Penny Lane Is Dead

Why I took it off the list:

Having recently published my two-part exploration of “Ozploitation” horror from the 80s, I was surprised to learn that a modern “Ozploitation” horror set in that decade had just been released!

So I was keen to see how a modern take on the genre would compare!

Review of Penny Lane Is Dead (2026)

For a film set in 1986, Penny Lane is Dead does not feel very 80s. Aside from some (sparse) visual cues, such as the vintage cars and some wardrobe and hairstyle choices, it could just as well be set today.

It often feels like the year was chosen purely for the absence of cell phones and social media. Which would have tripped up the film’s plot pretty quickly.

As it is, we get very modern-feeling teen girls as protagonists (aside from Alexandra Jensen’s Amy, who sports a perm and appropriately ghastly 80s duds.)

And the story could easily be taking place in the modern age. It follows a trio of newly-graduated high school friends, including the titular character (Bailey Spalding), who decide to celebrate in an isolated beach house.

Penny Lane appears to be practically perfect in every way: she’s smart, gorgeous, and on her way to law school. Things that her troubled cousin Kat (Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, daughter of Ben) deeply resents.

And so Kat has planned to gatecrash the party, roofie Penny via a drug-laced cupcake, and take some pictures of her cousin in a compromising state. She has also invited her criminal boyfriend and his lackeys over to stir up some shit.

But she hasn’t counted on the fierce devotion of Penny’s girlfriend Toni (Tahlee Fereday). Who proves to have some serious mettle, and fights back against a situation that becomes ever more dangerous and chaotic.

Elevated by Game Cast

One major positive is that the screenplay for Penny Lane is Dead is pretty solid. And despite the harrowing situation, draws out more than a few dark laughs, mostly thanks to some colorful characterization.

The film also manages to keep up considerable tension throughout its runtime, as things go from bad to worse for all of the girls. Including Kat, who quickly loses control of the situation.

For the most part, the script follows a generic home invasion blueprint, but with a twist. As it’s a family beach house and Kat arguably has as much right to be there as Penny. So the girls feel like they have to put up with her shit until a certain point.

It’s also admirable that the film centers a queer character as the hero. And that Toni and Penny’s love is treated as the emotional backbone of the piece (although it’s a little surprising that the couple don’t have any hangs-ups about their relationship given the time period.)

The core female cast of Penny Lane is Dead are all solid at bringing believable, sympathetic, and three-dimensional characters to life. So you definitely feel the loss when some of them inevitably end up dead.

Among the men that invade the girls’ space, Ben O’Toole is certainly easy to hate as lead agressor Angus. Although his performance is maybe a little too cartoonish.

Steve Le Marquand gets a more nuanced character to work with as the world-weary Merrick (and is a dead ringer for the late Miguel Ferrer, had to remind myself it couldn’t be him as he tragically passed after filming Twin Peaks: The Return.)

But Wright-Mendelsohn is unquestionably the standout as the unstable Kat. She seriously channels some of the same manic energy that made Fairuza Balk such a memorable villain in The Craft (1996) and makes a big impression.

Final score: 7/10

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