Reviews: Housebound (2014) Movie Review
Subgenres: Comedy, Supernatural, Drama, Haunted House - Cursed
Horror fans will enjoy our review of Housebound (2014), where we cover its story, scares, and how it ranks among modern horror classics.
Housebound (2014) is a New Zealand comedy horror movie that could possibly be the haunted house movie of the year but the year is not over yet so we shall see. Director, editor and writer Gerard Johnstone did a phenomenal job directing his first movie. The director did a fantastic job combining horror scares and comedy in this one of a kind horror movie. The film contains spooks, comedy, dark humor, violence, bad language, gore, skin crawling jump scares, spine-tingling chills, creepy, frightening scenes and the burning of a teddy bear.
Kylie Bucknell (Morgana O’Reilly - Neighbours (1985), Dr. Grordbort Presents: The Deadliest Game (2011), Billy (2011)) is a troubled girl that drinks a lot. She was placed on nine months of house arrest after attempting to rob a bank. Her carelessness in the bank robbery forced her to move back home with her somewhat strange mother Miriam Bucknell (Rima Te Wiata - Sons and Daughters (1982), Full Frontal (1993), 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous (2005)). Her home is in a small town on New Zealand’s Twin Coast Highway and is the last place on earth that she would like to be. Kylie thinks her mom is crazy for believing that the house they live in is haunted. Kylie soon remembers why she does not want to live with her mom and the reason is that the old house is indeed haunted. The stuffed animals come alive in the night and speaks in a devilish voice that will scare the daylights out of anyone. Things also move around by themselves in the house because the house has a dark history that revolves around the old crib.
One goof that I found is why didn’t Kylie’s electronic ankle bracelet go off or alert with a sound when she speeds while heading to the police station. I found other goofs but it does not matter because the movie flowed flawlessly and captured every bit of my attention. The story is also very original for the most part of it, and that totally wowed me. Can you imagine what you would do if you are on house arrest in a haunted house and cannot leave - I will probably go insane. The actors all did a fantastic job with their parts. Every horror fan that loves comedy should see this excellent movie whenever they can. You will not be disappointed.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Housebound Rating Scores
- Our Score: 8/10
- Overall Score: 7.96/10
- IMDB: 6.7/10
- MetaCritic: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 9.5/10
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