Amanda Hollins (Kim Hunter) is in the hospital after suffering from a heart attack. Amanda is a geneticist working on research and experiments on hybridization of marine animals. Knowing that she doesn’t have long to live she tells her son, John (David Allen Brooks) to go to her country house and destroy all her work on genetics including her lab and her research notes. John, who is also a geneticist, is a bit confused but, to try to calm his mother, agrees. This is also the time that his mother drops a bomb on him by telling him that he has a brother named Anthony and that Anthony should be destroyed.
At the funeral, John is approached by Melissa Leftridge (Amanda Pays). She tells John that she is a fan of his mother’s work. John plans on going to his mother’s house to organize her work and invites Melissa to join. Along with Melissa, John invites his girlfriend, Sharon Raymond (Talia Balsam), and his friends, Hart Phillips (Timothy Gibbs), Cindy Russell (Julia Montgomery), and Brad Baxter (Peter Frechette).
It doesn’t take long for things to get really weird. Hart hears a noise in the barn and decides to investigate. He ends up attacked by a tentacled creature. He manages to get away from it and run to the house but is injured. Hart is taken to the hospital, and Melissa tells everyone that Hart was attacked by a mad dog. That night Melissa, who has her own issues, takes John’s car into the city. She meets with Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Rod Steiger), another geneticist who was working on similar experiments as Amanda. Lloyd has a vested interest in Amanda’s work and Melissa keeps him informed on what is happening at the country house.
The next day things go downhill fast and the people at the house eventually learn why Amanda wanted her notes destroyed. Then they meet Anthony face-to-face.
“The Kindred” was released in 1987 and was directed by Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter. It is an American science fiction horror film with body horror.
The movie was a great example of 80’s over-the-top horror. There are a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions throughout the film, but the insane theatrics make it so enjoyable that you’re willing to ignore most of them. The special effects are a little ham fisted but still a lot of fun. There’s enough slime and goo to keep the Lovecraftian monster sliding all over the screen. There are a few Lovecraft influences in the film. The ending is impressive enough to make the movie’s shortcomings easier to overlook.
The movie also sports two mad scientists and a genetically modified fish. Acting is decent enough, especially Steiger, who isn’t in the movie much but commands his usual attention when he does make an appearance. I’m not sure if Steiger has ever played a good guy. Kim Hunter as Amanda Hollins is also a well-seasoned actor. She gets to ham-it-up from a hospital bed. Amanda Pays is the only other big draw to the film. Her performance was fine, but she didn’t have much to work worth.
An impressive 55 gallons of slime was dumped on Rod Steiger during shooting.