Review: Next of Kin

Not to be confused with the Patrick Swayze/Liam Neeson redneck action pic, this one’s an Aussie supernatural/psychological horror pic. Jacki Kerin’s mother dies, and she inherits the family business: a home for the elderly seemingly out in the middle of Woop Woop. Upon arrival, strange shit starts happening to spook Kerin and elderly patients turn up murder death killed. John Jarratt is her frankly lousy sometime boyfriend, Gerda Nicolson (who did a great job replacing Patsy King as the governess on TV’s “Prisoner”) and Alex Scott play the manager and resident doctor, respectively who seem to be up to something. Debra Lawrance (miles away from everyone’s favourite foster mum on TV’s “Home and Away”) plays a local bogan twit, and Scottish-born Tommy Dysart (known for Aussie TV work, especially commercials) runs a local store.

A favourite Ozploitation film of Quentin Tarantino’s, I’m less enamoured with this 1982 mixture of Kubrick and Argento, from Kiwi director Tony Williams (who turned to documentaries after this) and co-writer Michael Heath (Kiwi horror films “The Scarecrow” and “Death Warmed Up”). I think the comparisons to “The Shining” are mostly overstated in the critical community, however there’s a couple of moments in the climax in particular that are pretty unmistakable. Even the colour of the door is the same as that infamous moment with Jack Nicholson scaring the shit out of Shelley Duvall. There’s more Argento influence if you ask me, especially the underrated “Inferno” in the film’s attractive aesthetics. It’s a good-looking movie with fine cinematography by Gary Hansen (who died the same year, having also worked on “We of the Never Never”), as well as a good atmospheric soundtrack, too. The score by Klause Schulze (something called “Barracuda”) sounds a bit like a low-key Goblin (Argento’s “Suspiria”) to me.

There are moments of goodness sprinkled throughout, with lots of building atmosphere and fine use of silence. The roving camerawork and soundtrack do a good job to discombobulate the audience, and even the ‘jump’ scares do their job better than in most horror films. Any horror/thriller with thunderstorms and a spiral staircase can’t be too bad, and there’s a nice call-back to “Vertigo” with a camera trick at one point (Also implemented in “Jaws”).  Jacki Kerin is pretty good (and pretty hot) in the lead and even disrobes quite frequently, but no one else really stands out favourably in the cast full of familiar faces. Talented Aussie TV veterans Debra Lawrance and the late Gerda Nicolson (both “Prisoner” alum) aren’t cast to their best advantage. John Jarratt and “Prisoner” sadist Tommy Dysart are rather wasted, too. Meanwhile, the last 5-10 minutes involving former “Young Talent Time” member Vince Deltito as a shotgun-firing kid seems to belong to a completely different film. It’s awfully over-the-top but in a bombastic action movie way, not the atmospheric horror pic preceding it. What the hell was that all about? Things like these are what hold the film back just enough from getting a full recommendation here. The plotting and supporting cast aren’t anywhere near as impressive as the direction, the top-notch cinematography and impressive soundscape. It’s the kind of film that might scare the shit out of you at 3AM if you’re all alone and a wimp like me, but doesn’t have nearly the same effect during the daytime because you’re just not drawn into the story enough when wide awake in the daytime. There’s promise here from director Williams, if not Williams the co-writer. An admirable Aussie genre pic, but ultimately just shy of the mark thanks to a rather unremarkable plot and some mediocre supporting work from actors who have been better utilised elsewhere.

More a showcase for the director than the screenwriter, this looks and sounds good, Kerin is solid in the lead, and there’s enough good moments to make it watchable at least. But this probably could’ve been even better. QT (and quite a few other people it seems) really like the film, so don’t necessarily take my word as the be all and end all. I wonder what QT thinks of the terrible killer-in-the-Mr Whippy-van movie “Snapshot”. Surely even he can’t defend that one, even with Sigrid Thornton getting her norks out.

Rating: C+