DVD Corner

Housebound Blu-ray Review

“Housebound” doesn’t live up to the hype.

After a botched ATM robbery, an angry, selfish young woman (Kylie) is sentenced to home detention with her mother. Kylie, who doesn’t get along with her talkative mom and stepfather, is completely annoyed by her current situation, but matters only worsen when strange events begin to occur inside the house. Is the house haunted? Is the past coming back to haunt the residents of the house? Is something else entirely going on?

Despite having a clever “house arrest in a potentially haunted house” plot, this New Zealand horror-comedy is neither funny nor scary. The final product feels like a rough draft that is in desperate need of a rewrite to punch up the jokes and tighten the pacing. As is, “Housebound” is primarily undone by a 111 minute running time that destroys the pacing of the entire story. There is no need for this film to run more than 90 minutes as the unnecessary length causes the central mystery and plot twists to feel overcooked. So much screen time is spent building up to the ending that the final act may come off as exhausting and disinteresting to some viewers. It doesn’t help that the events unfolding on screen aren’t all together noteworthy either.

About the only aspect I was charmed by here was actor Glen-Paul Waru who portrayed the security officer/amateur paranormal investigator Amos. Not only did his character breath some much needed life into the clichéd first half, but he stole every single scene he was in.

Note: The “Housebound” Blu-ray is an Amazon exclusive.

Presentation: 2.39:1 1080p. How does it look? This dark and supremely well shot film looks glorious in hi-def.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Effective.

Extras include XLRATOR Media trailers, 3 deleted scenes, a “Housebound” trailer, and a commentary by Luke Sharpe, Ant Timpson, and Gerard Johnstone that is more entertaining and interesting than the film itself.

December 3, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Housebound Blu-ray Review