Patrick (2013) Film Analysis

Patrick (2013)

Directed by Mark Hartley

Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Patrick (2003) is an Australian horror film based on the original film, Patrick, made in 1978. Kathy Jacquard seeks a job to take her mind off of her recent break-up; she gets interviewed and accepted then and there by Doctor Roget, at an isolated psychiatric clinic. Nurse Williams shows Kathy around the clinic, explaining who and why the patients have been admitted. Kathy meets Patrick, who has supposedly been involved in a car crash with his family and is the only survivor. Patrick received brain injuries; therefore he cannot talk or communicate with the staff. Doctor Roget uses shock treatment to shock his brain into creating a reaction; Kathy disagrees with this method of treatment and therefore falls out with Doctor Roget. Patrick starts to communicate with Kathy through spitting, then he shows his powers of telekinesis by communicating with her through a computer monitor. Kathy soon discovers that Patrick is an obsessive psychopath as he begins to hurt everyone around her.

A scene that impressed me was were Patrick was talking to Kathy via a computer monitor. The scene started off slow, and gradually sped up as Patrick revelled more about himself to Kathy. Towards the end of the scene when the tension was at its highest, the camera would jump between the computer monitor, and Patrick’s face. I enjoyed this scene because it used collision cutting to create tension, and also low key lighting was used to compliment the dark atmosphere. Expressionist angles were also used during this scene, the camera would cut to Kathy’s face every so often so that the audience could analyse her reaction; also, when the camera was cutting between Patrick’s face and the computer screen, the shot distances were increasing, the last shot was an extreme close up of Patrick’s face. I could re-create this scene in my own trailer by using close-up shots, and extreme close-up shots, as well as slow to quick paced editing, creating a montage effect. 

Another scene that impressed me was where Nurse Williams was showing Kathy around, it allows the audience to get a sense of the environment inside the house; within this scene close ups, long shots, medium shots and zooms were used, low-key lighting was also used to add to the creep, historic elements of the house – no sound track was used during this scene so that the audience concentrated on the dialogue. 

Watching this horror film allowed me to understand how important elements such as sound, editing and ideologies are when creating a psychological horror film. Parallel music is used throughout the film, in the form of stringed instruments which help to amplify tension and panic. The use of collision cutting and slow to quick montage also helped to build suspense and pressure in the right areas; such as when Patrick is talking to Kathy. Ideologies such as sexism towards women, sadism and feelings/beliefs outside the CDI (cultural dominant ideologies) help to shape the protagonist and explain to the audience why he is the way that he is; for example, Patrick’s mother regarded him as an annoyance when she was with other men, therefore Patrick grew a hate towards men that had relations with his mother; over time Patrick also grew a disliking towards his mother for having relations with other men. 

I would like to include parallel music, point of view shots, and creepy, enclosed locations in my own trailer because I think that these elements help to project uneasiness and dread into the audience. I would also like to avoid contrapuntal music, because I think that it is very hard to make a horror film appear scary or even funny with contrapuntal music as it goes against the overall mood of the scene. I would also avoid using CGI in my trailer because it can look fake and unrealistic, like some of the CGI used in Patrick when Brian lost control of his car. 

Patrick’s character is that of a psycho killer/serial killer. The audience are allowed to find out more about him as the film goes on; towards the end of the film we see flashbacks of his teenage years. In the flashbacks we see him killing his mother and her lover, Patrick suggests to the audience that he is obsessive and is in love with his mother. His love for his mother turns into anger and hate when with other woman, so he feels the need to watch them suffer, therefore he is a sadist. Patrick goes against horror conventions, most killers do not appear clean, and well groomed like Patrick does. There are character stereotypes within this film, for example the girl at the beginning of the film gets killed, she was young and blonde. Kathy is the final girl, and survivors all the way through the film, she is a brunette, dresses slightly like a tomboy and is very intelligent; Kathy also uses a big needle, which is a representation of a phallic weapon, to kill Patrick. 

I think that the establishing shot at the beginning of the film of the psychiatric clinic was very powerful, this is because half of the building is old, and half of it has been modernised; also the old half of the building looks dull, and creepy, whereas the more modern half of the building is painted white. This suggests that there is both good and evil within the house, the old half of the building also compliments the psychiatric clinic in the original Patrick (1978), which can be seen in the trailer below.

The film reflects its historical context through the use of technology. The film was made in 2013, therefore recent, and up-to-date technology was used throughout the scenes. A scene that demonstrates this is where Kathy’s phone starts to ring when she is upstairs, the phone sounds like an old dated phone because of the ringtone, but when Kathy picks up the phone we see that it is an iPhone. The iPhone has been purposely placed where a house phone would usually sit because it demonstrates the advance in technology when comparing the remake and the original. The film also pays tribute to the original 1978 version by using out-dated technology within the clinic, this also adds a sense of doom and dread, and also a negative atmosphere throughout the scenes situated inside the clinic.