I love a good mystery when it comes to horror films. Those
kind of movies where you don’t have everything laid out for you, instead having
to take the bits and pieces the film maker delivers and put them together like
a jigsaw puzzle. All the clues are there but misdirected notions, red herrings
and a plot device that makes you think things are going one direction when
instead they go another make for interesting viewing. I found all of that in
NEXT OF KIN now out from Severin.
The movie revolves around Linda Stevens (Jacki Kerin) who
inherits the retirement home of Montclare when her mother passes away. Once a
mansion her mother and Aunt Rita turned it into the retirement home to keep the
place going. Having been away Linda returns and find housekeeper Connie (Gerda
Nicolson) keeping things going with the patients.
Linda also reacquaints herself with her old boyfriend Barney
(John Jarratt). It feels like no time was lost between the two and they once
again become a couple. This comes in handy as things begin to turn sour.
Linda finds her mother’s diary and begins reading about her
life and things that happened in Montclare early on. Mysterious sounds, lights
flickering and more begin to take place, just as described in the diary that
Linda is reading. Worse yet patients begin to be die in the home under odd
circumstances. Local physician Dr. Barton (Alex Scott) shows no evidence of
foul play but Linda notices a few things in his reports that cause her to
wonder if he wasn’t somehow responsible.
More potential suspects are brought in as Linda suffers
through the same things that happened to her mother. As the film move along you
begin to wonder if these are items that are actually taking place or are they
merely things Linda is seeing in her own mind. Is there a killer? Could it
actually be Linda? Or could this all just be her hallucinations?
The movie does an amazing job of keeping the suspense on
edge while at the same time being an entertaining film as well. Not an easy
task but accomplished with ease it seems. But the right combination of efforts
makes it so. The acting has you believing every single character her. The
cinematography is amazing with some stupendous shots at times. And the
directing gets the best performances and technicalities to come together making
an interesting film. It’s as if the giallo film were transplanted from Italy to
Australia and done perfectly.
I’d not heard of this film before and I’m pleased to see
that Severin has released this in a manner which shows they are getting better
with each release. Not only are they releasing it in a glorious print they’ve
included a number of jaw dropping extras as well. Those include a commentary
track with director Tony Williams and producer Tim White, a commentary track
with Mark Hartley and cast members Jackie Kerin, John Jarrett and Robert Ratti,
a “House of Psychotic Women” intro by Kier-La Janisse for Morbido TV, extended
interviews from NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, RETURN TO MONTECLARE a location visit from
2018, deleted scenes, BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OUT ballroom footage from 1979, the
original theatrical trailer, the UK VHS trailer, the German theatrical trailer,
the alternate German opening, an image gallery, deleted scenes, Tony Williams
short films and a reversible sleeve. Whew! An exhausting amount of extras that
should fill an evening’s viewing.
Severin has been improving with each new release they bring
out. NEXT OF KIN just shows that this is continuing. Horror fans should rush to
pick this title up. It’s truly that good.
No comments:
Post a Comment