tamosoeka Yeah, it was cool.Would like it better if things turned out to be really supernatural. But this was a cool film to spend the evening. It's worth it. The house shown in the film was perhaps too small to have a secret dungeon - other than that, there was no defect in the film for a common watcher like me.

Reno Rangan Absolutely a kick-ass horror-comedy from the Kiwi. In a horror, usually we expect too much, particularly we calculate them according to how much it scares us. That's a tough job for the filmmaker, but when the comedy tag was attached to it which makes even tougher. In this kind of theme, very rarely people say they're satisfied enough and this is one of those. Yep, a surprise film written and directed by a newcomer. Since it is a New Zealand film, I don't anybody from it, but they all were excellent. Particularly the lead woman was unbelievably good, totally loved her, kind of reminds Nia Vardalos of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' fame and her expressions too matches for in this film.The story was familiar, even some part of it can be compared to the recent film 'The Boy'. Likewise, other pieces from different films, but I did not care, because it still looked fresh of its own. The way it was developed contributed to the film's success and those suspense lived up to the hype that were made in the early stage of narration. The woman who won't get scared easily, finally meets her ultimate fear after returning to her mother's house where she grew up. But only to discover the house is haunted, followed by mysterious events and the final confrontation between her and whoever on the opposite.Great setting with the awesome performances, and always keeps us on the edge. But the laughs were delivered in the form of black comedy. The twists and turns make the film to flip to the opposite side after reaching at one point of the narration leaving the viewers to judge how strongly it linked to its genre. But I don't think most of them care about that since they're already entertained and only going to witness the final thrilling conclusion. I hope there won't be any follow up, because this one-off film was one of the best from the down under, so I don't want it to be ruined, like they do in the Hollywood. Recommended, you will enjoy it even your rating does not meet what I've given.7/10

LakiM9 To be honest, I have never thought much about New Zealand's movie industry except Peter Jackson. By the way, the movie's genre is comedy/horror, and only New Zealand's movie of that kind I have seen is Peter Jackson's "Dead alive". That is why I was curious about this one but decided to give it a chance. I have to say I was lucky with the choice.Movie shows us delinquent Kylie (Morgana O'Reilly), a wild methamphetamine & drink fueled girl who'commits crimes to fund her expensive lifestyle. One night, after her robbery gone wrong, Kylie is put under house arrest for 8 months, complete with delinquent offender ankle bracelet, to live with her long suffering mother and her mother's almost permanently silent husband and with the visits of social worker Dennis (Cameron Rhodes) and likable security guard Amos (Glen-Paul Waru).Kylie now starts to live with her mother in their family home. Soon, Kylie starts to experience unexplained phenomena herself, and before long local security contractor/probation officer Amos (who is principally responsible for ensuring Kylie doesn't leave the premises) offers his services as an amateur paranormal investigator and we learn that the mother has long been convinced that the house is haunted. 'Housebound' perfectly balances suspense/horror with comedic tones that laugh in the face of classic horror moments. The humor develops naturally out of the situations and the characters. The gags don't feel "attached" to it and it isn't a parody of the horror genre. It is actually having a very nice black humor, although story itself has a lot of clichés already seen in dozens of horrors.

thekarmicnomad A woman, after failing to rob a cash machine is handed back to her estranged mother for custody. Neither are particularly pleased about the arrangement. Then again either is the ghost that the mother claims lives in the basement.I have a very dry sense of humour. This hit the spot for me, the jokes are subtle, unobtrusive and never hamper the plot or setting. The film is not at all scary.Morgana O'Reilly steals the show, she really owns the part. At points I wanted to reach into the screen and slap her in her spoilt face. Rima Te Wiata is also excellent as the annoyingly quaint mother. The film still would have been quite good Without the ghost story and just exploring the families relationship.The production is good, but don't expect any polish.It starts to wobble and comes off the tracks near the end, but I think that is the prerogative of an inexpensive horror.