Its as if New Zealand’s Indy filmmaker Gerard Johnstone didn’t trust his own talents when he created the 2014 horror movie “Housebound.”
Johnstone came up with an interesting concept – a young woman confined to her parents haunted estate as she serves an 8 month sentence of house arrest. But the inclusion of a thoroughly abhorrent score with cartoonish music ruins any and all attempts at fright. Trust your writing. The viewer doesn’t need a predictable and lame musical riff as a hand reaches out from under a wall to grab an ankle or a mysterious creeper is lurking by the window.
I only liked one character in the entire film, and that was actress Morgan O’Reilly who thankfully plays the leading role and is on screen in virtually every scene. Her character Kylie is a troubled young woman, snagged by the fuzz at the films open after a botched robbery attempt.
Her apprehension is brilliant, and the beautiful Kylie doesn’t come across as someone incapable of crime. Morgan O’Reilly demonstrates great versatility with the character. The reaction of anger she unleashes when she realizes she is caught is great, and for a moment you’ll be excited for the rest of the movie.
Kylie’s confined to an estate inhabited by her mother and stepfather, and I simply couldn’t stand either character. There interactions with Kylie are unrealistic, and Kylie herself seems a bit old to be playing the troubled teen card. Other participants are introduced and then completely forgotten about, leaving their inclusion to be a bit confusing.
The tones of the movie are good. I liked the sepia drenched and ominous setting, and the house itself works as a haunted dwelling. Gerard Johnstone shows he has some ability to scare the audience. One scene depicts a parole officer named Amos (Glen-Paul Waru) demonstrating to Kylie how far she can go before the ankle monitor goes off, and its a great addition to the tale. You know she will be dealing with ghosts, but you also know she is unable to leave.
Unfortunately, that she is on house arrest is seemingly forgotten about thirty minutes in as she forges a kinship with Amos and they embark on a mission to uncover the root of a crime committed by the houses previous owners. There’s horror one minute, like a truly terrifying scene (stupid score excluded) that depicts a toy rabbit appearing to taunt Kylie in the darkness of her room, and it’s a thing of perfection. Moments later Kylie and Amos are sneaking around trying to uncover a crime and its just a complete miss.
Horror is long gone as comedy comes in where it shouldn’t. A police officer is questioning Kylie to which he asks in a chipper British voice “Are you willing to proceed with the story that Mr. Mcrandall was attacked by a vengeful ghost? Right oh!” Or her mother yelling “what are you going to do against a hostile spirit Kylie, crack jokes?” To which she responds as any terrified woman would “No, I’m gonna smash it in the face.”
In the end, “Housebound” is a typical failed attempt at horror. Weak writing, poor acting, and an abysmal score render it virtually unwatchable.
by – Matt Christopher
