Killer Sofa
Killer Sofa is a 2019 low-budget direct-to-DVD New Zealand comedy horror film written, directed and produced by Bernie Rao. Starring Piimio Mei, Nathalie Morris, Harley Neville, Stacey King, Jed Brophy, Jim Baltaxe (who also served as production manager) and Grant Kereama, the plot concerns a living recliner that commits crimes in the name of passion for its new owner. The film was released on DVD on 1 October 2019 by the US-based distributor High Octane Pictures, and received mixed reviews from critics, but reception for its humour was overall positive. Synopsis. Jack, a disgraced  Rabbi, comes across a reclining chair containing a dybbuk inside. After the recliner is sold to Francesca, Jack, alongside his voodoo sorceress partner, must try to find out where it was delivered. Meanwhile, the recliner becomes obsessed with Francesca and starts murdering anyone who gets close to her out of jealousy due to a previous relationship. Production. The recliner cost NZ$100. The initial title of the film was planned to be "My Lover, My Lazy Boy", but the production feared being sued by the La-Z-Boy furniture company. After this, the title "The Furnishing" was then considered, but finally  the name "Killer Sofa" was chosen. Rao faced some limitations while filming as he only had one recliner, which meant he was unable to film the sofa jumping from a window and crushing a person on a car, or a scene of the sofa vomiting blood as he worried it would stain the suede on the recliner. Release. The film was released on DVD on 1 October 2019 by the US-based distributor High Octane Pictures, before arriving to video-on-demand. Reception. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but reception for its humour was overall positive. Matt Donato , writing for "Flickering Myth", gave the film three out of four stars, saying: "Killer Sofa is weird, sometimes unwieldy, but should delight those who giggled incessantly at the film’s properly conveyed trailer." In a less positive review, Mike Phalin of "Sciencefiction.com" gave the film a 2.5 out of five, saying: "For a quick bit of wacky horror with a twist ending, "Killer Sofa" delivers on that end. Had the story and some key characters gotten a bit of tidying up in the script process, this could have been much more fun."