Review of Patrick

Patrick (1978)
7/10
A sojourn into the area of psychic phemonena
15 May 2008
As others have commented, this film is a bit of a love story that delves into the area of psychic phemonena, in particular psychokinesis and, though it isn't overtly expressed, astral projection.

The title character, Patrick, is a patient in a private, long-term care facility. He's been in a seemingly irreversible vegetative state for three years, the result of psychological trauma experienced after the murder of his mother and her lover. Kathy is a new nurse at the facility who's main responsibility is the care of Patrick. She refuses to accept that he is unaware of his surroundings and repeatedly attempts to communicate with him. Spending long periods of time at his bedside she develops a bond with him, and it is soon revealed that he develops an even stronger bond with her.

The well-written story progresses very slowly but the performances are quite strong. There was not much "action" in this film, nor were there many special effects...yet as a psychodrama I suppose they weren't necessary. I found this film to be riveting. It easily drew me in, despite the lack of thrills one would expect in horror films. I was disappointed that there weren't many surprises, although truth be told as the film drew to its close there was one scene that was eerily unsettling and another scene where I literally jumped out of my skin (and that does not happen often). So all-in-all I enjoyed this movie.

I've been an avid fan of horror films for over 30 years, yet somehow I'd never heard of this one until a few days ago. I particularly enjoy films that do not rely on graphic violence, nudity and the use of four-letter words. In such films the writing, acting and directing is what categorizes them as great or awful. Though this film isn't one of the greats, it's not one of the worst films ever made either. I'm glad that I came across it, and I recommend it to any fan of horror.
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