Customer Reviews

Patrick

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This film is one of the creepiest, most suspenseful films you will ever watch. The "comatose" reviewer below must have been just that, because he needs to change his bong water. I would defy anyone to watch this movie and not be engrossed. Fine acting throughout, this isn't some chessy film by any stretch. If you liked a movie like "Dead Calm", for instance, you'll like this one.

FINALLY! The complete Australian language version of Richard Franklin's gem from 1978!

An enigmatic young man kills his mother, and winds up in a coma in a private hospital. Enter the pretty nurse who discovers Patrick has capabilities no one seems to know (or admit) about.

For those that are thrill seekers, this film is not a fast-paced action-packed story. BUT, for those of us that appreciate characters over wild thrills, and enjoy careful buildups to a final reveal, this one is nicely done. There IS a reason it was an initial success and has gained a big cult following, people understood Franklin's intentions.

Sure, Patrick is not Citizen Kane, but it is a nice mystery with great performances, a keen sense of humour ("self-referential humour" as it has been described), and some rather strong adult content for what was supposed to be a PG-rated film, even back in 1978. I first saw it theatrically and was surprised by its content, but appreciated the homages to Hitchcock (which Franklin carefully points out in many scenes on the DVD's commentary), and Brian May's score has a nice Herrmann-esque feel. I was only disappointed that it was dubbed with American actors. Finally seeing this film in the original Australian language version on DVD made me like this film a lot more 25 years later.

Synapse's 2009 edition is anamorphic widescreen (Elite's out-of-print DVD is not) and has the basic extras: two theatrical trailers, a commentary by Franklin and writer Everett De Roche. There's an easy to find easter egg (on the Elite edition at least) that features cover art for different soundtrack releases as well. The filmographies are quite thorough, for fans of Australian cinema.

While this film is not extremely original, it still provides enough intrigue for those who look deeper into films that the general public would brush off. Patrick could be considered an acquired taste, so those who are familiar with it and liked it will find this DVD a very satisfying purchase and a nice surprise to see it in its original form. Others be warned, you might stick with more familiar "blockbuster hits."

I first saw this film on tv as a kid many years ago and found it very interesting even then. A young sociopath named Patrick kills his mother and her lover, ends up in a coma. A young nurse tends to him only to discover theres something a little....unusual about her patient. Pretty soon, bizarre deaths and accidents start to occur to people around her. Could the comatose Patrick be responsible????? Good character performances from Susan Penhaligan, Robert Helpmann as the cranky old doctor at the medical institute, and more....Strong creepy film.

A young nurse named Kathy Jacquard (Susan Penhaligon) gets a new job at a psychiatric clinic. She is assigned to a patient named Patrick (Robert Thompson). Patrick has been in a coma ever since he murdered his mother and her boyfriend 3 years earlier. Kathy goes through her daily routine, until bizarre events start happening to her and to those around her. Kathy slowly realizes that Patrick, while quite immobile, is nonetheless able to manipulate people and objects w/ his mind. Ms. Jacquard's terror and frustration grow as Patrick attacks any men in her life. This movie has it's moments, but I did find myself wishing for a little more in the way of action. No, I wasn't expecting explosions or hundreds of grisly deaths. However, a few more sinister, telekinetic fatalities would certainly have upped the suspense and helped to move things along. As it stands, PATRICK is a watchable movie w/ a decent story. Watch for Rod Mullinar (Thirst) as Kathy's husband Ed. Julia Blake is very intense as the matron...

Well look what is coming this Oct. PATRICK! I have had to watch my AWFUL vhs copy for years and though in truth this is no masterpiece of HORROR it does have its moments. Patrick begins with poor Patrick electrocuting his mother and lover and being taken to a hospital for the trauma has left him in a coma. But poor Patrick has not just been lying around; quite the contrary, as he's developed a powerful telekinetic ability TO KILL!!! This is a enjoyable blatant rip off of CARRIE and despite the handicap of dubbed in accents(no big deal to lovers of ALL HORROR films)this film builds suspense and SCARES quite well. Gave it only 3 stars for could really have done with out the obligatory CARRIE final jolt ala FRIDAY THE 13TH & just recently THE STRANGERS...Been done to death

This is an old favorite of mine I remember it from the late 70's, it was'nt to gory and had a pretty good story line

I think this would be a pretty good remake. I believe Robert Thompson's role as the title character Patrick was not as easy as it appeared to be, it probably took total consentration to lay there starring like that with everyone around you interacting. Everyone turned in a good performance. especially "Julia Blake as Matron Cassidy" the head nurse and "Robert Helpmann as Docter Roget" the owner of the clinic. The special effects were good for a low budget film it stands out on it's own as compared to "Carrie". And "Susan Penhaligon was very charming as nurse Jacquard".

Richard Franklin's Patrick is a horror movie that doesn't horrify and, seen more than three decades on, doesn't offer any surprises, but which still works as a decent supernatural thriller. Susan Penhaligon is the newly separated nurse who takes a job at a private mental clinic that only seems to have two patients (well, it is a low budget film), looking after the braindead Patrick whose been reduced vegetative state since killing his mother and her lover years earlier. Only Patrick's brain isn't quite as dead as everyone thinks, and when he develops a crush on his new nurse and gets jealous when her husband and another doctor make moves on her, things start to get a bit nasty...

Robert Thompson makes for a striking Patrick, his bug-eyed dead stare memorably imposing, but it's Robert Helpman's doctor who all but steals the show: looking like Klaus Kinski's dad after a night on the tiles, not so much a mad scientist as an acerbically p---ed off one, he's gifted with the film's best dialogue and doesn't feel the need to overplay it. The film itself is not as good as his later Road Games, but it's still easy to see why it got Franklin the job of directing the much better Psycho II: it's an exploitation film that doesn't feel the need to go over the top and is directed with some style despite the obvious budget limitations. It's not a good enough film that the planned remake by Not Quite Hollywood's Mark Hartley can't improve on it, but in its original Australian version at least (the US version was heavily cut and redubbed into American while the re-edited Italian version added a Goblin score, so be sure to get the special edition DVD for the original cut) it's a pretty decent little movie.

This is like a very old horror movie. I thought that the special effects were hilarious! It's a fun movie to watch and I recommend it. Ciao

Directed & Co-Produced by Richard Franklin who would later go on to direct PSYCHO 2, PATRICK is a watchable but unremarkable Aussie thriller which is loosely in the vein of CARRIE.
As a child Patrick murders his mother & one of her male friends by electrocuting them in the bathtub via telekinesis.
For some reason, after this Patrick is rendered comatose with massive damage to his cerebral cortex (the film doesn't even explain any of this) & for the last 15 years he has been in hospital (Well he wouldn't be surfing at Noosa, would he?).
Kathy Jacquard (Susan Penhaligon) is recently out of nursing school & one of her first patients is Patrick (Robert Thompson- who bears a remarkable resemblance to the US actor Gerrit Graham), described by a doctor as "160 pounds of limp meat hanging off a comatose brain". But Kathy soon discovers that Patrick is fully aware of what is going on around him, & communicates by spitting (once for yes, twice for no). The only problem is Patrick doesn't want the other staff to know he is aware of his surroundings.
To try & prove to her collegues that Patrick can "speak" Kathy has him telepathically type messages on a typewriter, but of course she is unable to use this as proof as well & soon Kathy's friends and family are questioning her sanity. But not for long, as Patrick soon confesses to being in love with Kathy & is not happy to learn she is happily married to Ed (Rod Mulliner).
So from the comfort of his warm, cozy bed the wide-eyed, spitting coma patient uses his powers to murder those close to Kathy, with methods ranging from a messy electrocution to one of the dopiest drowning "deaths" ever caught on film.
PETA will be unimpressed with the scene in which a live frog has a metal rod inserted through its body as part of a medical demonstration. Personally, I'm not sure where I stand on this: the scene didn't bother me, but there's no way I could do a thing like that to a live creature.
While it is mildly watchable, PATRICK doesn't really deliver many genuine chills & thrills, is relatively tame in terms of gore & violence, and isn't terribly memorable. Its still a good movie to watch in the wee hours of the morning if you're suffering from insomnia & need to kill a couple of hours. The only extra on the DVD I watched was the trailer.

This is a weak Australian horror about a man (Patrick) who has some telekenetic powers after he is put in a coma. Whilst in a coma he lets havoc reign in his hospital.

There is not much more to say about this film.