Next of Kin (1982)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Absolutely amazing

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Linda inherits Montclare, a retirement home that belonged to her mother. When she comes back to her hometown to settle her affairs, she feels unwelcome, with only Barry, an old boyfriend (John Jarratt, the evil Mick Taylor in the Wolf Creek series of movies), being understanding.Things certainly aren't helped by Montclare's staff, including Connie and Dr. Barton (Alex Scott, The Asphyx), who have been conducting a secret affair and may be conspiring to drive Linda insane. Or perhaps the house is truly haunted, as drowned corpses appear at will and windows mysteriously open. No matter what, there's something wrong and it's probably due to the years of madness and murder that Linda's mother has covered up.There's an amazing moment near the end where Linda has gone near insane, barricading herself within the diner, where she builds a pyramid of sugar cubes as the forces of evil gather themselves to do her in. It's strangely gorgeous. And not the only original sight in a film that seemingly would only be a rip-off.Throw in an amazing score by Tangerine Dream's Klaus Schulze and you have a film that's quite worthy of experiencing.Sadly, there's been no official U.S. DVD or blu-ray release of the film. You can find it on YouTube and through the gray market. And you totally should. It's nothing like the poster promises and is instead a psychologically rich trip through past sins and a family curse.

It shouldn't exactly be called a slasher though. The body count is high but it is not really in the same genre. Instead maybe it is similar to those old British atmospheric horrors. Generally though such movies always end up on top of my list. But I am not so sure of this movie. There has been a great deal of effort in building atmosphere in this movie. For the most part, it works on suggestion and it doesn't really show much violence except towards the end. And when it does show, it does deliver in spades. I liked the way the movie slowly reveals the truth of the situation. In that, it is similar to certain Hammer thriller movies of the 60s and 70s like Taste of fear, Nightmare and so on. Only in some ways, it is even more subdued than those films. The lead actress is perfect in the role. In some ways maybe, the setting itself is not too interesting. It would have been even better if she was alone in the house and then she slowly learns about the situation. This movie is about a retirement home. I guess for the perverts among us, this is not really an interesting setting and personally whatever nudity that exists in the movie is not wholly interesting to me. But the mood that the movie sets is pretty impressive. The reveal is not shocking. To be honest, anybody who has read any mystery authors or watched many mystery movies would be able to guess. It is not groundbreaking in any way. But credit must be given for some stylish sequences, especially towards the end (the sugar cube scene in particular) that would obviously make this a cult movie(if it was more known).The reason why I am not giving it a higher rating is because I feel that it could have been more interesting in the first half. There is a marked improvement in the second half. But still the movie plods on in the first half without much really going on and there isn't much tension being built up. This would be fine if there was some interesting character development in the first half but I don't think this movie really has that much detail in its story for such character development. The plot and the reveal are fairly simple. Despite all that, I still feel this is a slow burn movie worth checking, at least for the second half's interesting scenes and the ending. 6/10

Next of Kin was something of a disappointment to me in terms of the horror quota of gore. There are long periods throughout this film where virtually nothing happens. A 24 year old girl, Linda, slightly creepy looking too, takes over her mother's business, a elderly restoration home in this big old building. Strange things start happening as mentioned exactly in her mother's diary. Yes something evil looms in the eerie hallways and empty rooms of this old historic place, that takes the lives eight patients if I can remember, none of the deaths hardly violent. A much younger John Jarratt, way before his Wolf Creek killing days, adds some spark as Linda's loopy, laid back boyfriend, you feel thankful for his presence, which is not that much. The teaser for it, is a teaser, showing you all the good bits, a real deception in what was a real horror disappointment for me.

The one problem this film has is contrivance. I mention this in advance, because you have to turn your reality switch off and forget about that. The reasons you would do so, are because this was made on a minuscule budget, with very limited promotion and is highly ambitious for what it tries to accomplish. It's also very sincere. It's not schlock. The filmmakers gave this effort their all. So, YEAH, forget the holes in logic (some) and concentrate on the good acting, beautiful framing of scenes, above-average cinematography, lurid jolts and that slam-BANG ending. This one's a treat from beginning to end, for anybody who treasures superbly done horror (and let's face it, people, how many undiscovered gems like this remain out there?). It suffered from being released in the USA by a tiny video distributor (VCD) who was just about in bankruptcy when it came out. It had NO theater exhibition outside its native Australia and got confused with a Patrick Swayze pot boiler of the same name, which surfaced around the same time. I like this film SO MUCH, that I will not divulge details of the plot to you in any manner, whatsoever. Seriously, hunt around in the bins at your local video store and keep your fingers crossed, because you'll dig this one. Flaws? I took a point off for them, so you're good to go get this sweet Australian sleeper.