 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 1978 Australian horror film Patrick And I knew nothing about this film until I saw it on shudder And I read the little descriptor and I was like ooh that sounds kind of interesting And then I started digging into it for research and I found out Quentin Tarantino was a fan of this film And he actually used a portion of the film a very Often cited scene in the film at the end of it in one in his film film kill Bill So I was like oh, that's cool Quentin Tarantino likes it. It must be at least somewhat good and it is good It's it's a fun time if you've not ever seen it You should definitely see it there will be spoilers in this review because it's an older film So I would just say if you haven't seen it yet Just stop here go watch it and then come back and I'm gonna break it down and talk about what I thought It's directed by Richard Franklin who then went on to do Psycho 2 because of this film He got a lot of good attention from Hollywood He also directed film cloak and dagger and a film called world of sexual fantasy Which that one was actually before Patrick so just know that I don't know what that is specifically, but I thought it was interesting to include It was written by Everett de Roche who wrote the scripts for Razorback Road games and Harlequin just to name a few Susan Penn Penhaligon Penhaig Halijon Haligon or Halijon, I don't know Penhaligon or Halijon. I don't know she was she's been in a bunch of stuff She has a lot of IMDB credits and she did a really good job in this film She's the titular character of Kathy and she did nicely She's been in some episodes of the old doctor who she was also in the land that time forgot The confessional and the uncanny also doing a great job in this Robert Helpman who played dr Roget in this I thought he was very very good for that role He was in films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Alice's adventures in Wonderland and Don Quixote and he also did another version of Don Quixote I think it was just that Don Quixote man of La Mancha So yeah, so the budget for this film was four hundred thousand dollars, but keep in mind that was in 1978 So It would be higher nowadays. I don't have the conversion on that, but it would be higher This was DeRoche's second script He ever made a period or he ever wrote period and he said that Franklin the director actually helped him a lot in Kind of tightening the film up or the script up for the film It was like a 250 page Script which if people don't know like what they say for the rule the rule on Conversion of pages of script two minutes of film. It's like one page per minute basically so a 250 minute about film Was not gonna be good So obviously that had to get cut down Franklin apparently helped him greatly in cutting it down and taught him He he said has said taught him a lot about creating suspense in a film and they actually started with the kind of end sequence of the film Where Patrick jumps out of bed and moved backwards in the script from that to kind of build The tension properly moving up or making it up to that point. So I thought that was a really cool piece of trivia Robert Helpman the guy who played dr. Rouget broke his back trying to lift up Robert Tom Robert Thompson who was Patrick in one of the actual scenes where he was Trying to move him That's messed up. That sucks. It's just a reminder that you know Safety on a set is a big thing and safety now is way better than it used to be back then but things still happen So people be careful The film was a flop in Australia unfortunately, but it sold really well internationally and did really well internationally And ended up selling to over 30 countries outside of Australia. So it did quite well obviously like I said it garnered the attention of Quentin Tarantino many decades later and he incorporated that final scene into well final ish scene into kill bill Which is cool and a remake of the film was actually released in Australia in 2013 and it had mostly positive reviews for it So just thought I'd throw that in there. So the very beginning of this film the kind of noises that you're hearing in the dark and then Going to the eyeballs opening Is really really interesting and obviously the eyeballs being Patrick's I think that's a really cool way to kind of start because He's hearing things throughout the film obviously Even though at one point they say that all his senses like they theorize that all his senses are gone He's like totally comatose the vegetable basically. That's why they end up calling Kathy the gardener Because she's tending to the vegetable but she But he starting like that. It's interesting because it's a dark and you're just hearing the noises of like cars outside And it's cool because that's the experience of what Patrick would be experiencing throughout the film most likely Although I don't know if he actually does see There's kind of some they leave it vague as as to whether he actually sees things throughout it because his eyes are Kind of permanently open and they do say that they need to keep them lubricated So I'd assume that he doesn't really but we don't know for sure in this but So basically what you would assume he's hearing all the time like that's his main sense That's still there and then it goes to him opening his eyes Which is just a cool visual and it's very creepy and then obviously you get that whole scene that sets everything up really of His mom, you know having sex with some guy. I assume it's not her Not his father and that's where you know everything really starts for Patrick of really well Within the film. That's where everything starts for Patrick, but I'm assuming there's a lot of backstory to that of Having a bad relationship with his mom And feeling like he wants his mom just to himself basically, but she has multiple suitors That's kind of what it Says to me that that one scene and it's a crazy brutal scene where he goes in and ends up murdering his mother and her lover in the in their In the bathtub I didn't think it would be as graphic as it was but it was relatively graphic and it looked really good They shot it really well, you know her hair catching on fire like the burn on her back from the heater that was thrown in And then they don't show the actual electrocution portion But they do a good job of really alluding to it and making it kind of vivid in your own mind Of filling in that blank So a really good way to start it out And I felt it was brutal the job interview that that they then go to For kathy to get this job, you know looking out after patrick Is really funny and weird because matron casady is just like throwing all these weird accusations at her about like Saying are you a pervert? Are you into this this this this and then just