Us

"Us" (2019, Jordan Peele, Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures) is a horror film about a family who are confronted by violent doppelgangers.

We meet Adelaide (Madison Curry) as a child with her parents at the pier attractions. While her parents are distracted, she wanders off and finds her way to a hall of mirrors. Whilst inside she sees something terrifying...

Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) is now all grown up. She, her husband, Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two kids, Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex), are enjoying a holiday at her family's cabin. After a day at the beach with their friends, the Tylers, Adelaide appears out of sorts and tells Gabe about the encounter she had in the hall of mirrors. Gabe, naturally does not believe her, but soon they notice a family standing threateningly outside the cabin. A family that looks disturbingly familiar...

An unsettling and thoughtful film that also delivers a fair amount of violence, gore and action. The moments of comedy are well timed, amusing and compliment the more tense points of the film. I enjoyed that the film felt almost nostalgic in its story telling, styling and scoring but was set in present day.

The characters are well rounded and relatable which makes it all the more effective when we meet their doppelgangers who are similar yet animalistic and antithetical in nature. There isn't a bad thing to say about any of the cast's performances, but Nyong'o's emotional performance steals the show both as Adelaide and her counterpart.

The film makes a point of not answering all the questions raised leaving a couple more holes than was perhaps necessary but delivers enough turns in the plot to leave you pondering over it in the wake of viewing. An amusing piece that says a thing or two about human nature and what defines a villain.

[Image: Monkeypaw Productions, Universal Pictures]

Hani

Housebound

"Housebound" (2014, Gerard Johnstone, Semi-Professional Pictures) is a horror comedy from New Zealand.

Kylie Bucknell (Morgana O'Reilly) is a troubled young woman with a sharp tongue who turns herself to petty crime with a hapless accomplice. Their actions result in her getting caught and being sentenced to house arrest in her mother's home with an electronic ankle tag. Kylie would apparently have preferred actual prison because her nutty mum, Miriam (Rima Te Viata), and her mother's equally strange boyfriend, Graeme (Ross Harper) are boring her to death.

Her mother is also convinced that the house is haunted, and embarrasses Kylie non-stop by talking about it on radio call-in talk shows. Kylie becomes suspicious that what her mother is experiencing is actually a hidden intruder after she feels a hand grab her from under the stairs in the basement. But she soon begins to share her mother's paranormal suspicions after finding the same creepy, electronic teddy bear cropping up all over the place going through the unnerving death throes of a dying talking toy... The scenes with the bear are just the best!

She makes reluctant friends with the security guy called Amos (Glen-Paul Waru) who is supposed to be monitoring her ankle tag, but he instead becomes roped into the investigation - with his own ghost hunting equipment. Together they begin to uncover what is really going on in her mother's house.

A fun comedy horror with some unnerving bits and one or two nice reveals, "Housebound" was great for four reasons:

• Our lead actress is funny, strong and fairly unflappable as well as unafraid to utter some colourful language
• When it gets gory... it gets GORY
• There are some genuine scares and a good level of suspense built up, despite the tension-breaking humour
• It's relatively unpredictable and the plot is engaging

So if you're sick of tired out zombie comedies or looking for something refreshing to watch that packs a punch but with a smile, then I highly recommend giving this one a try.

[Image: Semi-Professional Pictures]

Hani