Saturday, June 06, 2020

Movie review - "Patrick" (1978) *** (re-watching)

Stylish. Clever. Some great moments. Susan Penhalgion's performance never gets the credit she deserves maybe because she was English. She's a very good woman in peril. And the movie feels seventies.

I got Rod Mullinar and Bruce Beeby mixed up. Maybe one of them should have worn a moustache or something.

Robert Helmann and Julia Blake are great hammy fun. I kept expecting Helpman to die. Nicely shot. Great music

There's some flabby passages. Richard Franklin's handling isn't as good as it would be in Roadgames. But there's some tremendous moments too. And the film has archetypal power - the man in love with the nurse, being possessive. There's some feminism in the script with Penhaglion dealing with all these controlling predatory men (something that popped up in a few Everett de Roche scripts).

A very good movie. I remember it spooking me when I saw it on tv and it retains that power.

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