Housebound (2014)

the audience applauded

Just what I expected

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Placed under house arrest, a bitter young woman has trouble convincing others that an intruder or ghostly presence is responsible for mysterious goings-on at her home in this mix of horror, comedy and mystery elements from New Zealand. The film benefits from a superb turn by Rima Te Wiata as the protagonist's superstitious mother who has always believed that her house is haunted but who is more perturbed by her daughter's antisocial behaviour. Glen-Paul Waru has some fun moments too as a local law enforcement officer who believes in the paranormal. The overall film though is less impressive. One of the biggest issues is the frequent genre hopping. The movie jumps between mystery, thriller, horror and comedy mode without ever smoothly blending these elements. Some sections are deadly serious while others are uncannily comedic (fending off a killer with a xylophone) with little consistency throughout. The biggest drawback though is the fact that the film's protagonist is utterly obnoxious. She is such an angry, moody, ungrateful young woman that it is hard to care what happens to her. There are, however, some fun psychobabble moments late in the piece with her shrink suggesting that all the horror is merely in her mind. The house set design is great too, but overall it is hard to watch this film without recalling how much better 'Disturbia' did its similar premise.

👍👍 4/4 **** This's not that sort of movie that is easy to adapt and understand. It is wonderfully packed with such flawless performance of every crew involved in the movie. All the few characters are very well scripted. Why do we watch a movie? To be entertained and we know in the thrill that nothing is real. And later we make such fun of the horrors and mystery we see on screen. But this's such a movie that is already subconsciously make you feel relaxed with its mockery of the entertainment. Gerrard Johnstone is not one of those known directors. He's young and yet intelligent enough to capture the essence of making a movie that is so dark, so thrilling, so emotional and so much sarcastic in such serious scenes. We experience something surreal in the whole movie that needs a little patience to get used to.

After an ATM robbery gone hilariously awry, petty thief Kylie (Morgana O'Reilly) is sentenced to house arrest at her childhood home, with her slightly daffy mother (Rima Te Wiata) and her basically mute stepfather (Ross Harper). It's a dismal, dilapidated place filled with musty old paperbacks, ample crawl spaces, dial-up internet and...a ghost? What do you do when you're in a possibly haunted house, but you can't leave due to the monitoring bracelet on your ankle? What's worse: the supernatural or prison? "Housebound" has a strong, clever premise, which is the reason anyone would give this a go in the first place. I know it's what drew me in. (The fact that it's streaming on netflix, which means one can watch it with practically no effort, only sweetened the deal.) And director/writer Gerard Johnstone has a gift for setting up all kinds of unexpected twists, red herrings and other surprises, which kept me intrigued despite the film's slow patches.Unfortunately, those slow patches exist. And despite the clever premise, twisty storyline and unique characters/situations, the movie never quite engaged me. I was never hooked by it, merely casually interested throughout. It's an interesting movie, but never a great one. It's also never remotely scary, or even creepy. The setting and cinematography are pretty dingy and dismal, which doesn't help matters much either. There's a certain lack of energy here and the performances are serviceable without making much of an impression. Honestly, if not for the movie's impressive cleverness, I don't know if I would have stuck with it to the end.Still, I liked "Housebound" overall. As I said, it is clever and manages some genuine surprises. I just wish the filmmakers had done more to hook me and get me emotionally invested in the story and characters. If they had, maybe I would have jumped when they wanted me to, or been closer to the edge of my seat. As is, however, I never had more than a casual interest in anything happening on screen. I even got up to get a snack without pausing the movie, which is never a great sign during an initial viewing.

A woman, after failing to rob a cash machine is handed back to her estranged mother for custody. Neither are particularly pleased about the arrangement. Then again either is the ghost that the mother claims lives in the basement.I have a very dry sense of humour. This hit the spot for me, the jokes are subtle, unobtrusive and never hamper the plot or setting. The film is not at all scary.Morgana O'Reilly steals the show, she really owns the part. At points I wanted to reach into the screen and slap her in her spoilt face. Rima Te Wiata is also excellent as the annoyingly quaint mother. The film still would have been quite good Without the ghost story and just exploring the families relationship.The production is good, but don't expect any polish.It starts to wobble and comes off the tracks near the end, but I think that is the prerogative of an inexpensive horror.