basically saying that for some reason this type of job just tends to Attract perverts in essence and she talks about like necrophiliacs and people who are in all sorts of crazy sexual stuff Um, that's a weird interview and I just thought it was it's quirky in the film But it's also weird and I think it kind of sets the tone of just a odd work environment So it's it works in that sense. It's weird Because it's a weird work environment and a lot of personalities at that place of business are very weird too Dr. Rojé matron casady very strong personalities very weird people Um, their motives are very odd too Or motivations Uh, they lay down a lot of dialogue in this especially early Explaining how incapable patrick is when he's first introduced to the audience into kathy and that he has like no chance to recover You know, we can't see or hear anything. He's totally a vegetable. He's basically dead But his body's alive. Dr. Rojé even says that early on that he's not really alive The machine is the machine's keeping him there So they really really hammer that home and the obviously the main reason for that is to make it even more of a shock much later in the film for the audience when First when uh patrick, you know starts doing things with his mind And then when he's communicating via the typewriter, which is an extremely effective way for him to communicate It looks really cool. It's very effective and it's creepy at the same time And then also when he, you know, eventually turns and looks at uh, At the uh, I forget the other one's name What was the other nurse's name? I can't remember her name The one who ended up becoming basically catatonic after he actually picked his head up and looked at her And then the final thing where he basically You know throws himself out of bed, which I'll talk a little bit about that later as a theory. You know, what is it? It's a little vague Plenty of people will not like the frog scene in this film me included I never never like to see animals being killed or abused with film or hearing about it because It's very unnecessary. You know, I understand this was a different time and that was kind of You know more something that was not frowned upon as much and just done then But it's always just terrible to see and it's still inexcusable in my opinion, even if it was more accepted acceptable back then because You're killing something just for a scene in a film. It just doesn't make any sense But I understand that It was a different time and I'm very glad that we've moved past that and become much better about it So now we can do a CGI frog if we did a remake of it Three years is a long time to keep patrick alive just to document what happens when he dies because that's what dr Roget says he's gonna do and they may not even catch what happens That's the other thing like there's kind of some I understand it's that he's doing like tests and he's you know monitoring and everything and everything but he kind of says that his end goal is to catch the moment and and You know document what happens when he actually dies. You know, is there a soul that leaves his body or whatever But do you know that that'll be caught because yes, I know that there's someone always with him And that's what Kathy's there to do But they do things, you know, they're not always there, you know, someone's got to go to the bathroom at some point You know, they may be turned around doing something in the room like it's not guaranteed. So This kind of seems like a dumb experiment But it works for the film. So just saying What a weird scene when ed acts like he's gonna rape Kathy Oh my gosh, that is like an insane scene that I don't understand why you would have it And then the fact that she basically shrugs it off that her that her soon-to-be ex husband, they're separating Breaks into her apartment acts like he's gonna rape her and then she even says that he's been stalking her and won't leave her alone And the conversation between them does not match what's going on there Uh, they just kind of like laugh it off and they're still jovial and cordial with each other and it's Very weird. It it's it's not very true to life even back then So that portion is very odd very poorly written And I don't like that portion of the film because it just Doesn't feel realistic at all. It's it's it's a bad portion of it But I understand that they were kind of doing that To set up the sequence where, you know, people would believe that it wasn't Patrick doing anything when Especially when Kathy's house gets ransacked, but it was Ed because you know, he had broken in before and that's just the thing He did and he's been stalking her and all that stuff. So I understand why they did it, but it's just a weird way to do it The combination of the opening scene and when you first see Patrick use telekinesis, which is it open The windows in his room sends the message that he can kill with his mind Because he's mentally capable because he already killed in the opening scene His mother of all people So he's definitely capable of killing and willing to do it and that he's telekinetically gifted Which we end up finding out later the theory of that Ed has I believe that I think it was Ed has it The theory that even though, you know, he has no senses at some point. He's in this comatose state. So then he ends up basically Developing himself and working out how to have telekinesis that it's not like a gift He was born with that it's something he developed himself Over those three years of being in that comatose state. So kind of giving the idea that anyone Potentially could develop that if they're smart enough or if they figure out how to do it Um, so that was kind of an interesting aspect of it The added element of patrick being able to use his powers outside of the room He's physically in opens up a lot of possibilities and makes the danger way more intense Also, when you find out that additional step that takes it to another level that he can kind of mind control people And it seems like it's not mind controlling for long periods of time It seems kind of more short periods of time kind of like, you know When he was especially at the end trying to make kathy inject herself with the potassium chloride Or, you know, a smaller thing where he's, you know, making her type things out on the typewriter as she was doing it um Yeah, oh well and also when when he made ed just like hold that really Um hot piece of cookware so that he burned his hands So those things really ratchet up the danger. They ratchet up the suspense They make the audience realize this guy is not just dangerous. He's crazy dangerous And like I said before he's already killed and he killed his own mother. So he won't hesitate most likely It becomes obvious that patrick will only let