Next of Kin

I'm all for a slow burn, but Next of Kin might test the patience of anyone. It takes an awfully long time to get going and, by the time it does, the film is almost over. It's still a well shot and well made horror film, but it's a little too lethargic for its own good at times.

"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.

100% on Rotten Tomatoes? An absolute joke. This is bang average as a 'horror' movie. I genuinely can't believe some of the reviews on here that describe this as scary as hell because it quite simply isn't, not at all. The cinematography is good, I'll give you that, but the acting is nothing special apart from the Doctor and the story is actually boring.

Of course, judging a movie is down to the viewer but I genuinely can't get my head around the many glowing reviews for 'Next Of Kin'. Not a movie I would watch again. As for Rotten Tomatoes I am convinced that their ratings are meant to be a joke.

Though the pacing can drift over to the sluggish side at times, Next of Kin is a very effective Australian thriller that deftly makes use of the spooky retirement home setting to creep out the audience. Once the action packed finale rolls around, any pacing issues will be forgiven.

just HAD to put my comment here. I think that the rating given to this movie is far below what it deserves. I first saw this film when i was 17 and it scared the pans of me. Now more than ten years later i still think it works well. The story is simple and has a few holes but it's got a great soundtrack and very nice cinematography. The acting is better than in your common horror film. I rate this one 8 stars out of 10. And i believe that anything below a five rating is given by people who don't appreciate a good horror movie.