‘Next of Kin’: The horror movie Quentin Tarantino called “quite unlike any other”
American auteur Quentin Tarantino has tried his hand at several genres. He made his debut with the crime drama Reservoir Dogs before paying homage to martial arts movies with Kill Bill and westerns with The Hateful Eight and Django: Unchained. From blaxploitation to neo-noir, war and action, Tarantino’s intense love of cinema has allowed him to seamlessly weave different genres into his celebrated body of work.
While he’s dipped his toes into the waters of many popular genres, one that the director surprisingly hasn’t fully dedicated himself to is horror. The closest Tarantino got to the genre was when he made Death Proof, which was released as part of a double feature with Planet Terror, directed by Robert Rodriguez. It would be easiest to call the film an action movie, although some fans consider it a slasher, too, due to the fact that Kurt Russell’s character spends the movie targeting women with his car.
Still, Tarantino has never made an all-out horror film, but he would certainly excel at it. Sadly, it seems as though we’ll never get a Tarantino horror movie unless he magically decides to work within the genre for his next film—said to be his last—although that appears very unlikely. Regardless, Tarantino remains a big horror fan, frequently spotlighting his favourites, including lesser-known titles.
When it comes to horror, he has previously discussed his love for films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist and My Bloody Valentine. Another horror movie he loves, however, is a less-talked-about entry to the genre, Next of Kin by Tony Williams.
The movie stars John Jarratt, who previously appeared in Picnic at Hanging Rock, alongside Alex Scott, known for his small appearances in films like Darling and Fahrenheit 451. It’s the only film that Williams directed, and it has faded into relative obscurity since its release in 1982.
However, in the 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood, Tarantino gushed about the movie, comparing it to Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. He explained that he’s a “real, real big fan” of Next of Kin, adding, “It literally is a horror film quite unlike any other.”
The movie follows a woman who inherits a large estate from her mother, which is now a retirement complex. However, shortly after Linda arrives, a resident is found dead in the bathtub, just one of many strange and terrifying instances that occur as the film unravels. Tarantino explained, “It has a very, very unique tone, and the closest equivalent to this tone is The Shining – and there’s no movie that really feels like The Shining, with the possible exception of this movie Next of Kin.”
Despite comparing the two, Tarantino believes that Next of Kin “doesn’t try and take anything from” The Shining, adding, “they share no other similarities.” Rather, he thinks that their distinctive atmosphere is comparable, continuing, “There is this mesmerising tone of dread that’s in the film that I think is truly unique to it, and it’s very, very evocative.” For Tarantino, the film’s strong tone, which “carries” the film, is truly “terrific”.
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