Ever since (perhaps before!) Abbott & Costello bumped into Frankenstein, there has been this cinematic sub-genre which mixes horror with humor in equal doses.
Perhaps one of the most famous relatively recent successes is Evil Dead II (1987), which featured literally buckets of blood poured onto its lead character -the immortal Bruce Campbell- who, as the film moved on, became a real live cartoon character.
The New Zealand movie export Housebound exists in the same general sandbox, though the movie doesn’t feature anywhere near the amount of gore/blood or cartoonish characterization that made Evil Dead II so delightful.
But that doesn’t mean the film didn’t succeed on its own!
The lovely Morgana O’Reilly (her eyes are sooo damn expressive!) is Kylie Bucknell, a young hooligan who, at the start of the movie, attempts to steal the money in an ATM machine. Assisted by her (it turns out very quickly) completely useless boyfriend, she manages to get the loot but is unable to make her getaway. In short order she is arrested and sent before a judge for sentencing.
Because of previous arrests, all involving petty criminal activities, Kylie is sentenced to house arrest. She’s to wear an electronic monitor around her ankle and spend the next eight months at her home, a place we find she has little desire in returning to.
As it turns out, her relationship with her somewhat (!) daffy mother is very strained while her relationship with her stepfather (her father divorced and doesn’t communicate with either Kylie or her mother) is virtually nonexistent. Worse, there’s this creepy neighbor living next door and at night she hears weird sounds…
Oh, and her mother believes the house is haunted.
What works so well for Housebound is the way the characters first appear as one note constructions yet over the course of the film become multidimensional people. Kylie’s daft mother, for instance, turns into an interesting person who, while still daft, clearly means well. Her stepfather’s silence is revealed to come from a pain he carries with him. The officer in charge of monitoring Kylie’s home arrest, delightfully, is revealed to be much more than he first appears. And even the creepy neighbor next door turns out to be not quite what you think.
But what makes the movie work is the fact that on top of the interesting characterization there’s a solid story being presented. Is Kylie’s house haunted? If so -or not- what secrets does it hide? And what happened a number of years before in the house which may be the reason for all the eerie stuff happening now?
I’m being deliberately vague because I don’t want to get too deeply into spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that I recommend the film…with some minor reservations.
Housebound does take a little time to get going and Kylie’s character, at least at the beginning, is very hard to root for. However, by the time we get to the idea there may be ghosts in the house, the film starts to take flight and keeps you interested and surprised by its various reveals.
While it may not be the very best horror/comedy I’ve ever seen, there is plenty to like about Housebound. If you have the patience to give it a few minutes to get started, you’re in for some great fun.