises, blood and gore.

 

Housebound is definitely one to watch as it has a fresh and unique approach that makes it stand out from other films within this genre.