The Kindred is a great example of the creative sparks that happen when you take award winning actors, and put them in one of the best displays of practical effects I have seen in a long time. By the time 1987 came around, audiences had been exposed to fair amount of radical and inventive new ways to make nightmares come to life. The Kindred takes the incredible special effects of movies like Re-animator and The Thing and brings them to life through the viewpoint of budding med students in the vein of something like Flatliners or Prince of Darkness. This one delivers all the goo, gore and blood you could want out of a creature film, while also having some top notch performances and an ever interesting storyline. Thankfully this film has been given a new bluray special edition treatment from Synapse Films, and will continue to live on looking as good as ever.
Amanda’s deathbed request to her son, John, was for him to destroy all the lab notes etc. from her last experiment. She also blurts out he had a brother. At the funeral John meets Melissa, who claims to be his mother’s biggest fan. Together with some of John’s friends they go to Amanda’s house, but none are prepared for what they find there.
See our review of Flatliners 4K UHD from Arrow Video
Unfortunately there’s not a lot to talk about here as it is pretty much just a typical softcase release featuring one sided artwork and the bluray disc. There was a limited release of this that had a slipcover with new artwork, but this is the copy I have, and it’s pretty bare bones when it comes to packaging and art.
This is a brand new 5.1 mix which is really exciting. It’s not going to be a mix that features a lot of surround effects, but I found that this mix really gave a new presence to the effects and score that already existed. The soundstage is much larger and has space to breathe, while offering clear dialogue throughout. I even got several scene of low frequency response that gave my subwoofers a nice little bump in some of the more impactful moments.
I was pretty blown away by this presentation. Not only are there a substantial amount of details in closeups, but even things background are more pronounced and present. The details in colors and shadows are what really make this stand out personally. Anytime you’re in the lab or dealing with creature effects, the rich and vibrant colors are practically popping off screen. Where this presentation does it’s best is with the practical creature effects, bringing out all the detail in the gore and giving these effects this super glossy and gooey texture. I think this is a super clean restoration that truly made me smile multiple times.
See our review of Dog Soldiers 4K UHD Limited Edition from Second Sight Films
The Kindred should absolutely be on your buy list if you’re a fan of creature features from this time frame or even just in general. I think movie holds up in 2022 as a great movie with great effects. This almost feels like a lost Lovecraftian horror film that went under the radar. The Synapse Films presentation is fantastic, and gives this film a whole new lease on life.
Purchase Synapse Film’s The Kindred Bluray here.
Speakers: Klipsch RF-7 Fronts Klipsch RC-7 Center Klipsch RF-82ii Surrounds Klipsch RS-7 Back Surrounds OSD ICE660 Dolby Atmos In Ceilings
Subs: Klipsch RSW-115 Subwoofer (Front) BIC Acoustech PL-200ii Subwoofer (Rear) Klipsch SW-112 (Rear)
Dayton Audio BST-1 High Power Pro Tactile Bass Shaker
Screen: Silver Ticket 135″ 16×9 High Contrast Grey screen with 0.9 gain.
Rack: Denon x3700h Episode 150 Amp
Dayton Audio BSA-200 Power amp Sony UBP-X700 4K Bluray Sony BDP-S6700 4K upscale Region Free Player
Cables: Component cables – Key Digital 4K HDR 4:4:4 HDMI Pro Cables Projector Cable – Key Digital 4K HDR 4:4:4 Fiber Optic HDMI
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"Where this presentation does it’s best is with the practical creature effects, bringing out all the detail in the gore and giving these effects this super glossy and gooey texture." Read our full review at https://bit.ly/3LArMQh
"The art that this release got is so good that I can guarantee that I will be using it as a reference of why I love collecting physical media for years to come." Read our full review of @SecondSightFilm #4k of #dogsoldiers here ->https://bit.ly/3TGBSTe
Go see Jaws in theaters this wknd! Both the new Spielberg approved #3D and #IMAX versions are showing! And it's #NationalCinemaDay 2morro so movies are $3 at @RegalMovies! It looks incredible as you would have expected. https://www.tiktok.com/@collectorscrypt/video/7138629408906022187?_t=8VLlb4yRr0k&_r=1
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https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/1084180975-modernhorrors-death-dying-and-other-things-episode-56-message.mp3
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