‘Penny Lane Is Dead’ Gives a Controversial Horror Subgenre a Fresh Spin [Fantasia Review]Few films at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival will generate as much controversy or conversation as Mia’Kate Russell’s Penny Lane Is Dead. Bailey Spalding plays Penny Lane, a popular but down-to-earth teenager who has just been accepted into law school. Penny Lane Is Dead immediately plunges you into the summer of 1986 with Anita Seiler’s period-accurate costumes (High-rise bikini bottoms! I was surprised by how much fun I had with Penny Lane Is Dead. Penny Lane is Dead 3.5 Summary Brutal gore, sapphic romance, and old-school Ozploitation thrills collide in Mia’Kate Russell’s exciting feature debut.