‘Underrated masterpiece’ horror that left fans sleepless is now available to stream for free

A horror film has fans amazed they’ve not heard more about it before watching (Picture: Everett/Rex/Shutterstock)

A horror film with a near-perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes has been hailed a hidden gem and ‘pure cinematic gold’ from viewers stunned to have not heard of it before watching.

The movie from 2014 is now available to stream for free in the UK too, ready to convert a whole new legion of enthusiastic fans.

Housebound – directed by Gerald Johnstone as his debut feature film before going on to helm M3GHAN and its upcoming sequel – sees would-be thief Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) sentenced to house arrest with her estranged mother Miriam (Rima Te Wiata) and step-father for eight long months.

Fitted with an ankle monitor, Kylie must stay on the premises and is frustrated further when her mother tells her she thinks their family domicile is haunted.

But Kylie starts to convince herself that there is indeed some kind of intruder in their house after being grabbed by a disembodied hand in the basement.

New Zealand indie flick Housebound marries its more chilling aspects with the darkest of humour to deliver the best of both the horror and comedy genres

‘This movie is the epitome of why I couldn’t sleep alone in the dark or walk home alone at night as a kid,’ shared one viewer in a five-star audience review, while another called it ‘such an underrated masterpiece’.

‘I wish I could go back in time and watch it for the first time again. Going from thinking it was a ghost story, to a home invader story, to a ‘this crazy girl is seeing things’ story, then back again was an absolutely delicious unicorn that almost never happens with today’s predicable garbage. Pure cinematic gold,’ added Alissa R.

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Meanwhile C.A. admitted that they ‘didn’t think it was going to be as good as it turned out to be,’ and Kevin R praised it as a ‘very unique horror-comedy’.

‘Did not expect it to be so well-crafted. Can’t believe I’ve never heard of nor watched it until a couple of nights ago,’ he continued.

Housebound takes the haunted house sub-genre and does its own thing with it, including injecting some dark humour (Picture: Everett)

‘Packed with surprises and shock moments till the end. Crazy like Hot Fuzz or Shawn of the Dead,’ chimed in Max N with popular comparisons, while Dale C Beauchamp admitted on Google that ‘my hair stood on end many times’.

‘This film somehow pulls off being both laugh-out-loud funny and hide-behind-a-blanket spooky. I love it!’ agreed M.E. Maloney.

Others were less convinced with Richard L writing on Rotten Tomatoes: ‘Amateurish and cliché. I’m sure the favorable reviews could be related to its country of origin. I’m all for encouraging lower budget films but this brings nothing new to the table.’

Another dubbed Housebound ‘a solid Edgar Wright imitator with an underwhelming ending’ – but critics were almost unanimous in their praise, awarding the movie now available to watch on BBC iPlayer with a massive score of 95% compared to fans’ rating of 73%.

Fans have praised the film as ‘pure cinematic gold’ (Picture: Everett)

‘The mishmash that results is by turns creepy, silly, inventive, darkly funny and, at one point, mind-blowingly bloody,’ read the Los Angeles Times’ review, while Little White lies observed: ‘Housebound winningly sticks two fingers up to tired genre persuasions, effecting a barnstorming crowdpleaser populated by people you want to root for and tension you can chew.

‘It’s the stuff Friday nights at the movies were made for.’

Housebound is available to stream for free in the UK on BBC iPlayer.

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