The Age of Commercialism

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

"Next of Kin" is a cult horror classic from Australia. It is effective at building suspense, and has some genuinely frightening, shocking moments.The plot concerns a young woman who inherits her mother's nursing home. Strange deaths occur at the home and when the lady reads her mother's diary, finds that events in the past are mirrored in the present.The movie is less a slasher than an Aussie giallo. It's a violent murder mystery with Hitchcockian suspense touches, rather than the typical hallmarks of the slasher genre, eg. a masked killer stalking victims who split up to be offed one by one, and sex leading to a grisly death.The film is far more interested in atmosphere, which it provides really well.

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

Following the death of her mother, Linda inherits the retirement home that she ran. Once there, reading through her mother's diary sets off a series of unsettling memories. Bizarre occurrences begin taking place as well, almost as if someone were toying with her.I've seen this Aussie gem referred to as a slasher film on more than one occasion, though I wouldn't necessarily call it a slasher myself. It's more of a slow-burning mood piece, one that's quite ambiguous at times. It's also effectively creepy, one of my favorite scenes involving a figure watching Linda just out of her eye range as she roams the woods in search of her boyfriend. Said boyfriend is played by John Jarratt, a mainstay in Australian horror, and his presence here is a welcome one as always. Jacki Kerin is Linda, and she's solid as the isolated heroine who doesn't feel completely at home back in her old stomping grounds.Naturally, the filming locations are gorgeous and the cinematography does a fine job of catching them in all of their glory. The film is complimented by a unique score and some stylish sequences, such as one terrific slow-motion bit where Linda is rushing down a flight of stairs. The ending gets really wild, leaving the film's more subdued nature behind for an extravagant finale.I first discovered this film back in the early 90's when I stumbled across the VHS in H.E.B.'s video rental section of all places, that memorable cover art catching my eye. Even now, the film is just as effective an experience as it was way back then. All said and done, this is one of Australia's finest contributions to the genre. In fact, only "Long Weekend" is on the same level.

"Next Of Kin" has become something of a minor cult classic and deservedly so. This has to be one of the few horror films that I have actually found freaky. Others being "An American Werewolf In London", "Friday The 13th" and "The Thing". I feel I shouldn't give too much away, but I can tell you this; Tarantino is a huge fan of John Jarratt, and in particular, a huge fan of this movie. In short, this has gone under the radar a bit and must be seen. Horror as it should be.