Patrick (1978)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Richard Franklin

Writer:

Everett De Roche (written by)

Release Date:

7 September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

He's in a coma... Yet, he can kill...

Plot:

A comatose hospital patient harasses and kills though his powers of telekinesis to claim his private nurse as his own.

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Psychic Power | Telekinesis | Extrasensory Perception | Male Nudity

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Susan Penhaligon	...	Kathy Jacquard
Robert Helpmann	...	Dr. Roget
Rod Mullinar	...	Ed Jacquard
Bruce Barry	...	Dr. Brian Wright
Julia Blake	...	Matron Cassidy
Helen Hemingway	...	Sister Williams
María Mercedes	...	Nurse Panicale
Robert Thompson	...	Patrick
Walter Pym	...	Capt. Fraser
Frank Wilson	...	Det. Sgt. Grant
Carole-Ann Aylett	...	Patrick's Mother
Paul Young	...	Lover
Marilyn Rodgers	...	Day Desk nurse
Peggy Nichols	...	Night Desk Nurse
John Murphy	...	Barman

Runtime:

112 min | USA:96 min | 140 min (original cut)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Alfred Hospital, Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Filmways Australasian

Trivia:

Everett De Roche and Richard Franklin actually wrote a sequel to Patrick. The title was 'Patrick II: The Man Who Wasn't There', it involved a religious cult that finds Patrick's corpse and revives it back to a comatose state. Then Patrick would start to haunt and menace another young woman. The film has yet to be made.

Quotes:

[to Kathy Jacquard who is applying for a job as a nurse]
Matron Cassidy: Why did you choose the Roget Clinic, Mrs. Jacquard? We tend to attract certain types - lesbians, nymphomaniacs, enema specialists...”

Movie Connections:

Edited into 42nd Street Forever, Volume 3: Exploitation Explosion (2008) (V)

Slow but creepy and satisfying Australian psychokinesis tale

I recently became quite a big fan of horror pictures from down under and the work of genre scribe Everret DeRoche in particular. He was responsible for writing Storm Warning, Razorback, great TV thriller Fortress, and the mighty ecological thriller Long Weekend. I had wavered over buying this one for a while but happily a couple of weeks back my indecision was solved by it getting played late one night on the television. The plot follows a young nurse who is put in charge of caring for the comatose Patrick, who has been in a barely alive state for a goodly long while. What she doesn't know going in though, is that he has more going on than meets the eye...The chief criticism levelled at this film is that it is too slow and gets boring. I would be inclined to sort of agree that it is too slow, but for me it simply edges on boring without actually losing interesting. It stretches out the point somewhat too long, it could certainly be tighter, but when all is said and done I found it pretty danged effective stuff. The writing has a lot to do with this, for whilst the plotting may be quite simple the characters are all well drawn and the dialogue is constantly interesting. The characters feel realistic, their interactions work and draw us into the film and yet they still manage to convey the quirks and strange ideas that are expected from such a genre piece. Combined with the tense and eerie direction form Richard Franklin and it makes for a not quite nail biting, but certainly very intriguing experience. The acting is also of course an important factor here, with compelling performances across the board. Susan Penhaligon makes for a sympathetic lead, whilst Robert Helpmann is ace as the doctor in charge. Robert Thompson gives Patrick an impressively menacing presence without actually having much at all to do, whilst Julia Blake perhaps impresses most as an imperious head nurse. This is the sort of thing that will put off the impatient, or the conventional thrill seeking but I never found it boring as others have. It could be shorter and more fireworks would have been nice but ultimately I still found it a rewarding experience. Worthwhile for the patient.