REVIEW - Housebound (2014)

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Kylie Bucknell, a troubled, metal lovin' youth is put on home detention by the courts, where she must put up with her neurotic, but well meaning mother. There are some strange goings on in the home, items disappear seemingly into thin air, strange sounds emanating through the house at night, and there may or may not be a killer living next door. With the help of the young truancy officer, Graeme, Kylie sets out to find out what's really going on within the walls of her home.
Part Scooby-Doo mystery (in a good way), part angsty teen "dramady", and part out-and-out horror film, HOUSEBOUND is a highly entertaining romp of the "contained terror" sub-sub-genre. What really makes the movie sing is the wonderfully eccentric characters and solid performances. Another in the recent slew of genre-mashing flicks coming out of New Zealand, second-time writer/director Gerard Johnstone is clearly one to watch. HOUSEBOUND is a perfect fright film with laughs for a weekend night. Add pizza and beer, and it's pretty much a guaranteed good time for fans of screams and laughs.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5
   

~Sean Smithson