"Terror gets domesticated."
Kylie, played by Morgana O-Reilly, gets caught while robbing an atm machine. We soon find out she she has been leading a troubled life of crime and drugs, and is sentenced to live with her mom for 8 months. To ensure she doesn't escape, Kylie is forced to wear an ankle bracelet that will alert the police, should she walk past the perimeter of the property.
Immediately it becomes apparent that Kylie and her mom Miriam, played by Rima Te Wiata, don't get along so well. Though Miriam tries to make room in her life for her daughter's presence, it's very clear that Kylie's resentful attitude quickly begins to drive her crazy. She eats all the food in the house, hogs the television, refuses to do any chores, and generally goes out of her way to be a general nuisance.
When Kylie discovers that her mom believes that there is a ghost living in the house, she adds mockery to the list. That is, until she begins to experience seemingly paranormal occurrences herself. Compelled by the strange events happening to her, Kylie, her mom, and her probation officer Amos (Glen-Paul Waru) unravel a mystery that has many twists and turns. To say anything more than this about the plot would spoil the fun.
And fun this movie is! Housebound gleefully revels in the fact that it is a horror comedy. In my opinion, it sometimes dips a little too deeply into the cheese. But then again, humor is subjective. Other times, the comedy comes in brief flashes amidst otherwise suspenseful scenes, which I found to be much more effective. There are also a bit of satirical jabs at the genre itself, not the least of which dealing with amateur ghost-hunting.
That's not to say that Housebound is without scares; far from it. The house itself is sufficiently creepy, having dark, vintage-styled wallpaper, and being filled to the brim with books, furniture and knick knacks. When Kylie wanders around in the basement with nothing but a flashlight in order to investigate the strange noise, as cliche as that sounds, the scene is effectively dripping with tension. Of course, what would a horror movie be without jump scares? Some are rewarding, but a few feel really cheap. Particularly early on; it was almost as though director Gerard Johnstone was afraid of losing the audience's attention.
Even with its flaws, Housebound is a ton of fun to watch. The performances are great and the mystery of what's actually going on is an intriguing one. It can't be too easy to effectively mix comedy and scares into one entertaining flick, but this movie succeeds at it.
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