kathy know his secret because he likes her And she treats him like an actual person and that becomes very clear because everyone's pretty cold to him They treat him as persona non grata is like he's not even human. They call him a vegetable They say he's basically dead, but she comes in and she has this different thought on it and she has This spin that there's got to be something going on And I think that because she's so warm to him because she gives him The benefit that a doubt and she treats him like an actual person That he starts to really like her and it makes me wonder if that was what happened also with the one With the nurse before her that we later find out he killed the boyfriend of From the sergeant when he tells that to kathy on the phone Which is a really cool moment in that reveal because that makes things like oh, you know this She's not unique. This isn't the first time something like this has happened So I assume that That person and kathy were kind of similar in how they treated him You clearly see patrick's jealousy getting stronger as he tries to drown brian in the pool And messes up kathy's house. That's kind of really ratcheting things up and it's effective Dr. Rouget shows his true colors as a bad human being when he proposes to bake basically shock responses Out of patrick. So for that reason, I think he's kind of set up as this kind of this mad scientist This unethical well immoral person and that he Will go to whatever lengths to get the information. He's looking for he doesn't obviously doesn't look at patrick as a feeling human being It's a chilling moment when kathy or when patrick makes kathy type out the words. How's your boyfriend? That was an awesome moment really really chilling and once again the typewriter being the way that he communicates Works very well, especially for that There's a really cool exchange in this in this film when kathy says it's not fair And then I think it's brian says in response, but it's ethical kind of raising the concern that Certain things that don't seem fair don't seem moral Can be considered technically ethical within the medical realm And one of those things that they kind of hammer home in this film being keeping people alive, which I think It's matron kassidy who basically says that You know modern medicine isn't um keeping people they're not prolonging prolonging people's life They're just staving off death basically, which is not a good thing so The cuts between patrick's meter and matron kassidy going to shut off the power is really well done It really does a good job of kind of keeping tension and slowly moving it up much like the uh Needle on his meter and then it culminating in When he actually moves and that nurse like flips out Uh, why is dr. Rajay so angry and defensive when the sergeant comes to talk about the power failure? It's weird. It doesn't seem like he would actually be like that. I guess maybe he's just protective of his business, uh that he feels like Oh, no I don't know like like he's offended if if it somehow had to do with them. I I don't I don't know It didn't really make sense to me. Why it was so defensive Showing ed stuck in the elevator all that time later was very very effective because you assume initially When the elevator opens and he looks at it that he's gonna get into it and then something's gonna happen to him But then they don't do anything with that scene and you assume Oh, okay. I guess you just didn't get into the elevator But then you realize when they finally show him in the elevator again like 10s of minutes later that um Oh, yeah, we never saw what happened with him and oh my gosh He's stuck in the elevator and then you think he's been in the elevator that long That's terrible and scary And uh, what else does patrick have in store for him? so, yeah The sergeant giving kathy that information about the nurse was great about her, you know patrick having killed Well, she makes the connection of patrick having killed another nurse's boyfriend, but that's good good reveal Real effective jump scare at the end obviously it mirrors what happened with the frog that's shown earlier But patrick is actually still alive as we see when he opens his eyes at the very very end But that raises a question. Did he with his telekinesis manipulate the heart monitor to make people think that he was dead? I don't know. That's just a Just a theory I'm thinking that's probably what happened There was a real scientific phase for uh, some decades ago about looking Having to do with looking at the what the brain was capable of and I think this kind of plays a bit off that idea With the whole telekinesis thing going on So I I think it was a good concept. I like how they incorporated it There's also a point about medicine doing the opposite of what it claims I kind of talked about about it a little bit, you know staving off death versus actually Prolonging life, which the ideal would be prolonging life And what it's actually doing is just staving off death So people are living in these terrible states and it brings up this question of quality of life Which I think that kind of dialogue that people should be having is effective now Especially when things come up about like assisted suicide being available to people who, you know Maybe have a terminal illness and they really don't want to live anymore because Their existence is so painful that they'd rather not exist Uh, but you know the code of ethics for medicine is to keep that body going as long as possible Even though there might not be any quality of life so I think it's still pertinent And then the last thing I'd say is It goes with the idea of nature Uh, I'm sorry nurture or the lack thereof being responsible for turning someone bad Obviously that in the case of patrick because his mom not being a good mother as it's alluded to Uh, kind of they're basically saying sets him up to be a killer to be sadistic to do these types of things to people. So Um, that's all I have to say about patrick. I'm really glad I watched it I think I I don't I could see myself rewatching. It's very interesting It's a little bit long because it's like two hours and 50 some minutes and I you know It kind of drags from time to time, but overall pretty good I enjoyed it and uh with a possibility of five stars with half stars in play I'm gonna give it a very solid three and a half star rating. I enjoyed it. So Anyway, uh, thanks everyone for checking this out. Well, let's talk in the comments about patrick Did you see it and what were your thoughts about it? Let's uh get nerdy. Um, but do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button Because that's your best way to repay me for all the videos I put out if you like even one video. 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