Video summary
The video review covers the 2026 horror film *Penny Lane Is Dead*, an Australian production originally released on Shudder. Directed and written by Mia Kate Russell, who previously contributed to projects like *ABCs of Death* and *Nightmare Radio*, the movie is a short runtime feature lasting approximately 88 minutes. The story is set in Australia during 1986 and follows a group of friends who invite a notorious troublemaker to join their gathering for a prank that inevitably spirals out of control. The reviewer notes that while the film maintains an upbeat, fun vibe reminiscent of its opening sequence even as the plot darkens, it avoids being a relentlessly serious horror experience. Instead, it balances moments of genuine intensity and fear with absurd, over-the-top elements that prevent the tone from becoming too heavy or depressing throughout the runtime.
One of the standout aspects highlighted in the review is the film's musical score, which the critic considers to be one of its strongest features, if not the best. The composition is described as excellent, cohesive, and interesting, avoiding repetitive sounds while maintaining a distinct identity that supports the narrative effectively. Visually, the film utilizes a dark and dingy aesthetic, particularly during the nighttime sequences where most of the action takes place. Despite being an independent production with a lower budget, the lighting is handled professionally without the common issues seen in similar films, ensuring clarity and atmosphere. The dialogue is kept concise and purposeful, avoiding the tendency for low-budget movies to drag out scenes or include unnecessary junk dialogue, which contributes significantly to the film's tight pacing that feels like a legitimate 90-minute horror experience rather than a rushed or bloated one.
However, the review also points out specific flaws, primarily concerning the title and character consistency. The reviewer dislikes the title *Penny Lane Is Dead* because it spoils too much of the plot before the viewer even begins. Additionally, there is criticism directed at one particular character who functions as a "Swiss Army knife" utility figure, shifting personalities and motivations solely to move the story forward for the filmmaker's convenience rather than maintaining a consistent personality. This lack of depth in that specific role makes the character feel artificial and detracts from the tension during darker moments by making them seem too ridiculous. Despite these issues, the film features impressive practical effects, including a gnarly moment halfway through that stands up well against higher-budget productions due to clever shooting techniques and duration management.
In conclusion, the reviewer rates the film three out of five stars, aligning with its current average on Letterboxd. While acknowledging that it does not quite reach the 3.5-star level, the critic considers it a solid debut from Mia Kate Russell and expresses interest in seeing more work from her. The overall verdict is positive, recommending the movie as a well-worth-while watch for fans of horror who enjoy films that mix fun with scares without relying on excessive intensity. The reviewer encourages viewers to check out the film upon its release on August 28th and invites discussion in the comments, noting that spoilers are welcome there. Ultimately, the film is praised for its strong score, proper lighting, efficient pacing, and effective practical effects, making it a worthwhile addition to the horror genre despite minor narrative inconsistencies.
Read the full video transcript
Thanks for checking out this movie
review video. This is for the 2026
release Penny Lane is Dead. It's a
Shudder original and it's coming to
Shudder on Friday, August 28th. So, this
is a no spoiler review. Now, this film
was written and directed by Mia Kate
Russell uh who did a segment of ABCs of
Death uh 2.5 uh a segment for the
Athetheria Film Festival Shorts uh and
Nightmare Radio the Nightstalker. I have
not seen any of this individual's other
work, but I will say this is a good
film. I did enjoy it. I would tell
people to go ahead and check this one
out. I'm not rating it like anything
wild like five out of five stars or
anything like that, but I enjoyed the
film. I think it was well worth the
time. It is under an hour and a half.
It's like an hour and 28 minutes with
end credits. So,
well worth your time, I think. Uh this
is an Australian film. Uh, and again,
Shutter Original coming Friday, August
28th. So, synopsis on this one. It is
about Penny Lane and her friends in
Australia in in the8s, by the way. They
set it up. I think it's 1986 that the
film takes place, and they're going away
to like hang out, these friends. Uh, and
the one f friend who people didn't
really want to show up because she's
definitely a troublemaker, ends up
showing up. she's trying to uh pull kind
of a prank on them. Things end up kind
of getting out of control and things
spiral because hey, this is a horror
film. So, naturally, those things are
going to get out of control and spiral.
So, that's all I want to give you as far
as the synopsis goes because I don't
want to ruin anything because obviously
I have recommended checking the film
out. The opening sequence has a very fun
upbeat vibe. uh really like how they
keep it kind of like fresh and fun in
the very beginning. And I feel like even
though things get kind of, you know,
messed up and dark, as the film goes on,
it still kind of maintains a bit of that
kind of fun feeling, but it also gets to
a point of kind of having like a
ridiculous, over-the-top, absurdist
aspect to it at times as well. So, don't
go into this film thinking that it's
going to be like a very serious horror
film where it wants you to be either
like scared or, you know, make make
things feel like just intense for the
entire runtime. There are definitely
moments where it does feel intense and
some of the stuff gets a little scary
with what's potentially going to happen
to characters,
but it kind of maintains that light vibe
from time to time. And I do think the
score actually helps out a lot with
that. And on the topic of the score, I
think that's one of the strongest things
about this film, if not the strongest
thing about this film, honestly. The
score is really good. The composition is
excellent. It's very interesting.
