Patrick: Ultimate Ozploitation Edition (1978) (NTSC) |
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Patrick: Ultimate Ozploitation Edition (1978) (NTSC) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Thriller |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Richard Franklin & Everett de Roche Featurette-Making Of-A Coffee Break With Antony I. Ginnane Interviews-Crew-Archival On-Set Interview With Richard Franklin Alternative Version-Excerpt From The Dubbed US Version DVD-ROM Extras-Movie Synopsis Of The Unproduced Sequel To Patrick (PDF) Theatrical Trailer-Patrick - Australian Trailer Theatrical Trailer-Patrick - US Trailer Teaser Trailer-Antony I. Ginnane Trailer Reel Gallery-Stills & Poster Gallery Teaser Trailer-Umbrella Ozploitation Trailers |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1978 | ||
| Running Time | 112:22 (Case: 108) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | Richard Franklin |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Umbrella Entertainment |
Starring |
Susan Penhaligon Robert Helpmann Robert Thompson Bruce Barry Rod Mullinar Julia Blake Helen Hemingway María Mercedes Walter Pym Frank Wilson Carole-Ann Aylett Paul Young Marilyn Rodgers |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music | Brian May |
| Video (NTSC) | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Unknown |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 480i (NTSC) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
One of the more interesting thrillers to emerge from the Ozploitation era of Australian cinema was Richard Franklin's eerie piece of macabre suspense, Patrick.
Those who know the work of the late Richard Franklin will probably be aware that he was a devotee of Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, he and Hitchcock met while Richard was a student in the US and over the years they became friends. Patrick was the first of a few Hitchcock inspired films that Richard Franklin would make in his career. It was also one of the films that prompted Universal Studios to offer Franklin the direction role for Psycho II in 1983 - an honour that he certainly lived up to.
Patrick was filmed in Melbourne on a small budget of $400,000 - very modest even by 1978 standards. On completion, the film had a huge running time of 140 minutes. Distributors subsequently requested some savage cuts and the film was edited down to the current running time of 112 minutes. According to Richard Franklin, none of this deleted footage still exists today.
As the film opens, it becomes apparent that young adult, Patrick (Robert Thompson) may have some deep psychological problems. This suspicion is quickly confirmed when without displaying any emotion, he murders his mother and her lover in the bath tub.
Three years later - with his eyes permanently open, Patrick lies comatose in room 15 of a small private hospital owned by the creepy and cantankerous, Dr Roget (Sir Robert Helpman). It appears Patrick's fragile mental state has been consumed by the murder of his mother and for the past three years he has essentially existed as nothing more than a living corpse. His body has totally shutdown and with no brain activity, he is completely unresponsive to the world around him. He even requires a machine to breath for him. Patrick has no living family, so he remains in Dr Roget's care, kept alive only by the sanctity of medical ethics and his convenience for research.
Nurse, Kathy Jacquard (Susan Penhaligon) is interviewed for employment by the surly, Matron Cassidy (Julia Blake). The hospital is desperate for staff and Kathy is desperate for a job after splitting with her husband, Ed (Rod Mullinar). Kathy is assigned the patient in room 15 and she is promptly introduced to Patrick and his special needs by Sister Williams (Helen Hemingway). Kathy is intrigued by Patrick from the beginning and does her best to treat him with compassion and respect.
Kathy soon realises that Patrick may not be totally brain dead, but each time she tries to communicate this to Dr Roget or Matron Cassidy there is a cunning no response from her patient. Strange and menacing coincidences begin happening when Kathy meets Dr. Brian Wright (Bruce Barry), an amorous neurosurgeon. These events continue with increasing malice when she attempts reconciliation with her estranged husband. Kathy soon becomes aware that Patrick is manipulating her life in every way and his level of malevolence is about to intensify.
Ironically, many years later Quentin Tarantino added homage to Patrick in his 2003 film, Kill Bill: Volume One. The coma scene with Uma Thurman sees her spit in the same vain as Patrick. Tarantino's request that Thurman play the scene wide eyed was flatly rejected by the actress as being ridiculous.
Partick had only moderate success in Australia, but it did much better business around the world. In Italy, the film was a massive commercial hit - so much so that it inspired an unofficial and erotic spin-off in 1980 titled, Patrick vive ancora.
Everett de Roche, who wrote the original screenplay for Patrick, later wrote a 13 page movie synopsis for an official sequel titled, Patrick - The Man Who Wasn't There. Despite the best of intentions, the screenplay was never developed and the film was never made.
