Patrick

"Patrick" is a remake of the classic 1978 film of the same name. This updated telling of the somber, clinical horror is directed by Mark Hartley and stars Charles Dance, Rachel Griffiths, Sharni Vinson, Peta Sergeant, Damon Gameau, Martin Crewes. "Patrick" is the story of a young man in a coma who is the subject of a mad scientist's cruel and unusual experiments. When Kathy Jacquard, a young nurse, begins working at the isolated psychiatric facility under Dr. Roget, she becomes fascinated with Patrick and soon the comatose man begins showing signs of supernatural abilities.

The story in "Patrick" is a really dark, nefarious tale of mad science and extreme circumstance. "Patrick" takes on the most colorful of urban myths where cold, calculative doctors explore scientific discovery and notoriety at the behest of the helpless patient. It is the core of most nightmares surrounding hospitals, clinics and mental institutions. So "Patrick" is a story that should please any horror fan. This film offers the same evenly-paced melancholy with a bit of unease as the classic version, but the updated look and feel give more edge to the film. There isn't a big change to the story or situations in this remake generally speaking which normally would make a remake pointless and boring but with "Patrick" there is still that creepy, since of dread and chilling coldness that the original film held.

The acting in "Patrick" is pretty standard for a film with a nice enough budget. The actors are all well known from various other ventures and their ability to give life to the characters shows on screen. This film doesn't demand to much depth or complexity of character and the director doesn't offer anymore than what the original story called for which works but at times kind of gives the film that whole "going through the motions" sort of vibe. Still the actors offer believable, solid performances and the dramatic overture to their interactions presents a traditional macabre performance.

The special effects and soundtrack used in "Patrick" is tight, much like the acting, with plenty of creative gruesomeness. The kill scenes aren't as visceral as most modern horror films tend to be but they work and offer enough blood-n-guts goodness to satisfy. The suspense isn't really as strong as I would have like, especially considering it is a remake of such a notable cult classic. Maybe cause I saw the original more than once this film just seemed like a "basic" update which isn't saying anything bad about it, it just would have been nice to see the extra effort made to shock and thrill those of us who where familiar with the original-offer a modern, fresh atmosphere of fright. The soundtrack is eerie enough but still much like the shock factor it doesn't really heighten the suspenseful nature or chilling overcast of the film. That being said "Patrick" is an entertaining, creepy film that manages to breathe new life in a horror story classic.

Patrick (2013)

I saw Patrick (1978) early November for first time and I thought it was really good, it was slow burner, it was creepy and it had decent scare's in that movie.

(I even seen the sequel/remake or spin off or what ever what to call it. the Patrick vive ancora (1980) Which I had mixed feeling for.

Everything that I liked about the first movie, well in this movie it was total the opposite it, there were few new scene add here and there, it felt like the same movie all over, almost scene from scene remake.

From the class breaks to the burning hands and the death were all the same even down to last scarce scene in movie (In original that scared the hell out me) This movie this went into silliness and none of the scenes didn't have the same effects

I did not like the person who played Patrick, he did not fit role at all, Patrick in (1978) was much more creepy with his eyes and didn't need some really red eyes effects, which was not scary

There are far to many fake jumps scenes , there about 7 in one scenes, one after another, I was bored, saw everyone one them coming.

The acting was decent but not great!

4 out of 10

I don't know why so many filmmakers fail to grasp the concept that sometimes less is more.

This remake of "Patrick" is a good example. The whole movie has an amateurish look, simply due to the use of a color filter to give it a 'dark', 'greyish' atmosphere. It just looked ridiculously fake. As did the rain filter, the CGI lift shaft shot, the car headlights and so on.

Editing was terrible too. As a matter of fact, everything about this movie was bad, the exception being Pino Donaggio's score (which was not great either, but at least acceptable).

As for the cast, Charles Dance does what he can, but the poorly written screenplay does not help things much.

And don't even get me started on the final jump 'scares'...

I never saw the original one so I can only review this one without comparison. I see that the first one gets much more stars so I might watch that one as well in the future because I already liked this remake. The whole movie was not boring at all like many other horror movies. Instead I thought the storyline was well intriguing and it keeps the audience interested during the whole movie. All the actors were fine to me, nobody bothered me at all. Charles Dances as doctor Roget gave a good performance as usual. The music and sound was perfect for the suspense. Definitely a good horror/thriller to watch on a cold dark evening.

Saw this in it's limited run in Melbourne. The movie is quite strange and has just the right amount of creepy to keep you entertained for the entire running time, but I feel this should've added a prequel element to make the obsessiveness work better.

The acting was great, and the film is pretty average, but if you are into these psychological films than you'd probably enjoy it more than I did.

Sharni Vinson is great as the leading lady and new nurse at the hospital, and she always has this believability about her which is great. Rachel Griffiths was also fantastic as the head nurse and every time she popped up you wanted to find out what the deal is with her being so cold and black hearted.