I was bored when looking through Netflix and Disney+, there were not enough good horror films to enjoy, or at least for that night. So I decided to re-join Shudder and one film stood out.

Penny Lane Is Dead.

It’s a 2025 Australian horror film and might be a film that follows tropes from the 1980s but has a story that grabs your attention from the start.

The film starts with an overwhelming barrage of 80s music and visuals. We see a character, Kat, making cupcakes with spit and drugs.

We meet our main characters straight away.

Penny and her friend have kissed and it’s hinted there might be a secret romance with her and Penny which is then confirmed at a scene in a shop. It is revealed that Kat is related to Penny.

Kat arrives at the cabin with the cakes from the opening. They eat the cakes and start smoking weed.

Penny starts to feel the effects of the drugs in the cake which she didn’t know about which Kat reveals she only drugged Penny’s to get back at her and Toni and Amy kick her out.

Kat calls her criminal boyfriend, Angus, who comes to pick her up and they intimidate Toni into letting him and his two friends, Merrick and Rodowsky, in.

They do cocaine and despite saying they needed to be somewhere they play music and party as Amy and Toni sit scared on the floor.

To get back at Toni trying to flirt with Angus to make them leave, Kat leads them to the unconscious Penny as Angus says he is going to take her outside and rape her which he does all while Kat watches and takes photos.

Penny wakes up and screams when she notices what is happening to her and when she gets up Kat threatens her if she tells her mother what has happened.

While I disliked Kat for the drugging of her cousin and wasn’t sure how far she would let her boyfriend go. Seeing her take photos and threatening her cousin after what she has caused made me despise this character and I need to give it to Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn for portraying Kat as this person we can truly hate.

Toni is in the bathroom with Rodowsky watching her and when Penny screams, she picks up a Buddha and beats him repeatedly over the head but doesn’t kill him and she steals Angus’s car.

As Kat is saying that Penny will tell on him he hits Penny over the head with a shovel, killing her. Which causes Kat to start laughing and tastes her cousins blood.

At this point I needed to take a break as my blood was boiling. This is the sign of a well-acted group of characters and what makes me love films that are made well.

Rodowsky chases Toni to a local shop where she cuts his Achilles tendons with a machete and learns that penny is dead and when he manages to attack her, she kills him.

Back at the cabin, the reality of what has happened hits Kat and she breaks down over Penny’s body at first angry but then sorrowful.

Kat finds Amy trying to escape but leads Angus to her and shows she really doesn’t care now after accepting that the situation is out of her hands.

Angus gets Amy but after she calls him out for what she is he kills her without raping her.

Toni attacks Merrick who has been the most level-headed character but doesn’t kill him. She reveals she attacked Rodowsky. They take her inside the house where they tie her up and Kat starts attacking her.

Nick arrives, who we hear about and see at the start, he discovers what’s happened and gets chased but is captured. While they are gone Merrick gives Toni his knife so she can escape.
Angus then kills Nick while Kat begs him not to.

This is what breaks Kat who wants to leave but Angus stops her and the two get into an altercation as Toni cuts herself free.

Toni grabs Angus’s gun and shoots him in the groin before Merrick throws his knife into Angus’s throat before dying.

Kat grabs the knife and her and Toni fight and Josh arrives to find Nick but he gets killed by Kat.
Kat gets the better of Toni and just when we think it’s over, Penny returns, she was only knocked out, something Merrick knew and was protecting her when he said she was dead.

The film ends In a similar fashion as the start.

This was a horror film I very much enjoyed. Big congratulations to all the cast and to writer, director Mia’kate Russell as this film serves as the debut feature film for them and it’s a strong first outing.

Penny Lane is Dead was released in October 2025 at the Adelaine Film Festival.

It can be viewed on Shudder.