The Kindred

After three years in a coma, Amanda Hollins awakens and tells her son, John. To destroy her life experiments and any information found in her secluded old house. He heads there with his girlfriend, some work colleagues and one of his mother's admirers. They eventually discover more then what they bargain for, as some of his mother's genetic engineered creations run amok.

I thought I've seen this one before, but I was wrong. This modest combination of 50's sci-fi / horror goes onto deliver a undervalued oddity, with a tip-top ensemble cast and sure-handling from dual directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter. Suspense is lacking because the minimal story is just too typical and shredded with loopholes, but it's the surprisingly efficient make-up effects, which are over-the-top and horrifically creative that makes for a pleasurable treat. The excessive use of this icky business in some wicked (and at times silly) set pieces is the film's only real imaginative bone. A quick tempo, builds up after a slow opening and the shocks are well placed for maximum effect. Be it a laugh or a gasp. The material mostly plays it with a straight face, with slight slabs of humour and Rod Steiger's small meaty turn. The composed performances (with Steiger being the exception) are reasonably good from the cast. David Allen Brooks is likable in his steadfast delivery and the ravishing Amanda Pays shines in her shifty portrayal. Talia Balsam gives hearty support and Peter Frechette diverts. The classy Kim Hunter also gets some minor scenes as Amanda Hollins. Obrow and Carpenter's directorial style is systematically sturdy without an ounce of any visual flourishes. The look of the film generates a gloomy air, mainly due to Steven Carpenter's murky photography and dim lighting. David Newman's moody, understated music score is fairly unnoticeable.

I really enjoyed this movie. It has some really original special effects, i.e. "fish-woman". It has remained one of my favourites. The cast made up of mostly little known actors are all likeable, (even when being obnoxious) and the setting is not your usual sci-fi horror laboratory deal.

If you like a scare, I recommend it and if you do see it and like it you might want to try "From Beyond".

A man who's scientist mother recently died has been told that she created a genetically made baby brother named " Anthony" but it turns out that it's a fully grown mutant monster that murders people, only the man can stop this freak of nature.

Entertaining little flick with good acting and an OK plot, the creature itself looks a little H.R. Giger-esque, recommended if you like " Jurassic Park", " Species", "Resident Evil" and " From Beyond".

5/10.

Another "When science goes bad" themed b-movie film about a son who discovers the extent of his mothers experiments and the creature that lives within the bowels of her home.

Truth be told The Kindred has some good ideas, some of the practical effects are great and it's not entirely awful. Sadly on the flip side it's not very well made, for every decent sfx there is a poor one and the characters are instantly forgettable.

The Kindred is one of those very few films I'd like to see a reboot of, or at least modern sequel. The potential is there, it just needs a budget and a decent team to put all the pieces together.

In it's current form The Kindred is a barely passable effort that I'd advise only big fans of the genre give time to.

The Good:

Some great practical effects

A few good ideas

One decent death scene

The Bad:

Some poor practical effects

Weak construction

Doesn't meet its potential

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Had Japan made this film it would have been an entirely different movie, you know......the tentacles!

After learning of his ailing mother's condition, a genetic researcher is tasked with heading to her secret laboratory hideout to retrieve data to finish the experiments ahead of a ruthless rival, but when he and his team discover the mutated results of the experiment must try to get away alive.

This was a fun enough if somewhat flawed genre effort. Among the more likable elements here is the mysterious atmosphere present here that demonstrates the build-up of the research being committed. With the first half focused pretty heavily on demonstrating the importance of the research to the various parties present and their desire to get at it, the series of expeditions out to the house by the parties in play serve this quite well. Getting an idea of the importance of the research and how far they're willing to go to get their hands on it, this provides a great starting point into the importance and need to handle the particular experiment quite well. That all ends up providing a series of enjoyable and generally fun cheesy creature feature attacks. Offering up plenty of fun with the practical effects, the encounters here are quite fun with the early sequence of it stowing away in the backseat of the car and unknowingly causing it to drive off the cliff, the ambush in the farmhouse that brings the creature's full form to light and the full-on fun of the attacks inside the house with the creatures' tentacles offering up some genuine shock tactics bursting out to grab at and ensnare victims. This generates a highly enjoyable and effective finale featuring some decent barricade tactics, practical creatures, and a frantic confrontation that gives this one quite a lot to like. This one does have some issues with it. One of the biggest drawbacks is the generally uninvolved setup that tends to make this one go on for quite a while until it becomes interesting. The focus on the meetings between the various doctors and medical personalities, the strange abduction of the accident victim from the roadside crash by the unknown mercenary, and the intimations that clandestine experiments are going awry waste all sorts of time here. It doesn't help that there's no real connection given for a lot of these storylines for quite a while into the running time meaning this takes a while before things start to make sense which isn't a good look for starting a movie off. The other big drawback to this one is the rather unnecessary and convoluted means through which this one tries to set up a secondary villain in the mod doctor out to steal the creature for himself. Not only is this entire segment written in a highly complicated matter concerning the devious member of the team trying to undermine the trip for him which isn't that creative anyway but also goes to show a generally lame reasoning for undergoing the ruse for the most point. It introduces bodies into the equation in the finale which is an expected side-effect but doesn't really do much else here with it being pretty much non-existent about why its' included which all brings this down somewhat.

Rated R: Graphic Violence and Grapic Language.