The Kindred

Geneticist John Hollins (Brooks) is shocked when his dying scientist mother refers to Anthony, a brother he never knew he had. With a crew of fresh-faced research assistants, he sets out to dismantle his old ma's cranky experiments, and discovers the mysterious Anthony in a cavernous slime-pit below stairs, the monstrous result of a hybridisation experiment. The thing shows scant regard for sibling attachments, and attempts to eat Hollins and anyone else it can lay talons on. It should be put down, but one man wants to keep the creature alive for his own devious ends. He is Dr Lloyd (Steiger in a wig resembling a pressed sparrow and looking as mean as the Ghostbusters' Stay-Puft marshmallow man). Lloyd fails and is eaten, shortly before Anthony is exploded into McNuggets of gristle and mucus. An adequate idea for a horror flick, ruined by bad pacing and a woolly plot. Not even mealy-mouthed Amanda Pays sprouting gills and fins can redeem this one.