It’s the feature film debut for Gerard Johnstone, and he knocks it out of the park with a horror-comedy that works both angles well. This is really just a great film to check out for yourself.
Miriam is convinced the house is haunted, and as a reluctant Kylie learns more of the house’s secrets, she finds it harder to be a skeptic. But to add insult to her ego’s injury, she’s placed at her childhood home under the care of her eccentric mother, Miriam (Rima Te Wiata). This New Zealand horror-comedy follows a troubled young woman named Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) who is sentenced to 8 months under house arrest after she tries (and fails) to rob an ATM. And the early scenes of Marnie trying to find something to do in the house (pre-internet, poor thing) are pretty relatable. But the whole “you’re literally trapped in here with a very angry and motivated ghost with a score to settle” concept is a good one. As far as ghosts go, he’s rather hands-on, and Marnie is soon desperate to expel the spirit so she can serve her time in peace.įull disclosure, the ghost effects are… not great. She’s bored and lonely, but not alone - the spirit of her horrible husband is trapped in the house with her, and he’s pretty angry about the whole murder thing. Whether they’re put on house arrest or held for the sake of their own safety (supposedly), these protagonists are simply stuck.Īfter spending 7 years in prison for killing her abusive husband (in self defense), Marnie (Famke Janssen) is fitted with an ankle bracelet and held under house arrest for 6 months. Well in these films, they actually can’t leave. “Why don’t they just leave?”, we wonder (while secretly glad they don’t… it would be a very short and boring movie, otherwise). In many, many horror films, we often find ourselves perplexed by the subject’s inability to wisen up and just get out of the damn house. I was thinking of what kind of list I could create to commemorate such an occasion, and it seemed only appropriate to focus on horror films in which the subjects just can’t leave the house. It’s been… *checks watch* just over a year since COVID-19 started, and the world has been put on a long-term time out.