Creating a funny, believable situation only to interrupt it with sudden spikes of fear is a tough trick to pull off, but Johnstone and team make it look spookily easy.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 31, 2024

Combining a ghost hunt and murder story with a craftily wry sense of humor and genuinely likable, broken characters, this horror/thriller has good scares and atmosphere, but it also has heart.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 23, 2023

What starts as a relatively conventional horror-comedy eventually pivots into something genuinely creepy, though without betraying its established blend of scares and laughs.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 20, 2023

A perfect marriage of horror and comedy, Housebound is an outstanding debut feature for writer/director Gerard Johnstone.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 31, 2022

Funny and tense in equal measure, Housebound is a genuine delight. The production design of the house is a huge asset to the film's success; director Johnstone knows exactly how to frame and shoot the action to maximize the frights and laughs

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 26, 2022

Housebound is writer-director Gerard Johnstone's only feature film, but its unique tone has the confidence of an established, more experienced screenwriter

| Jan 12, 2021

As the film gets more outlandish, everything about Housebound begins to feel either borrowed or silly.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 6, 2019

There's a lot to be said for a low-budget premise that uses its budget as inspiration rather than limitation.

| Sep 1, 2019

It's one of those movies where you will be grateful for a change from the modern every day "scary" movies.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 11, 2019

It is not just in its writing and direction that Housebound excels; the production design is a feast for the eyes.

| Feb 28, 2019

This film has so much to offer with it's amazing combination of horror and comedy.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 8, 2018

This is a silly film, but it has some serious horror/thriller chops.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 21, 2016

Definitely worth getting out of the house to see.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 31, 2016

This New Zealand-made movie is essentially a whodunnit slasher comedy, with the laughs being stronger than the frights.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 14, 2015

There's still plenty to enjoy about Housebound, especially with a crowd.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 29, 2015

Covers an admirable amount of genre-friendly ground before winding up with a funny, suspenseful, and kinetic third act.

| Aug 23, 2015

First-time writer-director Johnstone's ingenious script consistently wrong-foots the audience and shifts from one subgenre to another without ever once losing its grip on the comedic elements. It's creepy, tense and scary.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 17, 2015

O'Reilly is terrific as the sneery discontent at the centre of the madcap maelstrom, while Rima Te Wiata walks a wonderfully fine line between pathos and aggravation as the long-suffering/insufferable mum whose forced smile is about to crack.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2015

Housebound does ghosts in the walls with the same wacky panache as the recent Wyrmwood did Aussie zombies.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 2, 2015

Johnstone is one to watch.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 2, 2015