Housebound (2014 film)

Housebound is a 2014 New Zealand horror comedy film written, edited, and directed by Gerard Johnstone. It is his feature film directorial debut.[1] The film had its world premiere on 10 March 2014, at South by Southwest and stars Morgana O'Reilly as a woman sentenced to house arrest in a potentially haunted house.[2]

Housebound
Directed byGerard Johnstone
Produced byLuke Sharpe
Written byGerard Johnstone
Starring
Music byMahuia Bridgman-Cooper
CinematographySimon Riera
Edited byGerard Johnstone
Production
company
Semi-Professional Pictures
Release date
  • 10 March 2014 (2014-03-10) (SXSW)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryNew Zealand
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Kylie, a troubled young woman, and her accomplice attempts to steal the safe from an ATM but the police capture both. Due to her history of recidivism, she is sentenced by the judge to house arrest for eight months under the care of her mother, Miriam. Kylie does not get along with either her mother or her step-father, Graeme. A security contractor, Amos, explains that Kylie's ankle monitor will alert the police if she ever leaves the premises of her mother's house.

Kylie is further frustrated when Miriam claims the house is haunted. After a disembodied hand grabs her in the basement, Kylie becomes convinced that an intruder is in the house. Amos takes Miriam's suggestion of a haunting seriously, and promises to return with ghost hunting equipment. After a series of unexplained experiences, Kylie comes to believe there may truly be a ghost in the house. Dennis, Kylie's clinical psychologist, becomes concerned with what he believes to be delusions in Miriam and Kylie. Graeme reveals that their home was once a halfway house and the site of a horrific murder. They discover evidence of the crime, including an orthodontic retainer.

When Kylie and Amos discover that her neighbour uses a retainer, Kylie breaks into the man's house as she attempts to take his retainer. After she flees back home and hides in the basement, she panics and accidentally stabs Graeme. Amos attempts to break into her neighbour's house next but the neighbour says that he is not the killer. He tells the story of a young savant, Eugene, whom he adopted. Eugene is an expert at mechanics and electronics, and disappeared a year before the killing, though the neighbour believes him to be responsible.

Kylie discovers Eugene's secret hallways in their house. She and Amos converge at the police station, and Amos corroborates her wild stories of a serial killer living in the hidden passageways. However, the police find no evidence, and Dennis convinces all involved that it would be best if Kylie were institutionalized. Once Dennis reveals that he wears a retainer, Kylie becomes suspicious of him. When she confronts him with evidence that he was an intern at the halfway house, he attempts to kill Miriam and Kylie, while incapacitating Amos. Kylie and Miriam flee into the secret tunnels, where they encounter Eugene.

Realizing that their paranormal activity has been Eugene all this time, they are at first frightened but realize that he is friendly. Dennis stabs Eugene, knocks out Kylie, and begins to strangle Miriam. Eugene wakes Kylie and hands her a weapon, which she uses to stab Dennis. Eugene throws a switch, and high voltage explodes Dennis' head. Months later, all have recovered, Amos removes Kylie's ankle monitor, and Eugene has seemingly become an accepted (albeit mostly unseen) member of the household.

Cast

Production

Johnstone was first inspired to create a horror film after watching Ghosthunters on television and received additional inspiration from classic films such as The Changeling and The Legend of Hell House.[3] While writing the script Johnstone wanted the character of Kylie to be "someone that wouldn't scare easily. That way, when she does finally fall victim to fear, it's much more palpable."[3] He experienced some difficulty in achieving the film's exterior shots of the house, as budgetary issues limited their options of homes and renovations to the exterior of their chosen house during the course of filming also raised some issues.[3]

Release

Housebound had its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival on 11 March 2014.[4]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 95% of 42 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 7.54/10. The site's consensus reads: "Alternately hilarious, gross, and simply diverting, Housebound is the rare horror-comedy that delivers on both fronts."[5] Metacritic rated it 76/100 based on 10 reviews.[6]

