Monday, November 17, 2014

DVD Review - Housebound



Housebound
Director: Gerard Johnstone
Starring: Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiati, Glen-Paul Waru
Studio: XLrator Media
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Retail: $14.99
ASIN: B00MU1YEJK
Running Time: 112 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I grew up watching a slew of horror films while growing up and now as an adult I have been disappointed with the recent horror flicks that has been ruined by the PG-13 non-scary paranormal films and countless remakes. It seems the only watchable horror films are being released direct-to-DVD. I had the privilege of watching Housebound on DVD this morning, which will be available to buy tomorrow. The film is directed by Gerard Johnstone and stars Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiati, Glen-Paul Waru. It made its round at film festival earlier this year before heading to home-video.

Filmed in New Zealand and inspired by the reality series Ghost Hunters and the films The Changeling and The Legend of Hell House, the film centers on Kylie Bucknell (played by Morgana O'Reilly), a young woman who returns home after getting in a little trouble with the local authorities. Against her will, she is put on house-arrest in the house owned by her mother, Miriam (played by Rima Te Wiata), and step-father.


Kylie thinks her mother is a little crazy when she learns that her mother thinks the house is haunted because a murder took place there years ago. Kylie quickly changes her mind when objects start going missing and she starts hearing strange sounds coming within the walls. Her social worker, Dennis (played by Cameron Rhodes) starts to think that Kylie is as a crazy as her mother, but the security guard Amos (played by Glen-Paul Waru) believess she might be telling the truth.



As Kylie investigates the strange occurrences and the bizarre books and files in the basement that belonged to the house's previous occupants, she starts to wonder if the murderer is still at large or maybe even living inside their house.



Housebound is a horror-comedy and I'm not talking about the type of dumb humor found in the Scary Movie films, but instead I'm referring to the style of humor found in Shaun of the Dead. I didn't expect much from a film that I have never heard of before, but I ended up loving it. To me it felt like a cross between The Haunting and The People Under The Stairs with a little bit comedy tossed into the mix. It is nice to watch a horror flick that doesn't follow the traditional rules. Overall, Housebound is an entertaining horror-comedy that I highly recommend to others.


*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.


No comments:

Post a Comment

I adore reading reader feedback! I will, however, remove all spam and pointless comments.

Please take note that I have the right to delete comments from this site. Please only post constructive and respectful feedback.