Next of Kin, 1982.
Directed by Tony Williams .
Starring Jacki Kerin, John Jarratt, Alex Scott, Gerda Nicolson, Charles McCallum, Tommy Dysart, and Debra Lawrance.
SYNOPSIS:
A young woman inherits a large retirement home from her mother, and after reading her dead mother’s diary a series of mysterious deaths begins to occur.
Before he became a household name amongst genre fans by picking off backpackers in Wolf Creek, John Jarratt appeared in Next of Kin, an Australian horror movie that should be familiar if you have seen the excellent Ozploitation documentary Not Quite Hollywood. If you are not familiar with said documentary then add it to your watchlist as it is required viewing for anybody with an interest in exploitation movies, but is Next of Kin also worthy of being added to the same list?
Possibly, because there are lots of things that Next of Kin does that are as intense and terrifying as anything in The Shining (a comparison given a lot of weight by Quentin Tarantino in said documentary) or a top-drawer haunted house movie like The Changeling or The Amityville Horror, but the underlying fault with the film is that all of its reveals and plot twists are extremely underwhelming given how much of a slow-burning build-up we are given.
The story begins with Linda (Jacki Kerin – Dirt Game) being left the Montclare retirement home by her recently deceased mother. The home is run by manager Connie (Gerda Nicolson – Prisoner: Cell Block H) with help from local doctor Dr. Barton (Alex Scott – Romper Stomper) and Linda never quite feels as though she fits in, as if the staff and residents are keeping something from her. Her only real friend in the home is Lance (Charles McCallum – Return to Eden), a long-time family friend who helped raise Linda with her mother, and apart from her boyfriend Barney (Jarratt) she doesn’t really have anybody else she can turn to.
However, one day she reads her mother’s diary and so begins a series of strange events where Linda begins to see dark figures hanging around – and not just in the home but when she is out and about – and one of the residents dies whilst taking a bath, putting Linda in a state of panic and forcing her to confront her past and what really happened to her mother.
But things don’t play out the way that you think and what appears to be leading towards a haunted house story goes off somewhere else, bringing in elements of slasher movies, car chase movies and an Agatha Christie-style mystery to keep you on your toes. All sounds good, especially when Next of Kin looks so cinematic with bizarre camera angles to keep up the feeling of unease along with an almost arthouse aesthetic to it, but somewhere along the line the film loses the sense of dread and fear that it spends its time so masterfully crafting that the final act almost feels like it was tacked on as the filmmakers had to come up with something quickly and the best they could do was reuse the plot of a murder mystery TV show to wrap things up.
Which is a shame because up until that point Next of Kin burns away slowly, flashing up surreal images and small bursts of slow-motion that help create a dense and dark atmosphere that nobody – on-screen or in the audience – seems to be able to penetrate to figure out what is happening. Jacki Kerin carries most of the film and does it extremely well, making Linda a very sympathetic character whom you want to get past this difficult phase in her life, and Alex Scott, John Jarratt and Gerda Nicolson offer up solid support despite not really having much to do other than look a bit suspicious every time they interact with Linda. As well as some unsettling (in a good way) camerawork Next of Kin also benefits from its use of sound, and in one scene the tension is ratcheted up several notches just by the use of footsteps running down a corridor that switches the film from ghostly chiller into more slasher territory but the fact you don’t see anything and can really feel Linda’s panic makes it a standout scene of pure terror that signals the peak of the film before it descends into more generic levels of storytelling for its disappointing climax.
With a nice contrast between the lights and darks of the large house in which it is set, Next of Kin is very pleasing on the eye without being too polished or clean. The disc comes with a wealth of bonus material, including deleted scenes, two audio commentaries – one from director Tony Williams and producer Tim White, the other John Jarratt, Jackie Kerrin, Robert Ratti and Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley, German opening credits, Tony Williams’ short films, a visit to the locations and, best of all, extended interviews from Not Quite Hollywood that give a bit of context as to how the film came about and how it fits in with the whole Ozploitation era. Overall, Next of Kin is worth a go if you fancy a slow-burning horror as the moments where it is at its best do get right under your skin but the film gets to a point where those moments seem to stop and what is left isn’t quite as clever or artistic as the filmmakers think it is.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
