Editorials
‘Housebound’: Home Is Where the Haunt Is [Horrors Elsewhere]
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Standing trial for robbery is just the beginning of Kylie Bucknell’s troubles in the 2014 film, Housebound. In light of the defendant’s repeat offenses, a judge decides Kylie needs stability; something maybe her mother can provide. Others in the same boat would be relieved to serve their jail time with family and in the comfort of their childhood home. Yet judging from Kylie’s reaction as she hears the details of her sentence, going back home is nothing short of terrifying.
Gerard Johnstone’s directorial debut starts off like a lot of other horror movies; someone returns to their hometown. Of course Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) is not visiting Bulford of her own accord. For the next eight months, Kylie is left in the care of her mother Miriam (Rima Te Wiata) and stepfather Graeme (Ross Harper). The transition is not easy given the visible friction between daughter and mother, and the presence of what may very well be a ghost in the house. Kylie’s search for clues with probation officer Amos (Glen-Paul Waru) soon reveals this is no ordinary haunting.
The horror elements come into play after Miriam plants the idea that the house has always been haunted. Kylie is skeptical, but the mother reminds the daughter she used to feel similarly growing up. This is where Miriam does Kylie a disservice; she fills her head with superstition. And with the protagonist under house arrest, she now spends her time trapped inside with a supposed ghost. Her cabin fever eventually gives rise to obsession and paranoia. Ordinary sounds — the house settling or cats crying in the middle of the night — are suddenly proof of the uncanny. Amos’ convenient hobby of ghost hunting only adds to the problem.
Housebound comes from a long line of horror movies that combine comedy with terror. This enduring trend of humorous horror is especially popular in New Zealand, and it took off after Peter Jackson’s earlier films, Bad Taste and Braindead. Although nothing in Housebound is all that spine-chilling, Johnstone still manages to create and sustain tension in spite of the wacky atmosphere. Those intervening doses of humor throughout also soften the story’s heaviness without removing any of the emotional value or effect.
Families are a timeless subject in horror. While other narratives have a tendency to be serious or abrasive with the topic, Housebound is lighthearted but also not shallow. Moments punctuated by quips, wit or slapstick still have some emotional weight to them. This includes Kylie’s simmering resentment as she hears her mother’s every word, Miriam’s passive aggressiveness after discovering her daughter has done something thoughtless again, and Kylie feeling out of sorts when on the receiving end of genuine affection. The characters’ inability to express their emotions is both amusing and relatable.
Kylie is not the easiest character to root for. She is indignant, stubborn and selfish. It is never completely laid out why Kylie begrudges her mother so much, but a good guess would be her absent father. Kylie’s court-ordered therapist Dennis (Cameron Rhodes) hits a bit of a sore spot when he brings up her estranged father, who moved away years ago and started a new life with his new family. Logic suggests Kylie would be mad at him, but as is so often the case in these divorces, the child takes their anger out on the parent who stayed. Kylie gives in to bad habits when she finds out the truth about the house’s origins and blames her mother for everything. Miriam, however, is naturally stoic. She could have been more truthful with her daughter, but whether or not it was intentional, Miriam offered herself as a target for Kylie’s spite as well as a distraction from the pain of losing a father.
Normally viewers might feel disappointed when a horror movie changes course midway through. As soon as Kylie starts chasing ghosts and digging up the past in the second act, Housebound restates its own mystery. This entails a protracted hunt for answers, which at times makes for a less spirited story until the conclusion. As an alternative, the plot shakeup adds to the themes of family and acceptance and sets the stage for a gory tour of the house.
Kylie and Miriam’s strained relationship slowly but surely improves. They are on better terms at the end, but the road getting there is fraught with bumps. At first their clashes are routine; Kylie always undermines her mother’s optimism and refuses to listen to her advice. Things then escalate as Kylie’s investigation becomes more intense and involved. Originally, Miriam protects Kylie when the police insinuate she had something to do with Dennis’ bizarre injury. No matter how unkind Kylie is toward her and everyone else, Miriam still wants to help her daughter. That maternal bond is later challenged once Kylie’s erratic behavior causes accidental harm to someone close to them. At last though, a disheartened Miriam manages to come out in full support of her child when everything becomes especially hairy in Housebound.
Baked on top of the central family drama is a ghost story that takes some considerable turns. The basic concept is familiar, but Johnstone’s approach is refreshing, genuinely funny and fairly consistent in tone. Housebound is yet another win for Kiwi horror.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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