DVD Review – Housebound (2015)

Gerard Johnstone’s Housebound is first and foremost an effortlessly plotted murder mystery.The addition of gory horror and dead pan humour along side wacky slapstick and ambitious character development should have been enough to overload and sink it.However this much loved genre flagship has an uncanny handle on it’s bearings and sails smoothly through the shoals of red herrings with class and poise.

Kylie Bucknell is an ill mannered and disillusioned young girl with behavioral problems,drug addictions and a deadly arsenal of choice expletives.After a cash machine robbery goes hilariously south our protagonist is lumbered with a surveillance tag and a court order.She is forced to return to her less than happy childhood home under the supervision of her motor mouth mother Miriam.

Once ensconced back at the family residence, under the watchful eye of security guard Amos, she soon becomes aware of a presence in the house and finds herself embroiled in a deadly case of the Scooby Doo’s. Is the abode really haunted ? Are the spooky goings on merely the bi-product of something more tangible but equally terrifying ?The beauty of this peach of a movie is that you wont know until the final moments.

There are many threads that are tightly drawn together to keep this movie the lean mean entertainment machine that it undoubtedly is and Housebound is a testimony to the advantages of one man holding the directing,writing and editing reins.The script is subtle yet disarmingly funny and is just as comfortable with kitchen sink comedy as it is with full on farce.

The even pacing is economical yet unhurried providing some of the most effective exposition scenes the genre has served up in years transforming standard backstory into beautifully delivered set pieces.

All of these traits are enhanced and complimented by the uniformly superb acting.Easily the films strongest suit in an already impressive wardrobe the cast displays a consistently light touch that infuses the film with a breezy and irresistible likability.It is hard to single anyone out but Miriam played by Rima Te Wiata from legendary late eighties Kiwi soap Sons and Daughters never drops her performance below genius.

The set decoration and sound design are all top draw and the house is so well used it becomes a character in it’s own right.We become so familiar with it’s geography that when the action ramps up the emotional investment from the audience exponentially intensifies and that is very clever film making.

Don’t be put off by the comedy/horror tag if you are a horror purist as there is a good old slug of claret to be savored during the inventive violence and some of the broodier moments are genuinely scary.

The jacket boasts an endorsement from Sir Peter Jackson and it’s with no disrespect to Housebound when i say it feels like a movie Jackson could have made after Heavenly Creatures but before The Frightners.

Housebound is the most rounded midnight horror movie to emerge from the shadows in years and makes for a great group viewing experience with masses of re-watch-ability.One of the best horror releases of the year.

★★★★1/2
Bradley Hadcroft

Comedy,Horror,Mystery| Metrodome Distribution | DVD Release Date:20th July. 2015(U.K.) | 18 |Dir:Gerard Johnstone |  Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru | Buy: Housebound [DVD]