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A
couple of mid-80s genre
films from the vault
today.
Next
of Kin
1982
Next
of Kin is a horror film
(not the late 80s
Patrick Swayze classic)
about Linda (Jackie
Kerin) who returns to
her old home after the
death of her mother. The
house, which her mother
ran as a retirement
home, is on hard times
and to add to the
misery, the old folks
are dropping off in
mysterious ways. Also,
all the workers seems to
acting mysteriously and
talking behind Linda's
back. Linda is also
having dreams from her
past to an incident that
happened in the house.
She is convinced someone
is killing the old
folks, but no one
believes her, not even
her boyfriend (John
Jarratt). So, it's up to
Linda to find out what's
going on before she
becomes next. Heavily
influenced by recently
made The Shining (well,
if there's anyone to be
influenced by, it's
Kubrick), this is a gem
of a haunted house
thriller with some
absolutely surreal
touches including that
famous final shot. It is
a genuinely creepy film
like The Shining and has
held up extremely well.
Well worth a look if you
can find it.
Jackie
Kerin film clip.
Collages below.
 
Incident
at Raven's Gare
1988
Incident
at Raven's Gate is a
sci-fi thriller from one
of my favourite
Australian directors,
Rolf de Heer. It is set
in South Australia and
concerns a series of
mysterious happenings in
the local area. Eddie
(Steve Vidler) is a
former jailbird and
still a bit of a
troublemaker who lives
with his brother Richard
(Ritchie Singer) and his
wife Rachel (Celine
Griffin) working on
their farm. Rachel has a
major crush on Eddie,
but Eddie resists while
having a fling with a
local barmaid (Saturday
Rosenberg). Local
hardnosed cop Skinner
(Vincent Gil) wants to
put Eddie away so that
he can have the barmaid
for himself. One night
while Skinner chases
Eddie, both cars stop
dead in the middle of
nowhere. This is the
start of what is going
to change everything for
everyone. Eddie finally
relents to Rachel's
advances. Eddie sees
bright lights in a
neighbouring property
that almost stops him
dead. Eddie and Skinner
tussle again, this time
at the newly abandoned
house down the road,
this time, the bright
lights bring mayhem
which changes Skinner
into some kind of
psychotic creature.
Richard finds out about
Eddie and Rachel and
even though they fight,
they must band together
to stop this thing.
Interesting little alien
incident thriller that's
a little more arty than
the usual (that Rolf de
Heer for you), but isn't
quite successful in
conveying what exactly
is going on. But there's
something intriguing
going on nonetheless.
Celine
Griffin film clip.
Collage below.
Saturday
Rosenberg film clip.
Low-res sample below.
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