Patrick (1978 film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Franklin |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Everett De Roche |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Brian May |
| Cinematography | Donald McAlpine |
| Edited by | Edward McQueen-Mason |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Filmways |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $400,000 |
Patrick is a 1978 Australian science fiction horror film directed by Richard Franklin and written by Everett De Roche. The film is notable for popularising Ozploitation films in other territories. A remake, Patrick, was released in 2013.
Patrick lies in a coma in a Melbourne private hospital. He had murdered his mother and her lover three years ago by electrocuting them in the bath. Patrick, who has psychokinetic powers, falls in love with Kathy, the new nurse at the hospital, communicating with her via an electric typewriter. Patrick also uses his psychokinetic powers to control the men in Kathy's life and to defend himself against the hospital's bitter Matron Cassidy who plots to murder him.
This was the second script Everett de Roche had ever written, following Long Weekend (1978). It had been around for a number of years before director Richard Franklin became attached. The two men had both worked for Crawford Productions although not together until then. De Roche says when Franklin became involved the script was "a rambling 250 pages" and Franklin taught him the elements of drama and suspense. He says the final scene of Patrick leaping out of his bed was inspired by trip to a carnival Franklin had made where a man in a gorilla suit burst out into the audience, causing everyone to scream. They then started working backwards from this scene.
Franklin brought in Antony I. Ginnane who raised finance. The Australian Film Commission and Victorian Film Corporation contributed about half the budget, with the rest obtained privately. Ginnane later said he thought De Roche's script was one of the best ever written in Australia.
Judy Morris was originally announced as star. However British film actor Susan Penhaligon was imported to play the lead, which Ginnane thought helped secure the film a sale in Britain.
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