by Mariah Beachboard, Editor, Great Geek Refuge

Yes, you read that correctly.

Killer Sofa.

This horror/comedy hails from the land of hobbits and gorgeous panoramas: New Zealand. (It’s also the home of Flight of the Conchords, who are musical-comedy geniuses. Seriously, google their comic acts and their short-lived, brilliant tv show.)

In Killer Sofa, the recliner is the scary villain. It’s also a hilarious puppet with beady eyes that glare at the heroine, Francesca, with lustful obsession.

Killer Sofa has two black glassy buttons for eyes, and the crease in the brown upholstery forms his frown. He’s provided chocolates, and cookies for Francesca. He gets pissed when the friend starts eating the cookies. Super pissed.

The heroine Francesca has a curse: men would die and kill for her. Director Bernie Rao found the woman with the longest legs in all of New Zealand to play this role: Piimeo Mei. Rao and costumer Charlotte Kelleher worked together to make sure Mei’s legs stole the show throughout most of the movie - especially in the weird Recliner Sex Dream scene, which wasn’t actually a sex scene. It was more like a writhe-on-the-Lazy-Boy-Puppet scene.

Francesca, with her long legs, lays provocatively on the recliner in the sex scene that wasn’t.

One of her “dedicated” (obsessed) suitors decides to have his legs cut off in a voodoo ritual which somehow embeds his soul (and more) into the recliner, and he makes sure it’s delivered to Francesca.

After writing the last line, it occurs to me that you might assume genitalia was also embedded into the Killer Sofa. It wasn’t. Without giving away the ending, I’ll simply say there’s enough of the stalker in the recliner to give it a…je ne sais quoi…an aura of “ooh la la” with a dash of vengeance. And there’s definitely some corporeal goo in the equation - as opposed to what you might get with, let’s just say, an “upholstergeist.” (This pun is brought to you by Mike Lunsford. Thank you, Mike, for providing the best dad joke ever.)

Upon delivery of Killer Sofa to the unwitting Francesca, it appears that Killer Sofa just wants to be Best Friend Sofa. Or Boyfriend Sofa. Or even Bodyguard Sofa. But nay, I tell you. We discover its aspirations are much darker when it hunts and kills Francesca’s live-in friend (she thinks he’s her boyfriend, but well, it’s kinda complicated, but not really).

Jealous Killer Sofa stands on the street, ready to kill anyone who comes between him and Francesca.

The actors do a great job of saying some the stupidest lines ever written, with a straight face. For example, Angelica Thomas plays Ashanti and has this line to say: “Whoever has that recliner is in grave danger.”

Angelica Thomas is a gorgeous African American actress, wearing a head scarf and fabulous turquois earrings. Her face is deathly serious.

DUN. DUN. DUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!

Other fun performances are delivered by Nathalie Morris (Maxi - Francesca’s real best friend), Jed Brophy (Detective Bob Gravy), and James Cain (the very gross Ralph). Honestly, the whole cast does a great job of playing it up and taking it seriously. Comedy is hard to do well, and for the most part they did a great job. My favorite, though, is James Dunlop’s performance as “Creature Recliner.” Notable mention goes to the solid makeup and the exuberant special effects.

The movie is campy and requires no emotional investment from its audience. It doesn’t apologize for the ludicrous premise, but leans into it with gusto. In fact, Killer Sofa was exactly the medicine I needed after a week of truly horrific current events. So to make the fun last a little while longer, comment below with pics of your upholstered furniture, particularly if it’s dopey-looking or even homicidal in appearance with glossy black buttons. We need a few good laughs around here.

Check out Killer Sofa’s official trailer. It’s one of my favorite trailers ever.

More "What to Watch" reviews