Next of Kin

When her mother dies, Lina (Jackie Kerin) inherits the family business — the Claremont retirement home, somewhere in the Australian outback.  The home isn’t doing that well financially, but Linda reluctantly takes over.  Strange goings-on are afoot… faucets left running, unexplained noises, figures seen in the distance who suddenly vanish.  Linda struggles with nightmares, and as she pores over her mother’s diaries, she learns that this happened before, and she finds curious references to her mysterious aunt Rita.

This is one of a very small handful of films that caught my attention while watching Not Quite Hollywood, the Ozploitation documentary.  Tarantino is also a big fan.  Director Tony Williams clearly has some influences — The Shining, Halloween, The Exorcist and giallo in general.  The movie packs some eerie atmosphere and the climax is a dizzying, impressively crafted ball of tension.  The camerawork is often very expressive and memorable.  Klaus Schulze, of Tangerine Dream, provides a really wonderful score, although it may sound cheesy and dated to those who aren’t fans of synthesizer overload.

There are a couple of issues I have with the movie, however.  A character appears late in the film whose identity was meaningless to me, until I read another review and realized I’d missed some tiny bit of information.  I’ll put that on myself, though… perhaps I wasn’t paying close enough attention.  The big problem is the pacing of the first two-thirds of the movie..  I don’t mind a slow build.  It’s kind of expected in most horror movies, and usually appreciated.  But for an hour this film tried my patience.  I liked the occasional mysterious flourish, but way too much teasing with no payoff.  It’s okay to hint at spooky things happening, but once in a while something spooky actually has to happen.  False alarm jump scares and diary readings don’t always cut it.

Still, I recommend watching it for the terrific third act, and just enough creepy atmosphere in the buildup to make getting there worthwhile.  Rating: Good (72)

IMDb