Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Housebound’

Written by Scott Edwards 

​Sometimes going back home is something that everyone needs to do. Getting back to one's roots can be refreshing and eye opening for many people, but there are some folks out there that would never take the opportunity to do it since they want to forget all about their childhood. Everyone has their own way, and there is no right or wrong way, but it is always good to remember where you came from, especially if you are going through a tough time, or are being told that you are getting a little too big for your britches.

Kylie is loving her lifestyle, the life of crime, but it is slowly catching up with her. Trying to blow up an ATM, her car dies while trying to flee the scene and since this is her first offense, she has been sentenced to house arrest. Wanting anything but to go back home, she has no say in the matter and is assigned an officer to keep an eye on her that lives in the same neighborhood. Trying to be understanding about her daughter’s situation, her mother Miriam welcomes her little girl back without any questions asked, but Kylie is far from happy and wants to leave the house as soon as possible.

Not wanting to listen to her mother’s stories, much less be around her, Kylie puts herself in her own world, one filled with television, music and anything else she can find to avoid her mother. When listening to a local radio show, Kylie finds out that her mother is still as crazy as she was when she was a child, since she calls in and opens up about the house being haunted. Kylie knows that her mother is crazy and now the entire town knows it as well, but Miriam sticks by her story and will not let anyone convince her otherwise. Although Kylie does not believe one word her mother says, she has a first-hand encounter with someone or something in the basement. With her ankle bracelet going off, her appointed officer comes running and the family finds out he believes in the afterlife.

Kylie is not impressed with what is happening in front of her, but she cannot explain who grabbed her. Thinking that it is over, she starts to experience more strange things around the house and cannot explain what is happening. Finding out that her childhood home was a halfway house many years ago and that there was a brutal murder committed in her room, she is convinced that there is something unexplainable happening. With her officer working with her, Kylie is directed to try and find out what happened to the girl that was murdered in her room, along with who the real killer was all those years ago. Knowing enough about what has happened in the house, Kylie has a suspect for who the murderer was, but when she finds a secret door inside of her closet, she finds out that she may have been gravely wrong with her assumption.

This is a movie that I first heard about at the Mile High Horror Film Festival, and am very upset I did not get to see it on the big screen back then. I am a sucker for a haunted house film, especially one that has to do with finding out who the real killer is. With a surprise hiding in the walls, it is hard to imagine that more does not happen in this house, all the time. With the classic light flicker and things going missing, or just moving, there is a secret that the house is just not willing to give up right away. I really enjoyed this one, it has all of the correct elements for the scares, especially a little talking bear that sent shivers up and down my spine. Stay Scared.

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