The king of Ozploitation films, Richard Franklin's PATRICK, gets a Blu-ray double feature release with its remake from Umbrella Entertainment.

Separated from her husband Ed (Rod Mullinar, DEAD CALM), British ex-pat nurse Kathy Jacquard (Susan Penhaligon, SOLDIER OF ORANGE) returns to the work force after three years at the small private clinic of Dr. Roget (Robert Helpmann, THE RED SHOES). She is put in charge of Roget's patient in room fifteen: Patrick (Robert Thompson, THIRST), comatose for three years after murdering his mother (Carole-Ann Aylett, ROAD GAMES) and her lover (Paul Young, MAD MAX). As she watches over Patrick, Kathy becomes convinced that the patient is aware of his surroundings but fails to convince Matron Cassidy (Julia Blake, MY BRILLIANT CAREER) who is wary of "lesbians, nymphomaniacs, enema specialists…" who would apply to such a small clinic offering miserable pay and abominable working hours. The mysterious Dr. Roget dismisses her concerns but he has a sinister interest in Patrick and monitors him with various pieces of medical equipment towards experimental ends. When Patrick's awareness seems to extend to telekinetic control of his environment, Kathy consults playboy neurologist Brian (Bruce Barry, NED KELLY), but this gets her into hot water with the secretive Roget and the officious matron, as well as making Patrick jealous causing him to lash out telekinetically at anyone who might stand in between himself and Kathy.

A classic of the Ozploitation genre – even if the nudity and graphic violence is rather restrained compared to some of producer Antony Ginnane's other works or the censor-baiting ones of fellow countryman John Lamond (AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK) – PATRICK is stylistically indebted to Alfred Hitchcock and even PSYCHO more so than any other low budget horror film that exhibited some clever cutting during a murder. Franklin had studied at UCLA where he ran Hitchcock retrospectives while the director was still alive, and was even on the set of FAMILY PLOT. Among the obvious PSYCHO references are the coverage of the interior and exterior of the Roget Clinic itself with its neon sign and high angled shots of characters entering the sinister building and climbing its creepy staircase, overhead shots of characters making their way down the corridor to Patrick's room, as well as Patrick's backstory and the optically-augmented close-ups of voyeuristic eyes. Like PSYCHO II, Franklin's indebtedness to Hitchcock in general is in the cinematographic language itself rather than just a few obvious visual homages. It was on the strength of PATRICK that Franklin was hired to direct Universal's PSYCHO II, although between those two films he also directed the Hitchcockian ROAD GAMES with Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film sold well internationally and its Italian release featured a new score by Goblin – rather than the Goblin album tracks cobbled together for the Italian version of George A. Romero's MARTIN – and was popular enough to spawn a sleazy Italian rip-off "sequel" PATRICK STILL LIVES.

In 2012, producer Ginnane and NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD Ozploitation documentarian Mark Hartley undertook a remake titled PATRICK: EVIL AWAKENS in which Kathy Jacquard (Sharni Vinson, YOU'RE NEXT) flees her failed marriage to Ed (Damon Gameau, CHARLIE'S COUNTRY) and takes a nursing job at the private clinic of Dr. Roget (GAME OF THRONES' Charles Dance) who is working on an experimental drug designed to wake the neurons of coma patients, among them teenage Patrick (Jackson Gallagher) whose body shows no signs of tissue waste and whose open-eyed stare seems suspiciously aware. Although Roget and matron Cassidy (SIX FEET UNDER's Rachel Griffiths) discourage Kathy's getting attached to Patrick – and the only other nurse (CASTLE ROCK's Peta Sergeant) is more interested in conscious men – Kathy begins to believe that Patrick can not only hear her but can telekinetically influence things around him. When Patrick begins to communicate with her via computer, she is puzzled that as to why he continues to undergo Roget's barbaric treatments. When her husband Ed brutally injures himself without any memory of it and handsome psychologist Brian (Martin Crewes, RESIDENT EVIL) takes a fatal plunge, Kathy realizes that the only thing more terrifying than Patrick's hate is his love.

