Where to Watch Next of Kin
Discover where Next of Kin is available to stream, rent or buy across different platforms and countries.
Why I took it off the list:
After recently watching a couple of classic Australian films, I decided to make a list of great Ozploitation** films from the 70’s and later one from the 80’s.
I started with the beginnings of the genre, including thrillers Wake in Fright (1971) and The Cars that Ate Paris (1974). But the next few films I had lined up were mostly dramas, and I was in the mood for a horror. So I decided to “cheat” and skip ahead a little.
I considered watching Patrick (1978), but instead settled on Next of Kin (1982). Which Quentin Tarantino himself rates very highly as a “mesmerizing” horror film, comparing the film’s “pacing and atmosphere” to Kubrick’s The Shining.
Plus, Next of Kin won the Best Film award, beating out The Evil Dead, at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, one of my favorite movie showcases. So I was in!
** Ozploitation refers to a wave of low-budget exploitation films produced in Australia, particularly during the 70’s and 80’s, across a wide range of genres, including horror, comedy, sexploitation, and action.
The term was coined by Tarantino and director Mark Hartley during the production of the documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008).
Review of Next of Kin (1982)
Like the two Ozploitation films from the 70’s that I watched before this, Next of Kin begins with a stranger travelling into a strange land. Namely, a remote region in the Australian Outback.
But unlike the protagonists of Wake in Fright and The Cars That Ate Paris, Linda (Jackie Kearns) is only a recent stranger to the small town.
She’s come back after a long absence because her mother has recently passed away. And she has inherited the imposing Gothic mansion Montclare. Which the older woman was running as a rest home for elderly people.
Linda is happily reunited with long-term resident Lance, who was a father figure to her growing up. And with handsome old flame Barney (future Wolf Creek villain John Jarratt), with whom she quickly rekindles the spark.
However, Linda isn’t too happy when matron Connie (Gerda Nicolson) informs her one night that a new resident is arriving. As her plan is to settle her mother’s affairs, sell the house, and get the hell out of dodge.
Said resident, Mrs. Ryan, arrives in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm. During which a tree on the property is stuck by lightening (in one of many startling “how the hell did they get that shot??” moments in the film), blocking the road.
Meaning the poor old woman has to be carried through the rain to the house by her nephew Kelvin. Soon after this unwanted late-night arrival, strange things begin happening around the mansion.
Firstly, there’s the death by drowning of a resident, which causes poor Lance to have a stroke (he discovers the old man’s ghostly corpse in the bath tub). And more mysterious deaths follow.
And Linda starts to experience possible paranormal phenomena, such as candles lighting themselves when her back is turned and taps seemingly turning on by themselves.
At the same time, she starts reading her mother’s old diaries, and is shocked to discover that the same chain of spooky events plagued the house back in the 60’s. Right after her aunt Rita’s mysterious death.
As the alarming events escalate, Linda is thrown into a spiral of fear and paranoia. Could her aunt Rita really be haunting the mansion? Or is there a sinister human hand behind the phenomena?
Atomospheric and Technically Accomplished
What the screenplay for Next of Kin does very well is maintain a high level of suspense and mystery throughout the whole film. Co-writer Michael Heath throws in lots of subtle clues and red herrings as to who the culprit behind Linda’s ordeal could be, and you’re left guessing for most of the picture.
There’s Barney, Kelvin, Connie, and the seemingly amiable Dr. Barton, all of whom could have ulterior motives for terrorizing Linda. Or it really could be the specter of dear old Rita.
The film is masterful at balancing the suggestion that Linda is being gaslight with the possibility that something supernatural is happening. And makes good use of the cavernous old mansion to instill uncertainty, with Overnewton Castle and Illawarra House making for ideal filming locations.
The editing and camerawork is incredibly inventive, and there are are some truly draw-dropping shots. Including the aforementioned lightening strike, the striking visual of the water in a fountain slowly turning the color of blood, and many during the explosive final sequence.
Director Tony Williams employs a range of techniques to create mood and tension, including some impressive steady-cam shots of the mansion’s corridors that do indeed evoke The Shining. And a couple of genuinely disturbing slo-mo shots made even more harrowing by distorted audio.
The cinematography is also excellent. Particularly in the nighttime scenes inside the house and in Linda’s dreams/memories from childhood.
And Kearns gives a beautifully naturalistic and nuanced performance that really gets you rooting for Linda to make it out of her ordeal unscathed.
Years before Sidney Prescott, she’s a final girl who makes all the right decisions in scary circumstances, gets away with having sex, and proves to be pretty kick-ass when the time calls for it.
Final score: 8/10