This new transfer of Patrick is a marked improvement on the previous local release by Magna Pacific, which featured a poor quality 1.33:1 transfer, poor audio and no extras.
Patrick is presented here in the precisely measured aspect ratio of 1.80:1, which is 16x9 enhanced. The film's correct ratio is reported to be 1.85:1. It must also be noted that this is a NTSC transfer.
Despite the improvement on the previous local release, Patrick still looks soft, with film grain evident throughout most of the film. According to Richard Franklin, in order to save money Agfa film stock was used instead of Eastman. It's therefore highly likely that the majority of this grain is inherent in the source material, rather than it being a transfer issue. It's been many years since I've seen Patrick in a cinema, so I can't really comment in regards to the grain content of the film. The occasional outdoor scene looked great with strong and sharp detail, but on the whole sharpness levels were only moderate. Blacks were generally clean, but shadow detail was often undefined.
The colour palette used in Patrick is rather drab, especially most of the interiors. In contrast, many exterior scenes looked excellent with strong and vibrant colour. All the colours appeared well balanced, with no over-saturation issues.
MPEG artefacts weren't an issue. Film-to-video artefacts were negligible and film artefacts were almost non-existent.
Unfortunately, there are no subtitles available on this DVD.
This is a DVD 9, dual layer disc. The layer change was easily noticed at 85:16.
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There are two audio tracks available on the DVD, English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192 Kb/s) and English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 Kb/s).
Dialogue quality was excellent throughout and there were no obvious problems with audio sync.
The original music score for Patrick was written by the late Brian May. Brian has scored many Australian films over the years. I must confess, I've never been much of a fan of his film scores - I've found most of them to be too loud and over-dramatic. In my opinion though, his music for Patrick is one of his better scores. Brian also had a bit of fun with this score, paying homage to Bernard Herrmann and John Williams. It's worth mentioning that for the Italian release of Patrick, Brian May's score was replaced by a score written by the Dario Argento favourite, Goblin.
The use of Pro-Logic II only really spread the sound and music to the rear channels. There was nothing of any substance from the rear speakers at all - everything was based front and centre.
The subwoofer came to life on a few occasions, mostly during moments of increased tension.
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The main menu is animated, 16x9 enhanced and features a sample of Brian May's score.
This is a fascinating commentary is full of interesting anecdotes and relevant information. It appears this was recorded about 18 months before Richard's untimely death from Prostate Cancer. During the commentary, he has a great recollection of the film and openly discusses all aspects of the production. He is very keen to point out all of the Hitchcock references in the film - far more than most people would ever notice. At 45:25, writer Everett de Roche takes over the commentary for about six minutes before returning to Richard, who then continues through to the end of the film.
Antony loves a chat and here he talks enthusiastically about Patrick. This informative piece was produced this year by Umbrella Entertainment, exclusively for this DVD presentation. Antony discusses his experience working with Richard Franklin and talks about the production of the film in general. Clips from the film and still photographs are also incorporated into the discussion.
This is a short interview between Richard Franklin and the late film critic, Ivan Hutchinson in 1978. This friendly discussion takes place a short time before the film was completed and released.
Despite Richard Franklin's objection, for the American cinema release of Patrick, the Australian accents were overdubbed with the voices of American actors. As the title suggests, this is a short clip from that terrible dubbed version.
Writer, Everett de Roche continues his story of Patrick with this 13 page movie synopsis that was never actually realised.
Image Gallery Part One - 56 images
Image Gallery Part Two - 57 images
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Umbrella edition misses out on
The Synapse Films, Special Edition misses out on
Unless the French and Spanish audio tracks are important to you, there seems to be no logical reason to look past the local Umbrella release.
Patrick is a moody piece of gothic horror made by a director who unfortunately never quite revealed his full talents to the world. Patrick still has plenty of shocks and surprises for a new audience. Sure it's a bit cheesy at times, but there's a lot to like about this creepy little homage to Hitchcock.
The video quality is not perfect, but I believe this is probably the best Patrick has ever looked for the home entertainment market.
The audio transfer is basic, but perfectly adequate.
The extras are very good, especially Richard Franklin's commentary.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | JVC XV-N412, using Component output |
| Display | Hitachi 106cm Plasma Display 42PD5000MA (1024x1024). Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080i. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. |
| Amplification | Panasonic SA-HE70 80W Dolby Digital and DTS |
| Speakers | Fronts: Jensen SPX7 Rears: Jensen SPX4 Centre: Jensen SPX13 Subwoofer: Jensen SPX17 |