The Kindred

Okay, first and foremost, let me take my pants off. Just kidding... No, First and foremost, this film will delight you ONLY if you are a real fan of films described in my summary above. It is ULTRA low budget, but you really have to admire how well they did with what they had. I thought for very low cost creature effects, the creators / directors of the film did an excellent job in making them as believable as possible and actually truly scary at times. You could tell that the directors had a nice natural sense of how to visualize what they wanted; for example, without giving too much away, just the simple scene with the little guy in the jar was really quite good. When compared to MANY other similar scenes in Horror or even Goofy, NOT-Serious Horror (A La 'GREMLINS', for example) where you would use similar effects, I really felt that they made it very believable and lifelike, which went a LONG way in involving and truly immersing you more in the film.

Sure, as some others have stated here, there are some pretty Cheeeeeeezy moments, but even compared to MOST of the Horror crap that has come out during that time and even within, say, ten years of this being made, I think this one very much holds it's own in drawing the audience in and creating a decent level of tension. There are also a nice twist or two that adds to the entertainment value of the movie. One transformation scene, which I WON'T go into because I do not want to enter Spoiler territory, was honestly quite effective and well done, despite some of the scornful comments from a couple of other reviewers here.

The acting is nothing to get too excited about; we don't see very much from the veterans here, except the usual Rod Steiger getting worked up to either an orgasm or heart attack, take your choice... I personally liked Brad though; he had a rather entertaining personality. Everyone else was adequate; the British girl was decent, of course the accent (to us easily impressed Americans) always helps.

I'm NOT trying to say that this is by ANY reach of the imagination an 'ALIEN', 'SESSION 9', or 'EVENT HORIZON', believe me; but for the modest intent of the film and for PRECISELY what it is, it comes across surprisingly well. So, like I mentioned before, IF you are indeed a fan of these kinds of films, then you should have a lot of fun watching it...

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".

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!

The era of the VHS spawned a lot of flicks that are still not released on DVD or Blu Ray. Synapse announced this one years ago and up to this writing it is still not available on that format. So if you want it, it's still a VHS hunt, go figure that!

Is it worth a hunt? Well, it's made just before the end of the horror era. It doesn't show luckily but it's cheesy as hell. But the effects are on-camera and done with the classic latex as seen in the classics so be happy that those are used and not some stupid CGI from that era.

Low budget as hell is shown if you look sharp, a few times the microphone is seen in shots. But if you like them cheesy and messy and with mediocre acting or even over acting try to find it. Be honest, no good storyline you only watch this for the effects.

It has been a while i've seen a 4:3 format on VHS, a trip down memory lane.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 1,5/5 Comedy 0/5

Dying woman (Kim Hunter) tells her son (David Allen Brooks) to destroy all of her lab work and that he also had a brother. Brooks takes some of his friends, plus a mysterious woman (Amanda Pays) that claims to be a big fan of his mother's work, to mom's house. There they fall victim to a monster that his mom accidently created and that Rod Steiger is trying to capture for research. Scary film with an intense opening sequence and a good cast, especially Steiger and Pays. It also features some good nasty gross out special effects, especially the watermelon scene and the finale. A very underrated horror film.

Rated R; Graphic Violence and Profanity.