Sam Panico Linda inherits Montclare, a retirement home that belonged to her mother. When she comes back to her hometown to settle her affairs, she feels unwelcome, with only Barry, an old boyfriend (John Jarratt, the evil Mick Taylor in the Wolf Creek series of movies), being understanding.Things certainly aren't helped by Montclare's staff, including Connie and Dr. Barton (Alex Scott, The Asphyx), who have been conducting a secret affair and may be conspiring to drive Linda insane. Or perhaps the house is truly haunted, as drowned corpses appear at will and windows mysteriously open. No matter what, there's something wrong and it's probably due to the years of madness and murder that Linda's mother has covered up.There's an amazing moment near the end where Linda has gone near insane, barricading herself within the diner, where she builds a pyramid of sugar cubes as the forces of evil gather themselves to do her in. It's strangely gorgeous. And not the only original sight in a film that seemingly would only be a rip-off.Throw in an amazing score by Tangerine Dream's Klaus Schulze and you have a film that's quite worthy of experiencing.Sadly, there's been no official U.S. DVD or blu-ray release of the film. You can find it on YouTube and through the gray market. And you totally should. It's nothing like the poster promises and is instead a psychologically rich trip through past sins and a family curse.

jadavix "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.

PeterMitchell-506-564364 Next of Kin was something of a disappointment to me in terms of the horror quota of gore. There are long periods throughout this film where virtually nothing happens. A 24 year old girl, Linda, slightly creepy looking too, takes over her mother's business, a elderly restoration home in this big old building. Strange things start happening as mentioned exactly in her mother's diary. Yes something evil looms in the eerie hallways and empty rooms of this old historic place, that takes the lives eight patients if I can remember, none of the deaths hardly violent. A much younger John Jarratt, way before his Wolf Creek killing days, adds some spark as Linda's loopy, laid back boyfriend, you feel thankful for his presence, which is not that much. The teaser for it, is a teaser, showing you all the good bits, a real deception in what was a real horror disappointment for me.

Coventry This was the first Australian haunted house thriller I ever watched (at least I think it was, unless overlooking another one), but unfortunately I can't claim it was a very good or even remotely memorable experience. "Next of Kin" is a slower than slow developing thriller with only a few worthwhile moments but sadly a whole lot of pointless filling & meaningless mystery building. The film benefices slightly from its naturally eerie setting – namely an elderly folks home – and the always secluded Australian outback locations, but the actual storyline is thin and derivative, the lead characters are unsympathetic and – last but not least – the amount of thrills and shocks is unforgivably low. Linda, a young and not-so-attractive woman returns to her hometown as she inherited her recently deceased mother's resting home. She's not very motivated to continue running the place and her reluctance even increases when strange occurrences take place on the estate. The discovery of her mother's diary sheds some light on the uncanny situation within the walls of the resting home, but the sinister events carry on. The attentive and perhaps more experienced horror viewer will notice a detail quite early in the film which will already reveal an important part of the final denouement. The sight of old, wrinkly people stepping in and out of bathtubs does make me shiver, but it's still not the type of horror I anticipate to see on film. The last ten minutes of "Next of Kin" suddenly become extremely virulent and outrageous, with a stabbing through the eye and even a genuine head-explosion, but it's too late to save the film as a whole unfortunately. I agree haunted house movies generally need to rely on atmosphere and suspense instead of graphic gore, but "Next of Kin" has literally nothing.