The horror-comedy genre can be quite tricky to crack. Lean just a little bit too much one way or another, and the movie ends up losing either the scare factor or the funny factor, coming across as either too serious or not serious enough. The best horror-comedies, however, manage to achieve the perfect blend of thrill and laughter, getting a visceral reaction out of those watching.
Among the best examples of this are “An American Werewolf in London,” “The Cabin in the Woods,” and “Housebound,” the latter of which is a cult film that holds a 95% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and made /Film’s ranking of the 20 best horror-comedies of all time. Released in 2014, “Housebound” is a movie in the vein of “Cabin in the Woods” or “Tucker and Dave vs Evil,” combining genuinely frightening moments with plenty of humor. Indeed, it’s that all-rare horror-comedy film that truly values scaring its audience, even if it’s for a hilarious punchline. Luckily, it’s currently streaming for free on Plex, Pluto, and Tubi, just in time for Halloween.
In “Housebound,” Morgana O’Reilly plays Kylie Bucknell, a bit of a screwup whose latest encounter with trouble leaves her under house arrest. If that wasn’t enough, she’s also forced to live with her blabbering mother Miriam (Rima Te Wiata) in a place that might be haunted by a less than friendly entity. “Housebound” itself was Gerard Johnstone’s feature directing debut, and it’s a confident one at that. Rather than a full-on parody that uses horror tropes and techniques to poke fun at the genre, the film is dark and full of thrills when it wants to be, walking a tightrope balance between humor and terror that never overwhelms either one. Plus, it has a lot of heart and a very relatable protagonist.
Read more: All 13 Halloween Movies, Ranked From Worst To Best
Before M3GAN, there was Housebound
“Housebound,” much like “What We Do In The Shadows,” has a very uniquely New Zealander heart and humor that makes the film unlike other horror-comedies. Johnstone infuses the script with Kiwi humor, but he also makes sure the audience feels for its characters outside of the genre shenanigans. This is, after all, a movie about a mother and a daughter, and it succeeds at pulling at the heartstrings.
It’s no wonder, then, that James Wan saw something special in Gerard Johnstone, enough to let him helm the techno-thriller-comedy “M3GAN.” As Wan once noted, it was the way Johnstone towed the line between creepy and silly that made him the perfect choice to turn M3GAN into an international pop icon. Obviously, he succeeded, as “M3GAN” was a big enough hit to get a sequel, with Johnstone and writer Akela Cooper’s genre mashup providing a thrilling story about our anxieties around artificial intelligence. It’s also a ridiculously fun movie about a killer doll and diva, as well as a rather sweet story about a woman trying to connect with the kid she’s suddenly tasked with taking care of.
Indeed, you can see the throughline connecting “Housebound” and its approach to character work and the heart at the center of “M3GAN” and its sequel. Johnstone excels at blending genres and tones (see also: how “M3GAN 2.0” wildly changes tone and genres throughout its runtime), all the while keeping audiences on their toes and defying genre expectations — whether by exploring the truth behind the haunting of the house in “Housebound” or M3GAN’s morality in the “M3GAN” films.
Even more than a decade after its release, “Housebound” remains a true horror-comedy gem. The fact that it’s also completely free on streaming makes this a must-watch for Halloween in 2025.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
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