Quentin Tarantino singled out the 1982 Australian horror film Next of Kin for a quality he associated with The Shining: its unsettling tone. He called it “the closest equivalent,” while stressing that the films “share no other similarities.”
Directed by Tony Williams, Next of Kin follows Linda Stevens, played by Jacki Kerin, as she inherits Montclare, the country retirement home her late mother owned. Reading her mother’s diary, Linda discovers that the disturbing events recorded there are beginning to repeat around her.
The film builds its horror through sustained dread and a slow-moving mystery. Klaus Schulze composed the score, and Williams co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Heath. John Jarratt plays Linda’s boyfriend, Barney, with Alex Scott as Dr Barton.
Tarantino’s praise came with a reservation. In an interview posted by Screen Australia on August 23, 2016, he said the film “maybe falls apart a little bit at the very very end,” though its tone “carries through.” His comparison with The Shining also appeared in the 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood.
Williams won the Gold Carnation Medal for Best Feature Film Director at Spain’s Sitges festival in 1982. That year’s other winners included The Evil Dead, which received the International Critics’ Award, credited to Sam Raimi, and Best Special Effects for Tom Sullivan.
Next of Kin was Williams’s 2nd narrative feature, following 1977’s Solo. His later work included commercials and documentaries, but he hasn’t made another narrative feature.
