Housebound

Housebound

Directed by Gerard Johnstone

 

The horror-comedy genre has been around for quite some time and gained prominence in the 1980's with such hits as Gremlins, Evil Dead II, and The Night of the Creeps, to name just a few. In recent years, there has been a steady stream of them, with the resurgence seemingly kicked off by Shaun of the Dead and followed by Dead Snow, Zombieland, and Cabin in the Woods. The problem with the genre, for me at least, is these films are simply comedies with horror elements. They're never scary or suspenseful or tense in any way. Some of them are excellent comedies, but none of them get the horror part right. 

The first film I've seen that is actually legitimately scary and funny, often in the same scene, is Housebound, the 2014 New Zealand offering from writer-director-editor Gerard Johnstone. The film played at all sorts of different festivals and even got a very limited release in the US, but I had never heard of it until I was scrolling through the available titles on Netflix. I'm happy I gave it a shot, because I was very pleasantly surprised. 

At the start of the film, Kylie (a drugged out petty criminal, played by Morgana O'Reilly) attempts to break into an ATM and is caught. Since she has been through numerous treatment facilities with no positive results, the judge orders her to serve eight months of house arrest - to be spent at her mother's home with the hope that some family time and stability will correct her course in life. The look on Kylie's face as this sentence is handed down tells you she would rather spend the time in prison and it doesn't take long to find out why. 

Kylie's mother, Miriam (played by Rima te Wiata) is a non-stop chatterer who believes her house is haunted and who, you can imagine, has been an embarrassment to Kylie for her entire life. Once locked into her ankle bracelet, Kylie lazes around the house, doing nothing but acting out against her mother and stepfather and watching television. It isn't long, however, before Kylie starts experiencing things in the house that cannot be explained in any rational way and this is where the horror kicks in. 

Housebound managed to scare me in two different ways, from the overused "jump scare" tactic to the much more satisfying "it's so creepy and suspenseful" way. If it was just a parade of jump scares, I probably wouldn't be recommending this film to anyone. That's an easy way to scare someone, but I find it very lazy and most films that solely rely on jump scares are ones I rarely find the desire to revisit. By combining the two, Housebound is much more effective.

For a small time, independent feature from a relatively inexperienced filmmaker, Housebound is a striking achievement. The acting is not Academy Award winning level or anything, but it's solid, especially from O'Reilly and te Wiata, and certainly better than most horror films. The pace is excellent - the film never seemed to go too long in between scary or funny moments - and the 107 minutes flew by. The production design, cinematography, and editing - areas where a lot of independent films really lag behind - are solid, as well. The writing is what really makes Housebound work, though. Johnstone was able to create realistic characters the audience cares about and place them in alternately horrific and hilarious situations. 

The film builds to a genuinely laugh-out-loud and gory climax which was intensely satisfying. What more can anyone ask for in a horror comedy?

I'm hoping I influence at least a few people to check out this under the radar gem. I think they'll be thoroughly entertained. 

I know I was.