The Kindred

Summary

”Do you have any idea what she was trying to calm down there?”

Synapse Films has recently released the 1987 creature feature horror film The Kindred on a standard edition Blu-ray. A year ago they released the film in a limited steelbook edition that featured an exclusive CD of the soundtrack. In 1986, The Kindred was given a pretty decent sized budget to realize the script by Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow, and John Penney. Carpenter and Obrow shared credit as directors of the film. From what I can tell, a good amount of the budget went to the slime covered practical creature effects for the film. I say that as a compliment. The Kindred is one of the more entertaining and competently made creature films from the Eighties. If you are a fan of that genre, I can almost guarantee that this film will be up your alley.

As the movie begins, a red sports car speeding in the rain tries to pass an elderly couple in a truck. The driver of the sports car doesn’t see that a house in transport has fallen off the back of a truck. The car crashes into the house and explodes, but the driver survives. A mysterious man looks on at the scene of the accident. Two paramedics load the driver into an ambulance. In the ambulance, the paramedics discuss the patient’s condition when the ambulance is rammed from behind. The mysterious man knocks one of the paramedics unconscious and snatches the patient. After putting the patient in his vehicle, he walks back and pays the other paramedic for his help. To make things look less suspicious, he punches the paramedic in the jaw. Dr. Lloyd (Rod Steiger) secretly receives the patient at the hospital. In the same ward, Dr. John Hollins receives news that his mother Amanda (Kim Hunter) has regained consciousness. She has recently had a heart attack. John goes to her bedside and asks if there is anything he can do for her. She tells him to burn all her research, the “Anthony journals,” and destroy the experiment. John asks who Anthony is, and she says “your brother” while being restrained. Meanwhile, the bribed paramedic approaches Dr. Lloyd to receive more cash for his hard work. Dr. Lloyd walks the paramedic to a secret area and opens a security door. The paramedic walks in and the door suddenly locks behind him. Inside the room are numerous mutants barred off from where he stands. As the bars lift up, the paramedic slime-ball screams as the freaks engulf him. The next day, John mentions the Anthony files to Dr. Lloyd. He brushes it off, but has his own reasons for dismissing John’s talk. Dr. Lloyd visits Amanda and his discussion with her causes her to have a fatal heart attack. At the funeral, John is approached by Melissa (Amanda Pays) – a scientist interested in his mother’s work on Hemocymin. After the funeral, John heads up to his mom’s old house with his girlfriend Sharon (Talia Balsam.) He invites Melissa and several of his assistants – Hart (Timothy Gibbs,) Nell (Bunky Jones,) Brad Baxter (Peter Frechette,) and Cindy (Julia Montgomery) -to help him unwind the research there that his mother had done. Meanwhile he searches for information on “Anthony.” None of them realize that a scientific abomination lurks in the basement.

The Kindred is a solid mad scientist/nature subverted/creature feature. While The Kindred can’t compete with high budget big concept creature films like Jurassic Park or Aliens, it is a charming horror film that relies on some cleverly orchestrated jump scares, and some really awesome practical effects. In the Eighties, mad scientist horror films were fairly prevalent (The Immortalizer, The Re-Animator, The Fly.) These films are not that prevalent now. I have a soft spot for this type of movie and found The Kindred to be a nice way to be entertained for an hour and a half. The script by Carpenter, Obrow, and Penney throws everything and the kitchen sink into the film including Lovecraft-inspired tentacle horror, a Lionel Atwill style mad scientist played by Rod Steiger, body transformations, test tube horrors and more. It is this devil-may-care approach towards giving the audience their fair share of entertainment value that makes the film an enjoyable popcorn movie. The film is not extremely frightening, and, like all creature features, requires suspension of disbelief, but it all sort of works. I could dive into some of the aspects that are less effective, but I think that warts and all this film should please most of its target audience.

The cast of the film are all good fits for their roles. David Allen Brooks is a perfectly capable actor for the role of the protagonist, and Talia Balsam is just as capable of playing his love interest. Amanda Pays steals every scene she is in, due to her good looks and onscreen charisma. Peter Frechette is the best of the supporting actors in student roles. The performance that will be best remembered in the film belongs to Rod Steiger in the role of Dr. Lloyd. Steiger is not in the film very much, but when he is onscreen he chews the scenery like an absolute lunatic. It is good campy fun.

Overall – The Kindred is an enjoyable and entertaining creature feature that will appeal to fans of the genre. Synapse has done an excellent job of restoring the film, so fans will want to check it out.

Video

Synapse presents The Kindred in 1.78:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The transfer was sourced from a 35mm interpositive. Synapse has done a terrific job on their presentation of the film. Fine detail is excellent. Clarity is very solid. There is a fine grain over the proceedings that looks filmic and does not exhibit any distracting compression issues. Fans will be very pleased.

Audio

Synapse Video have provided both a restored DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track and a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track . The mono track has been given a solid restoration, but I opted for the new 5.1 surround track. As one would expect, front channels are used more often than the back channels, but composer David Newman’s score some through nicely along with some other atmospherics. The hard work of Synapse comes through nicely on the track.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with filmmakers Stephen Carpenter and Jeffrey Obrow.
• “Inhuman Experiments: The Making of The Kindred” – this extensive making-of documentary from Red Shirt Pictures features interviews with filmmakers Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, co-writers John Penney and Earl Ghaffari, production designer Chris Hopkins, actors David Allen Brooks and Amanda Pays, special make effects artists Matthew Mungle and Michael McCracken, Jr., special creature effects artist James McPherson, and composer David Newman. This is an excellent documentary that will make fans of the film extremely happy. Every aspect of the production is covered from its conception to its release. Great stuff.
• On-Set Footage 
• Storyboards 
• Still Gallery 
• T.V. Spots
• Video Trailer 
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

The Kindred is an entertaining and enjoyable creature feature from the Eighties. I have a soft spot for these types of films, and The Kindred is certainly one of the more enjoyable ones. While the film is not extremely frightening, it does have some well placed jump scares and some great practical effects. I would say that the target audience for the film will want to check the movie out for the creature effects, but they will stay for the over-the-top performance of Rod Steiger. Synapse has brought the film to Blu-ray with a great looking transfer. Fans of the picture are going to be extremely pleased by the new restoration and solid audio tracks. As per usual, the documentary by Red Shirt Pictures on the making of the film is excellent. Fans of mad scientist/creature films should find a lot to enjoy about The Kindred.