It It's not like you will understand
what each song is going to be like in
the score. Like, it doesn't all feel the
same. It feels like it's cohesive and it
goes together, but everything sounds
kind of different at the same time. And
it's not a lot of it stuff I've not
really heard before in scores and it's
just very interesting. It's very well
put together. So score is excellent with
this film. Love that. Uh the look is
pretty kind of like dark and dingy. Uh
especially in the beginning when there's
light and then it kind of goes to
nighttime and the majority of the film
takes place at nighttime. So definitely
dark. You see less of the dingy when it
becomes nighttime. Um, so dark and dingy
in the beginning and then just kind of
dark as it goes on. But the lighting was
properly handled. So that's another
thing is that with a lot of these more
lowbudget independent films, you end up
having lighting issues a lot of time,
especially when they're making them kind
of like darker films, uh, they'll have
really hard times with getting the the
lighting right. That is not the case
here. So kudos uh to Russell for for
making that
good because
it's so frustrating when I'm see
watching a film and I'm just like I
can't see what's going on because the
lighting's not proper and it happens way
more often than you would think. Uh the
dialogue in the film is pretty solid as
are the performances. Uh some
performances I was like that that's
quite good. Some performances I was like
that's solid. So it's solid to quite
good in my opinion. And I didn't see any
performances that I thought were bad.
There were some cho there was like one
choice in particular and I think this
had to do with the writing like the
filmmaker herself who chose this
direction for one of the characters. And
I think the the the actor did a good job
for what the character was supposed to
be. I just kind of felt like the
character was kind of too over the top
to the point where it made it too
absurdest at times. And it kind of like
did take some more like scary, dark,
tense moments and kind of take them a
little bit further than like making them
feel light, making them feel like just a
little over the top, a little too
ridiculous. So, just my thoughts on
that. Um, already talked about it that
some of the characters are a little too
over the top. Makes it feel a bit
absurdest. Um, again, the score
phenomenal. Can't state that enough.
Love the score. The pacing actually
feels good. And this is one of the
things where it was a little bit less
than an hour and a half, but there are a
lot of films out there that are a little
bit less than an hour and a half or an
hour and a half and their pacing feels
like it's way longer. This is not one of
those films. It feels legit like a
90minute horror film. I think it was
really well done to not put too many
longer uh scenes in that just kind of
like drag on. the dialogue was kept
relatively short, sweet, and to the
point for what needed to be conveyed at
any given time. There's just this
tendency for these lower budget
independent films to just be like, we
don't have a ton of story here, so we're
just going to kind of like draw scenes
out for no reason or have dialogue go on
a lot longer and then it just feels like
junk dialogue that just doesn't need to
be there. It's not really the case with
this. So, really good job with kind of
keeping the pacing moving. Um, there's a
pretty gnarly practical effects moment
in this. There there are a few good
practical effects moments, but there's
one in particular that's the first one
to come up that's probably about halfway
or a little bit further in the film.
Actually, a little bit further in the
film, I think, than halfway, but looks
really good. Looks really gnarly. Really
liked it. I've seen it done in some
other films before, and I think it
stands up to those other films that have
vastly higher budgets. So, nice work on
that one. And I think I think part of it
was the practical effects work that went
into it, but part of it was how it was
shot and how much of it you see for what
duration of time. So smart with the way
that they they did that. Uh I don't like
the title for this film mainly because
it gives way too much away about the
film. It gives you an expectation and it
would be better to not have an
expectation honestly. So, I just I think
a better title should have been chosen.
I I don't have any ideas on what that
title necessarily should have been, but
you know, maybe called something like
Besties. No, that'd be terrible. Never
mind. I retract.
But I still don't like the title. Uh
there is one very problematic character
in this film who just seems to be there
to move the story where the filmmaker
wants at any given moment. So, I kind of
hate this like utility character where
it's like at one point they seem like
this type of character, then the next
moment they seem like a different type
of character. They say, "Don't do this
or I'm going to do this if you do this."
And then they totally don't do anything
or there there's like no teeth to them.
And then I don't know, the character
just is all over the place. It it just
feels like one of those Swiss Army knife
characters where they're just like, I'm
going to insert this character to be the
catch-all character. If I'm writing this
script and I feel like I get stuck in a
situation, I can just kind of call on
this character to move the story forward
in an easier way for for convenience of
writing. So, I really did not like that
character at all. I honestly think the
film could have done without the
character alto together but or at least
just keep like a consistent personality
and a consistent like set of I don't
want to say morals like p I guess just
personality is the best way to to put
it. Uh the ending is solid. I did see
coming what they do in the end. Uh but
it's solid. It it played out pretty well
and I I enjoyed it. So, this film is
sitting at a 3.3 star uh average on
Letterbox right now. I'm about in line
with it. I'm going to give it a three
out of five stars. Uh I don't think it
quite reaches the three and a half
level. I think three feels really good
to me for this one. A very solid um
first film for me me to see by this
filmmaker and I would be interested in
seeing more. So, yeah, hopefully other
people who watch it will enjoy it. go
ahead and come back or if you've already
seen it, put some comments down there.
We can talk about it. And uh spoilers
are cool in the comments, we can do
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thank you so much for taking your time
to watch this. I really do appreciate
that. And until next time, keep it
brutal.