When you think of the great horror movies from New Zealand,
you think Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste and Dead-Alive. You might also think of Taika Waititi’s What
We Do in the Shadows. I can’t say
Housebound is quite in the same league as those films, but there are certainly
plenty of moments here that flirt with greatness.
Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) gets busted for robbing an ATM and
is put under house arrest. It’s one
thing to be stuck in your home with an ankle monitor. It’s another to be trapped at home with your
annoying mother (Rima Te Wiata). Kylie
eventually comes to believe there’s a ghost living in her house, and since she’s
wearing her ankle monitor, she can’t leave. As chance would have it, her probation
officer (Glen-Paul Waru) just so happens to be a paranormal expert and jumps at
the chance to bust some ghosts.
Housebound contains some very funny stuff, and like the best horror comedies, the
humor comes from the characters and situations.
The standout sequence comes when O’Reilly is attacked by a killer teddy
bear. This scene is a great example of
how writer/director Gerard Johnstone can take something potentially ridiculous and
still give it enough edge to make it induce goosebumps. The
IDEA of a killer teddy bear is silly, but since it’s played with a straight
face, it works.
Johnstone is unable to keep that level of mania sustained
throughout the longish 106 minutes running time. The second act could’ve used some tightening
up as there are a few lulls in between the set pieces. Still, there are a handful of priceless moments
along the way. Johnstone does a
particularly fine job in the film’s quieter moments. I mean there is a scene where O’Reilly is
interrupted by ghosts while taking a pee that is funnier than most modern
comedies.
No comments:
Post a Comment