Director: Gerard Johnstone
Writer: Gerard Johnstone (Screenplay)
Starring: Morgana O’Reilly, Rime Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Ross Harper, Cameron Rhodes, Ryan Lampp, Mick Innes, Bruce Hopkins
Plot: Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers & strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she’s inherited her overactive imagination, or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who’s less than happy about the new living arrangement.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Twist Filled Horror Thriiler
Story: Housebound starts with Kylie Bucknell (O’Reilly) being caught out robbing a cash machine, he punishment is 8 months detention at her mother’s Miriam (Te Wiata) home. It become clear the two are going to struggle to get along while Miriam’s theory of the house being haunted is the start of most of the friction as Kylie outgrew that superstition.
When Kylie starts hearing noises coming from the house she has to team up with her mother to try and figure out what and why is it haunting the house and who better to help then Amos (Waru) the man who checks the alarms and paranormal investigator.
Housebound is a horror film that doesn’t seem to take itself too serious with plenty of dead pan humor rather than silly over the top humor. This is a good thing because without that this would have been just another horror film that we would have seen before. The fact that this has plenty of twists helps but I do feel like the ideas did come from another film (The Pact). I have to say I avoided all trailers like I do now with horror films which gave the jump scares higher level of effect and I do worry the trailers might give too much away. This one will keep you guessing from start to finish. (8/10)
Actor Review
Morgana O’Reilly: Kylie Bucknell is the criminal lead in the film that gets sent to live with her mother as punishment, she ends up getting haunted by something which see has to try and figure out what is happening. Morgana gives us a good performance to create a fiery leading character. (7/10)
Rima Te Wiata: Miriam Bucknell is the mother who has been hiding a secret inside the house and has become very distant from her daughter who has to live with her. She has always thought there was something super natural in the house and now she can final solve it. Rima does a good job in this role showing just how distressed her character has become. (7/10)
Glen-Paul Waru: Amos is the warden who has to keep check on Kylie but also a paranormal investigator that teams up with Kylie to figure out what is happening inside the home. Glen-Paul gives us the comic relief in the film and will have you laughing more often than not. (7/10)
Support Cast: Housebound has a small supporting cast that includes a string of potential suspects which will leave you guessing to what is actually going on.
Director Review: Gerard Johnstone – Gerard gives us an original take on a horror film that has been done before, I think this feels original and lets the comedy do the work when the horror gets too much. (7/10)
Comedy: Housebound uses dead pan humor to poke fun at certain situations. (7/10)
Horror: Housebound follows a tradition horror lines that uses noises to create scares before giving us a couple of good jump and fake jump scares. (7/10)
Thriller: Housebound keeps you guessing to what will happen next to nearly every single scene. (9/10)
Settings: Housebound puts our leading lady trapped inside her own home for the most part creating the isolation needed for the horror angle. (8/10)
Suggestion: Housebound is one for all the horror fans out there to watch, it will entertain in a way no horror film has before. (Horror Fans Watch)
Best Part: The final chase.
Worst Part: Certain parts feel copied.
Action Scene Of The Film: Final chase.
Funniest Scene: Amos looking for Kylie with the killer.
Kill Of The Film: The Killer.
Scariest Scene: First hand scene.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: The Pact
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: NZD $350,000
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
Overall: Horror thriller that will twit you in knots.
Rating 
