After the death of her mother, Linda (Jacki Kerin) reluctantly returns to her tiny hometown. Her inheritance consists solely of the spooky mansion she grew up in which was converted into a retirement home. Linda spends her time trying to sort out her mother’s messy finances, helping out with the care of the elderly, having creepy dreams, and rekindling a relationship with her old flame Barney (John Jarratt). Things take a turn for the weird as the old house seems to be haunted and the old folks start dropping like flies. Linda’s suspicions of malfeasance are aroused by the shady actions of the rest home’s directress (Gerda Nicolson) and resident doctor (Alex Scott). Will her determination to get to the truth prove to be extremely dangerous? Oh my, yes. Get out of there, Linda!

Despite winning multiple awards at film festivals, a lousy distribution deal (or lack of one) made Next of Kin drop off the radar. Luckily for horror fans, this classy slasher filled with gothic horror influences and quirky humor was at least somewhat available thanks to some cruddy looking bootlegs. Cinematographer Gary Hansen provides the sumptuous camerawork and his superb Steadicam skills give the film its infectious sense of urgency when the action kicks in. German synthesizer mastermind Klaus Schulze (Manhunter, Angst) delivers an awesome electro score that I hope will get a release on vinyl here in the states.

The script by Michael Heath and director/co-writer Tony Williams is full of subtle clues, haunting moments, and characters that I actually care about (gasp!), even though this film was released during the heyday of the stalk and slash film. Next of Kin gets better with every viewing thanks to its creepy atmosphere and breathtaking, ethereal beauty. It’s also very dreamlike and bizarre with excellent performances from Kerin, Jarratt, and the rest.

Okay, now I’m spoiled. Not only does this disc look and sound amazing, it’s loaded with more extras than you can shake a boomerang at. There are two excellent audio commentary tracks on this release. The first is with director Williams and producer Timothy White. They discuss the evolution of the screenplay from a horror comedy to the thriller it became. They are also exhaustively informative with behind-the-scenes information and they’re both full of praise for cinematographer Hansen. The second track is with cast members Jacki Kerin, John Jarratt, and Robert Ratti with Mark Hartley, director of Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation. Jarratt is hilarious on this track and Jacki Kerin is very charming. They talk at length about the production and how they were all equally heartbroken when this film had such awful distribution problems.

Also on this disc is Kier-La Janisse, author of House of Psychotic Women, who has a short feature discussing Next of Kin. There are extended interviews with the cast and crew from the Not Quite Hollywood documentary. There’s a cool extra called “Return to Moteclare” which is an excellent location visit of where much of Next of Kin was filmed. My favorite extra is a reconstructed deleted sequence that would be a major spoiler to discuss here. I’ll just say that a certain character’s fate made up a big part of the finale but was cut for various reasons. Using text and on-set photos, this (presumably lost) sequence is recreated and is a joy to behold.

Also on the disc are various trailers for the film including the UK VHS trailer and the German trailer. There’s also the German credit sequence, an image gallery, and reversible cover art. I’m terrified of children so I prefer the art with the bloody hand descending from the sky above the mansion. The version with the creepy little girl is just too much. Speaking of creepy, the footage of ballroom dancers seen in the film is included here. Yikes. Last but certainly not least, there are also a couple of Tony Williams’s short films. These are dramatic documentary-style shorts from a TV series called “Survey” released in the early 1970s.

Next of Kin is easily in my top 5 most anticipated releases of this year. Severin Films is one of the best studios out there so everything worked out! I know there are still rare films out there that need rescuing from bootleg hell but it’s Blu-rays like this one that really make it worth being a film collector. Eight years ago, my podcast co-host Brad and I covered Next of Kin armed with only a VHS rip at our disposal but we could see that this was something special. Now I’m over the moon that other film fans who haven’t seen this one -or didn’t snatch up the Australian Blu-ray that came out in October of 2018- get to enjoy it.

Hopefully, Quentin Tarantino’s praise for this film won’t get too many hipsters riled up because a good word from him seems to have the opposite effect on some folks. But Next of Kin really is that damn good. While the slasher boom was still in full swing, director Tony Williams made something with a bit more flare and a much lower body count. His ambitious vision coupled with that unmistakable New Zealand charm and Australian gritty weirdness makes for a great watch. Fans of Dario Argento and Mario Bava will feel right at home with Next of Kin. Is this an Australian giallo? Watch and judge for yourself. I can’t recommend this film highly enough.