Hitfix gave it an A and wrote "sometimes at the festival you walk into a room knowing nothing, sit down, and get your skull punched in by a movie that is calibrated perfectly, that knows exactly what it wants to do, and that seems almost unnaturally confident considering it was made by a first-time feature director".[7] Fangoria praised the film, rating it at 3 out of 4 stars and stating that it "neatly carries some universal ideas about throwing away childish indignation and rebellion, and getting to know your parents as people with pasts and personal lives, not just nagging overseers."[8] Shock Till You Drop also gave Housebound a positive rating, as they considered it one of the highlights of South by Southwest.[9] Movies.com said it was a breath of fresh air for the often stale haunted-house genre.[10] Badass Digest told readers they had "a new favorite horror film of 2014".[11] Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine rated it 2.5/4 stars and wrote that each of the film's elements are "competently and engagingly orchestrated" but do not combine into a coherent whole.[12]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2014 Fright Meter Awards Best Supporting Actress Rima Te Wiata Won [13]
Best Horror Movie Housebound Nominated
Best Director Gerard Johnstone Nominated
Best Actress Morgana O'Reilly Nominated
Best Screenplay Gerard Johnstone Nominated
Best Editing Gerard Johnstone Nominated
Dead by Dawn Best Feature Film Housebound Won [14]
Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival Best Feature Film Housebound Won [15]
New Zealand Film & Television Awards Best Actress Morgana O'Reilly Nominated [16]
Best Supporting Actress Rima Te Wiata Nominated
Best Director Gerard Johnstone Nominated
Best Make-Up Jacinta Driver Nominated
Best Costume Design Lissy Mayer Nominated
Best Film Housebound Nominated
Best Visual Effects Matt Westbrooke Nominated
Best Production Design Jane Bucknell Nominated
Best Cinematography Simon Riera Nominated
Best Sound Franklin Road Sound Post Production Nominated
Best Poster Design Johnny Lyon Won
Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival Audience Award Housebound Won [17]
Toronto After Dark Film Festival Best Horror Film Housebound Won [18]
Best Comedy Film Won
Best Ensemble Cast Won
2015 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Limited Release Film Housebound Nominated [19]
Best Screenplay Gerard Johnstone Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Rima Te Wiata Nominated

Remake

In February 2015, New Line Cinema announced the production of a US remake.[20] Original writer and director Gerard Johnstone is set with Dave Neustadter and Walter Hamada as executive producer for New Line.[21]

References
  1. "Dominic Corry: Gerard Johnstone on Housebound". NZ Herald. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. "Dark New Zealand Comedy HOUSEBOUND Visits The Loo In First Clip". Twitch Film. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  3. Whittaker, Richard. "SXSW Gets 'Housebound". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. "Schedule: Housebound". South by Southwest. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. "Housebound (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  6. "Housebound". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  7. McWeeny, Drew (15 March 2014). "Smart and funny, someone needs to snap this up". Hitfix. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  8. Zimmerman, Samuel. ""HOUSEBOUND" (SXSW Movie Review)". Fangoria. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  9. Turek, Ryan. "SXSW Review: Housebound is the Real Discovery of the Fest". STYD. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  10. Hall, Peter (11 March 2014). "'Housebound' Mixes a Haunted-House Formula with Slasher Mystery to Create a Pretty Great Horror Movie". Movies.com. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  11. Gholson, John (14 March 2014). "SXSW Review: Creepy Crowd-Pleaser HOUSEBOUND Makes A Big Impression". BadassDigest.com. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  12. Bowen, Chuck (12 October 2014). "Housebound". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  13. "Fright Meter Awards". Frightmeterawards.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  14. "Dead by Dawn 2014". Deadbydawn.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  15. "Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival". NIFFF.ch. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  16. Baillie, Russell (12 December 2014). "The Dark Horse sweeps NZ film awards". Nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  17. "Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Fest: 2014 Winners".
  18. "Award Winners". Torontoafterdark.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  19. "Chainsaw Awards Exclusive: "HOUSEBOUND" 'For Your Consideration' Posters!". Fangoria.com. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  20. "'Housebound' Getting Remade By New Line".
  21. "Housebound Being Remade".
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