With a few exemptions I'm not a huge fan of horror comedies as they are rarely scary nor really that funny. What I like about Housebound is that it is first and foremost a horror film, which also happens to be funny. The humor develops naturally out of the situations and the characters. The gags don't feel shoehorned in and it isn't a parody of the horror genre. And in a genre where characterisation often comes as an afterthought, the characters here feel well rounded and very real.

The performances are fantastic all round. Morgana O'Reilly as Kylie is one tough cookie of a scream queen. After participating in a failed ATM robbery she gets sentenced to eight months house arrest at her mother's rambling country house, which her mother suspects may be haunted. The fact that she is trapped in the house with her ineffectual stepdad and her blabbermouth of a mother, makes Kylie even more cranky than she already was and the fact that something spooky stalks the house at night isn't helping her mood either. In a great cast the stand out is Rima Te Wiata as Kylie's none too bright but well intentioned mother. There will be people complaining about unlikeable characters but who cares when they are as fun and as well drawn as they are here. Nobody strains to give a comedy performance, in best Antipodean tradition the humor is totally deadpan.

The set-up is similar to the forgettable Famke Janssen horror flick 100 Feet but this film does the premise of being under house arrest in a haunted house justice. If the film has one flaw then it's one typical of many a first film: Housebound runs on a little too long and would have made a perfect 90 minute film. It takes a while to get going. But that's a small complaint when the film gets so much right. The film really hits its stride in the last third, when all hell breaks lose and the plot twists and turns. Best horror film of 2014.

Bound to your own house ... or worse to the home you grew up in. That's what happens to our main character here and she doesn't like it at all. Sometimes jail seems like the better "solution", not that she'd know from the get-go. The story mixes horror with comedy and does a really good job with both. It's not the best mix I've ever seen, but it's more than sufficient and good enough.

The acting is good and for a small budget movie the location lock is working fine. Still there is more to a house than meets the eye and the construction/architecture is well thought of. A similar premise might have been used by other movies, but this still feels kind of unique

Kylie Renee Bucknell (Morgana O'Reilly) bungles an ATM robbery and gets sentenced to eight months of house arrest in her mother Miriam's (Rima Te Wiata) home. She lives there with Graeme (Ross Harper) a quiet creepy man. She has an ankle bracelet that prevents her from leaving. Mom is convinced the house is haunted and it isn't long before Kylie joins her in the belief dragging in Amos (Glen-Paul Waru) of Titan security. At 43 minutes into the film, we discover the true story about the house and former occupants.

The film is 111 minutes long, taking time enough to weave a tale and introduce characters late. The movie is in part a comedy, but there are many scenes which have no humor. The opening scene made me laugh. It is a film worth viewing and one I that I will toss into my keeper pile.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity. Blood squirting.