The Kindred


What is it about Amanda Pays and slimy tentacled monsters?   Within the space of two short years the actress was groped by a pair of genetic hybrids in The Kindred (1987) and Leviathan (1988), both titles fondly remembered as a last gasp for ambitious practical creature effects.  Synapse Films rescues the former in an equally ambitious special edition Blu-ray that features an all-new 4K remaster of the unrated cut.

After the death of his mother, scientist John Hollins learns she was pursuing her own research in their childhood home.  A weekend trip to clear up any lingering mystery is crashed by Melissa Leftridge (Pays), a researcher herself who thinks John’s mother was onto something big…and she was!   Lurking in the basement is a horde of creepy crawlies made up of John’s own DNA.  Meanwhile a rival scientist (played by Rod Steiger) wants the mutants for himself, setting up a family reunion that might leave no survivors!

 

The Kindred doesn’t make much sense, even for a creature feature.  But that’s what actors like Rod Steiger are for, selling the urgency of every situation, even if it involves a tentacle-stuffed watermelon.  With a script polish by Outer Limitsscribe Joseph Stefano, the story feels like a throwback to ‘50s drive-in fare like Fiend without a Face, trapping its cast of colorful characters in an isolated setting and putting its monster to work.  Even the actors seem to realize that they’re playing second fiddle to the effects, which hold up wonderfully well even in hi-def.  As a showcase for what talented creature creators on a budget could accomplish, The Kindred is tough to beat.

 

Extras include a great 60-minute documentary – Human Experiments: The Making of the Kindred – that does all the heavy lifting, gathering interviews and anecdotes in a tightly edited piece.  Co-directors Jeffery Obrow and Stephen Carpenter contribute to a commentary track that goes along with the on-set compilation of creature effects, still, storyboards, trailers and TV spots.

 

 

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