NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Australian 'Ozploitation' horror film "Next of Kin" gets a release from Umbrella and Severin (with an upcoming release from Second Sight). The Blu-rays appear to have almost the exact same transfers (and extras, which I will discuss below) advertised as from the "remastered in 4K from the original 35mm interpositive" varying only in menu design. They both house the 1.85:1 image on a dual layered Blu-ray with a high bitrate. The image quality is identical and is impressive. Levels of detail are high appearing very sharp, with a wide range of colors. Most importantly, the contrast levels are great, showing lots of detail in the dark hallways, or shadowy corners.

Both Umbrella and Severin use the same audio tracks. We are given the option of watching the film in a 24-bit DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track or a 24-bit 2.0 DTS-HD track. One may prefer to watch the film with the original stereo track, but the separation is well-done on the surround track. Horror movies tend to benefit from 5.1, what with the offscreen creepy noises surrounding you and giving a more immersive experience. The score is thanks to Klaus Schulze (Manhunter, Angst) and sounds appropriately spooky. Though Schulze was not the director's first choice...listen to the director's commentary to hear more about this interesting story. There are optional English subtitles on these Region Free Blu-rays. A quick note, fellow Beaver Eric Cotenas has noted that there are a few transcription errors for the Severin and Umbrella Blu-rays, but that these are fixed on the up-coming release from Second Sight.

The extras here are identical between Severin and Umbrella, save for one. The Severin Blu-ray has the exclusive 6-minute "House of Psychotic Women Intro by Kier-La Janisse for Morbido TV" is an interesting introduction to the film and the genre. Severin and Umbrella bring us not one but 2 commentaries. The first is with Director Tony Willams and Producer Tim White and the second is with cast members John Jarratt, Jackie Kerrin, Robert Ratti and "Not Quite Hollywood" Director, Mark Hartley. Speaking of "Not Quite Hollywood", these Blu-rays feature extended interviews from that documentary, totaling around 26-minutes. "Return to Monteclare" is an 11-minute featurette revisiting shooting locations from "Next of Kin". There are also 4.5-minutes of deleted scenes, the original theatrical trailer, VHS trailer, German trailer, and German opening credits sequence. "Before the Night is Out" features 2.5-minutes of ballroom dancing footage from 1978. Pretty cool that Severin and Umbrella have also included Tony Williams' short films from 1971, the 31-minute "Getting Together" and the 30-minute "The Day We Landed on the Most Perfect Planet in the Universe." An image gallery rounds out the extras.

"Next of Kin" has long been on my radar, and thanks to the fine folks at Umbrella, Severin, and (soon) Second Sight, we can finally see this underrated Horror gem in all its glory. The transfers and extras here are great, and almost indiscernible, so pick up whichever Blu-ray is cheapest. As a lover of Horror films, it pleases me that there are still many more classics to discover, "Next of Kin" being a fine example.

 -Colin Zavitz

3) Severin - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM