Patrick
(1978)
review by Head Cheeze

A few of you out there have probably come across Patrick before, stashed in the corner of the horror section at your local video store, but unless you're from Australia, you've never really seen Patrick. At least not the Patrick director Richard Franklin intended you to see. Now, thanks to Elite Entertainment, you can....

Sort of.

Matricidal Patrick (Thompson) is a comatose patient at a private hospital where he is kept alive as a matter of curiosity by the hospital's owner and only doctor, Dr. Roget (Helpmann). When a stunning new nurse named Kathy (Penhaligon) is assigned Patrick, strange things begin to happen to the other men in her life; her flawed but loving estranged husband Ed (Mullinar), and her sauve lover Dr. Wright (Barry). When Kathy realizes that Patrick has much more ability than he let's on, she at first becomes scientifically curious, encouraging Patrick to communicate with her. When Patrick's method's of communication take a deadly turn, however, Kathy begins to fear him, which only enrages him more.

Originally released in Europe and America featuring a notoriously bad dub job and a Goblin soundtrack that was recycled from some bits they recorded for a Dario Argento horror series for Italian TV. The U.S. version of Patrick was cut down to a short and trite little psychological spooker, in an attempt to cash in on the residual effects of The Exorcist and Carrie. The film's major plot thread, the bond that grows between Kathy and Patrick, was pared down to just the threatening aspects, giving Kathy little reason to want stick around and help the tortured soul. In this form, Patrick was reasonably entertaining, but suffered from several lapses in logic that are adequately explained in this full theatrical version from Elite. The package states it's the "Uncut European Theatrical Version", however, which confuses me seeing that the soundtrack here is neither dubbed nor does it feature the Goblin score, instead featuring the original Australian dialogue track and the Brian May score from the Australian theatrical release, but it does feature the scenes deleted from the U.S. version! I guess that makes this the "director's cut" since it's the uncut film that Europeans saw but Americans missed, coupled with the original Aussie audio tracks and a rather routine score by the May-ster, that NO one outside of Oz had ever heard. The reincorporated footage is a welcome addition, giving the film more body than it's truncated version. We come to understand Kathy's motivations much more now that we see the less volatile moments between her and Patrick, as well as a little more of a glimpse into Kathy's private life, which had previously been presented in such an abbreviated way that I'd once thought she was having an affair instead of a simple relationship while separated from her husband. True, much of what is added is expository, but it does help raise the film above mere copycat status.

My biggest gripe about Patrick is that it ends rather abruptly, like an episode of Star Trek in which the universe as we know it is on the brink of extinction for 45 minutes and then in the last 10 minutes Data realizes he can stop the threat with bits of lint from his bellybuton. Voila! Threat averted, cue Pinnochio/Data joke and roll credits. Patrick's conclusion is much like that. Patrick is dangerous, people kark it, and then Kathy.....well, ya know.

The DVD from Elite features a solid transfer that's a little grainy, but handles it's darks well and is virtually artifact free, and save for a few bits of dodgy editing, looks fine. The disc features a commentary by Franklin, the European and Australian trailers, and talent bios, as well as French and Spanish subtitles, and an Easter Egg for you to hunt for in the nicely animated menus section. Overall it's a good presentation for a slightly better than average thriller that's made all the more...errr....better through the wonders of DVD.