Patrick (2013) d. Mark Hartley, (Australia)
This remake of Richard Franklin's 1978 Ozploitation breakout about a comatose killer in the mood for love has the advantage of strong actors in the form of Sharni Vinson (You're Next, Bait) as the lovely nurse the titular comatose psychokinetic killer sets his sixth sense on, Charles Dance (Alien 3) as the aging doc obsessed with discovering the exact moment of death, and Oscar nominee Rachel Griffiths (Hilary and Jackie) as the repressed matron running the decrepit asylums for the not-quite-dead set.
Unfortunately, first-time scribe Justin King needlessly complicates the already ludicrous plot, and expert documentarian Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood) goes completely by-the-numbers with pointless jump scares and glossy jump cuts. (No surprise that cinematographer Garry Richards’ background is in music videos.) Unlike the flicks Hartley spent such lovely care researching, there's not an ounce of Down Under flavor or individuality to be found, and only busty nurse Peta Sergeant (Iron Sky, 2012's Crawlspace) brings any freshness to the proceedings.
Even legendary composer Pino Donaggio's score is just as perfectly generic as everything else, making for quite the disappointment. Pass.
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