Patrick (2014)

Patrick (2013) ** (out of 4) A nurse (Shami Vinson) begins a new job and one of her duties is to look after Patrick, a young man in a coma. Soon the nurse begins to think that Patrick is trying to communicate with her and before long she realizes that it's something much worse.The 1978 Australian film PATRICK turned 25-years-old and how did they celebrate it? Why, of course, they made a rather bland remake! I actually watched this remake back-to-back with the original, which is something I rarely do. There's really not too many original things on display here as this is one of those remakes that amps up the violence and gore and also throws in a lot more bad jump scares.In my review of the original film I said it was a tad bit too slow at times and ran too long. This remake tries to fix both of those problems but the non-stop dream sequences and fake jump scares were just annoying and got very boring after a while. Another problem with this remake is that the relationship between the nurse and Patrick just never feels all that believable. In the original film it helped sell the story but that's not the case here.The performances are quite good with Vinson, Rachel Griffiths and Damon Gameau doing a nice job. Charles Dance is also good in his role. Jackson Gallagher isn't really given much to do except sit around looking cute. He certainly doesn't have the same impact as the actor in the original film but I will put the blame on the filmmakers.PATRICK isn't an awful movie but it is quite pointless.

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.

So very disappointing. You have Charles Dance and Rachel Griffith. Actors really don't get any better. Then you have that ludicrous soundtrack! Why? Why? By themselves with a poor script and limited budget, both Dance and Griffith would be riveting! Who was the imbecile that signed off on that soundtrack? Great setting, believable story line and then that moronic soundtrack. Whoever is responsible should be outlawed from the movie business. The director should be castigated. Charles Dance and Rachel Griffith, really, what was the director thinking? One simply has to focus the movie entirely on them, no directing, just improvisation by both. That's how good they are. It's impossible to find any other actor that does what Charles Dance can do,maybe, Gary Oldman, but he doesn't have Dance's presence.And, Rachel Griffith can act the socks off her contemporaries.So very, very disappointed!!!

Low budget Australian affair about an obscure and remote mental "hospital" whose star patient, Patrick, forges a bloody bond with new smart and able but unsuspecting nurse Kathy Jacquard (Sharni Vinson). The opening prologue seems to promise another predictably lame slasher flick, and the entire film is a little slow to develop, yet the last half-hour or so entails some interesting and creative layers and twists. This film becomes a lot more distinct once we get to know Patrick's story. Decent all-around acting, with good performances by the three women who play the nurses: Vinson, Rachel Griffiths, and Peta Sergeant.It seems the makers were trying to create a circa 1950 Gothic horror film set in the age of GPS with modern horror tropes (something like that). A valiant attempt, but PATRICK would have been better if it were more consistently modern. Many of the props (nurses' uniforms, etc) look unrealistically antiquated, and the outside views of the hospital. . .well, you can tell it's not an actual building. The constant rubber stamp suspense symphony soundtrack also gets a little annoying--There's just no need for it except in a few select spots. All the same, none of the various weaker points should get too much in the way if you're a big horror fan.Some brief "incidental" nudity and a fair measure of really nasty-gory death and dismemberment. Still, PATRICK makes good use of its gore, using it briefly and shockingly.