Housebound (2014)
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Housebound is a New Zealand horror comedy that's received some decent positive buzz from those that might've caught it during its festival run. It looked like a fun-ish movie from what I saw in the trailer, so I went in expecting at least an entertaining effort and for the most part that's what I got. Of course it's still not without its problems, primarily being some pacing issues due to its somewhat lengthy running time.
The story focuses on a 20-something career criminal named Kylie who is sentenced to house arrest after failing to break into an ATM. Now she's back in the old home she grew up in with her bored, gossiping mother, whom claims that their house is haunted. Kylie naturally balks at the idea and goes about her business, eating cereal and watching daytime television. That is until she starts hearing and seeing odd things around the house. With nothing but time on her hands, Kylie begins to investigate the history of their home and discovers that there may be some validity behind her mother's claims afterall.
Housebound isn't the most original film, but it takes certain commonalities within the genre and adds its own spin on them, like how our protagonist Kylie is more than willing to face a big baddie head on, as opposed to constantly screaming and running away as most female leads tend to do. I also liked how despite being able to predict certain things early on, the film was still able to throw me off a little (a couple twists and red herrings later of course), which was a nice surprise.
Positive aside, there are some pacing issues at times which made me wonder when the film was going to get to the point. It felt like a good 15-or-so minutes could've been trimmed and it still could've kept the same feel and outcome that we originally got. Next to that I didn't really find the movie particularly scary or funny. I did enjoy it's dark deadpan humor, but (aside from a couple chuckles) didn't necessarily laugh at anything. That's fine since there's always the horror aspect right? Well that's true unless you were expecting something actually scary to come out of this. There might've been a couple tense or somewhat creepy scenes, but nothing remotely scary, in my opinion.
Housebound is a film that kind of lingers in the middle--not exactly a bad movie, but not a good one either. It's a decent and semi-fun film that offers a little creativity and silliness at times. I liked how it kept me guessing until the end, but it also has some pacing issues and isn't particularly scary or funny (in my opinion). Either way, it's an interesting and somewhat enjoyable take on the standard haunted house tale.