Housebound is writer-director Gerard Johnstone's only feature film, but its unique tone has the confidence of an established, more experienced screenwriter

O'Reilly is terrific as the sneery discontent at the centre of the madcap maelstrom, while Rima Te Wiata walks a wonderfully fine line between pathos and aggravation as the long-suffering/insufferable mum whose forced smile is about to crack.

Housebound does ghosts in the walls with the same wacky panache as the recent Wyrmwood did Aussie zombies.

Creating a funny, believable situation only to interrupt it with sudden spikes of fear is a tough trick to pull off, but Johnstone and team make it look spookily easy.