Killer Sofa is a 2019 New Zealand low-budgetdirect-to-DVDcomedy horror film written and directed by Bernie Rao. Starring Piimio Mei, Nathalie Morris, Harley Neville, Stacey King, Jed Brophy, Jim Baltaxe, and Grant Kereama, the film follows a living recliner that commits crimes in the name of passion for its new owner. The film was released on DVD by American distributor High Octane Pictures on 1 October 2019 and received mixed reviews from critics, though its humour was generally positively received.
Plot
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.[1]
Production
The recliner cost $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.[2] Rao faced some limitations while filming as he only had one recliner,[3][4] 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.[2]
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.[5]
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics, but reception for its humour was overall positive.[6]
Flickering Myth reviewer Matt Donato gave the film 3/4 stars and said that it is "weird, sometimes unwieldy, but should delight those who giggled incessantly at the film's properly conveyed trailer".[7] In a less positive review, Mike Phalin of Sciencefiction.com gave the film a 2.5/5 stars and said, "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."[8]
