Housebound

"Terror gets domesticated."

2014 1h 51m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 945

HorrorComedyThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When Kylie Bucknell is sentenced to home detention, she's forced to come to terms with her unsociable behaviour, her blabbering mother and a hostile spirit who seems less than happy about the new living arrangement.

“Terror gets domesticated.”

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Cast

Morgana O'Reilly
Kylie Bucknell
Rima Te Wiata
Miriam Bucknell
Glen-Paul Waru
Amos
Ross Harper
Graeme
Cameron Rhodes
Dennis
Millen Baird
Officer Grayson
Bruce Hopkins
Officer Carson
Ryan Lampp
Eugene

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gerard Johnstone
Writers: Gerard Johnstone
Languages: English
Countries: New Zealand

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Gerard Johnstone, shot by Simon Riera. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Editor Gerard Johnstone shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Morgana O'Reilly and Rima Te Wiata and Glen-Paul Waru carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Terror gets domesticated.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt3504048 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gerard Johnstone directs. Simon Riera behind the camera. Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper scores. Gerard Johnstone cuts. Produced in New Zealand. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 12 years ago.
2Directed by Gerard Johnstone, shot by Simon Riera. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Gerard Johnstone shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Morgana O'Reilly and Rima Te Wiata and Glen-Paul Waru carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Terror gets domesticated.".
7IMDB entry: tt3504048 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 11 themes, including "superstition", "haunted house", "father-in-law", "basement".

The technical file

Cinematography: Simon Riera
Original score: Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper
Editing: Gerard Johnstone
Production design: Anya Whitlock
Costume design: Beth Rickards
Makeup / hair: Rachel Johanson
VFX supervisor: Matt Westbrooke
Sound: Shane Taipari
Stunt coordinator: Aaron Lupton
Runtime: 111 min · 1h 51m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Housebound (2014)

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Gerard Johnstone

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-09-29
★ 7/10
Under house arrest in a haunted house! 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

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