Nic Brown
Finding original films can be tough. Then again, this is true for almost any story medium, be it movies, TV, books, or even the spoken word. There is an idea that there are only really seven stories and everything is just one version or another of one or more of those basic plots. I’m not going to say that Killer Sofa has broken that particular convention; it hasn’t. However, it is the first film I’ve encountered that revolved around a recliner chair that kills people.
Killer Sofa is, at its core, a love story. Boy loves girl, girl doesn’t love boy. Boy is a voodoo practitioner and uses dark magic to enchant a sofa with a killer spirit called a Dybbuk. Dybbuks come from Jewish mythology and are pretty nasty customers. Not only can they possess people and inanimate objects, but they can also draw in the souls of those they kill and use that soul as a source of additional power.
Unfortunately, the possessed chair is delivered to the wrong address. This is where Jack, an old man with a mystical past, happens to touch it. He has a vision of a woman in the past killing herself. Then he passes out. When Jack awakens, the recliner is being taken away to be delivered to the correct address. Jack is disturbed by his vision and seeks more information both from his girlfriend, who is also somehow involved in the supernatural and from the internet, which we all know contains nothing but accurate information about all topics.
Francisca is pretty excited to receive a surprise gift in the form of a new comfy recliner chair. The fact that the chair looks oddly out of sync with the rest of her furniture is overlooked as she drops the chair into a prime location in the main room.
The first night she has the chair her boyfriend TJ is off at a bachelor party and so her friend Maxi comes over to keep her company. It turns out Maxi’s grandfather is Jack, but that little convenience doesn’t come up yet. Anyway, Francisca and Maxi are visited by police investigating a homicide. One of Francisca’s many ex-boyfriends may have been involved in a murder and the police are looking for him. They only learn that Francisca has questionable judgment when it comes to men and leave. Maxi soon follows and Francisca is left alone with her new chair.
Sitting in the chair and reclining it, Francisca is overcome with an almost sexually charged energy that seems to feed off her and as it does the chair appears to get more powerful. Later, she awakens in her bed, believing it all a dream. A romantic path of flower petals leads from the bed to the recliner. On each arm of the recliner are treats, cookies on one side and coffee and chocolates on the other. TJ comes home and Francisca believes it’s his work. TJ doesn’t mind taking credit but notices the chair seems to move when he tries to take a cookie.
Later, when Francisca is out, the chair attacks him, breaking his legs. He escapes certain death at the hands of an armchair when Francisca and the two detectives, who’ve come to talk to her again, come in. Of course, no one believes TJ’s assertion that the chair attacked him.
That night TJ stays at his mom’s house but the armchair comes a calling and makes gruesomely short work of the boyfriend. As it does, we cut to Jack reading about how the Dybbuk captures its victims’ souls. Fitting as we watch it suck TJ in.
As the chair’s unholy love for Francisca grows, along with its evil powers, more of the young woman’s friends disappear or die horrible deaths. Will Jack figure that his granddaughter’s best friend is the one who received the cursed chair in time?
Killer Sofa is a surprisingly entertaining horror-comedy. The film doesn’t try too hard for jokes. Rather it relies on the absurdity of its premise to provide a lot of the humor, coupled with the extremely humorous images of a lurking recliner chair walking around. The scenes of the recliner moving around as though it were some sort of lumbering serial killer make the film worth seeing for any horror fan. However, there is more to it than just that.
Killer Sofa has more plot than one might have expected from a movie with a name that immediately invokes images of Sharknado or Killdozer. The film is also well-acted and has very good special effects. The chair, in particular, is a treat as most all of its effects are done practically, not with CGI.
So if you’re in the mood for a movie about a killer sofa, well this isn’t it. Despite the title, Killer Sofa is about a killer recliner chair. However, if you can overlook that particular flaw in the film’s naming convention, then check out Killer Sofa. It’s funny and about as original as a piece of killer furniture movie can be. It is also a cautionary tale about the price of love, and the importance of feng shui when looking for the right chair for your living room.
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