| Killer Sofa | |
| Director: | Bernie Rao |
| Music: | James Dunlop |
| Cinematography: | Bernie Rao |
| Editing: | Bernie Rao Paulo Lourenco |
| Studio: | Mad Kiwi Films |
| Distributor: | High Octane Pictures |
| Runtime: | 81 minutes |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $85,000 |
Killer Sofa is a 2019 New Zealand low-budget direct-to-DVD comedy 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.
Frederico Olsen, an occultist, is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend Francesca Morton. He hires veterinarian Warren Lee to saw off his legs so that he can hide inside a reclining chair. Lee agrees to do it, but Olsen dies from shock after the procedure. The chair is then sold to Francesca, who is unaware of its dark history. She soon begins to feel a strange presence in her apartment, and her friends and loved ones start dying in mysterious ways.
Two detectives, Bob Gravy and Roseanne Grape, are assigned to investigate the case. They are initially skeptical of the possibility that a chair could be responsible for the murders, but they eventually come to believe that it is possessed by a demon. The detectives seek the help of a disgraced rabbi, Jack, and an eccentric voodoo sorceress, Ashanti. Jack believes that the chair is possessed by a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that can possess inanimate objects. Ashanti believes that the chair is possessed by a loa, a Haitian spirit that can be both good and evil.
Jack and Ashanti perform a ritual to exorcise the dybbuk from the chair, but the ritual fails. The chair then escapes and goes on a rampage, killing anyone who gets in its way. Francesca eventually confronts the chair and learns that it is possessed by Frederico's spirit. Frederico is still obsessed with her and wants to be with her forever. Francesca rejects Frederico's advances, and he attacks her. Jack and Ashanti arrive just in time to save Francesca. They perform another ritual to exorcise the dybbuk from the chair, this time successfully. The chair is destroyed, and Frederico's spirit is sent to the afterlife.
Francesca is safe, and the detectives are able to close the case. However, they are both left shaken by the experience, and they realize that there are some things in the world that cannot be explained by reason.
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.[1] Rao faced some limitations while filming as he only had one recliner,[2] [3] 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.[1]
The film was released on DVD on 1 October 2019 by the US-based distributor High Octane Pictures, before arriving to video-on-demand.[4]
The film received mixed reviews from critics, but reception for its humour was overall positive.[5]
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".[6] 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."[7]