Patrick (1978)

4 / 5 Apr '09
Tagline: A comatose hospital patient harasses and kills through his powers of telekinesis
Directed by: Richard Franklin
Written by: Everett De Roche
Actors include: Susan Penhaligon, Robert Helpmann, Robert Thompson
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Length: 112 minutes
Banned: Nope
Country: Australia

Review:
Not quite what the box would have you believe but a very interesting tale none the less. We meet a young Patrick who watches his Mommy make out with some man in a hot tub, before long Patrick has thrown the heater in the pool and killed them both. Then later we meet Patrick who is apparently in a comatose state and is supposedly a vegetable pretty much. A young woman starts a new job at the clinic looking after Patrick but soon learns he's not as harmless as he appears. Patrick is able to move things with his mind, only he's pretty secretative about this, he'll only let his new caretaker in on it for now. It's really rather slow and strange but captivating in it's own way, a little trimming wouldn't have hurt the film though. If you have come to this looking for slashery blood and fast paced action this isn't the film for you. If you want to see something rather original, strange and occasionally creepy (Patrick himself is rather weird as is his Doctor). The frog demonstration certainly is memorable as well as the actual story. There is a sequel which is pretty much an Italian remake from what I understand only it's more over the top called "Patrick Still Lives" which I imagine I'll watch really shortly. I liked this a fair bit, but it's definitely not for everyone!