Shot through with overly self-conscious references to the Franklin film that are more distracting than clever – including an early appearance by Mullinar as Roget's attorney, changing Ed's surname to Penhaligon, and excerpts from May's score heard on Roget's Walkman – PATRICK: EVIL AWAKENS is a rather pointless remake. Rather than a carbon copy of the original, it is its every attempt to be different that the film stumbles repeatedly. Dispensing with any kind of slow realization of Patrick's awareness, the film instead distracts with needless backstory involving the disappearance of Kathy's predecessor, making matron Cassidy Roget's daughter (presumably as much to explain her dedication to her uncaring father as the otherwise headstrong woman's reluctance to attempt to do anything to stop Patrick until the third act), the addition of a horrifically scarred ex-patient of Roget's who operates the nearby lighthouse, and setting the film within an amped up gothic atmosphere that seems to misunderstand both Franklin and Hitchcock's ability to juxtapose the mundane and the guignol. Patrick's telekinetic abilities include the ability to do a Google search to cyberstalk Kathy, he uses phone signals and smart electronics to attack victims remotely, and it is very hard to see what Kathy sees in him apart from his boyish looks since things are sinister from the get-go. The climax is just bombastic, upping the gore quotient without any thrills or chills, throwing in walking corpses, and the film's overall over-reliance on poor digital effects and even worse CGI just makes the whole affair tiresome. Pino Donaggio (RAISING CAIN) seemed like a good replacement for Brian May to contribute a Bernard Herrmann-esque score but he makes less of in impression in this vein than he did on Dario Argento's TRAUMA.

Stateside, PATRICK was one of the last theatrical releases by Allan Shackleton's Monarch Releasing in 1979 in a shortened 96-minute version with an American dub track a la American International's release of MAD MAX (presumably the pre-credit sequence's full frontal nudity was among the deleted footage given the PG rating). It was reissued in the early eighties by Cinema Shares International. This abbreviated version was released on VHS by Harmonyvision in 1981 and then by Magnum Entertainment in 1990. The uncut Australian version was among the first round of Ozploitation films to hit DVD via Elite Entertainment in 2002; however, unlike the Panavision titles THIRST, DARK FORCES, and STRANGE BEHAVIOR, the 1.85:1-framed PATRICK was a non-anamorphic transfer (Synapse rectified this in 2008 when they reissued the title).

The film made its Blu-ray debut down under in 2014 – a year after the film's remake (see below) – followed by Severin's stateside edition in 2014 that featured the same transfer. For novelty value, Severin synchronized the shorter Italian track to the feature presentation so that one could hear how the Goblin score was deployed, but there was no subtitle track for this version. Umbrella Entertainment's region free Australian import Ozploitation Classics double feature with the remake is not a direct port of the 2014 disc. It features the same 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC-encoded 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray, lending a slickness lacking in video and DVD transfers of the photography Don McAlpine (PREDATOR) which can still look quite grainy as expected of a $400,000 film, and a couple optical shots look no worse than before. The sole audio option is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix which boasts clear dialogue and shock effects, but May's elegant orchestral score does much of the heavy lifting as far as suspense. In reauthoring the disc, Umbrella has unfortunately not added English SDH subtitles.

The audio commentary track with the late Richard Franklin recorded for the 2002 DVD has been ported over here. Franklin concedes the film's heavy debt to Hitchcock and is happy to point out all of the touches meant to emulate his films (pointing out that he had no idea at that time that he would be asked just a few years later to direct a sequel to PSYCHO) as well as some unconscious touches he discovered later. Of Brian May's quotation of Stravinsky's "Rites of Spring", he tells us that it's a JAWS tribute but that PSYCHO II composer Jerry Goldsmith later told him that Bernard Hermann quoted it in the shower scene for the original film. He also makes brief mention of the "semi-true" story that inspired the film, as well as a real onset injury to actor Helpmann.

As has become de rigueur on Blu-rays of Ozploitation films, the disc features extended versions of interviews with Franklin, screenwriter Everett de Roche (LONG WEEKEND), producer Antony Ginnane, and stars Penhaligon and Mullinar (61:05) that were originally recorded for Mark Hartley's Ozploitation documentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD. Penhaligon took the job because she wanted to go to Australia and her perception at the time of Australian films as being artier than the horror films she made in England. She speaks highly of Franklin and his love for Hitchcock's work (including how he described the scenes they were filming), and recalls acting with Helpmann (who she thought was a little over-the-top but loved his stories of working with the stars), Thompson, and flirty/stoned Mullinar, as well as the special effects that frustrated Franklin. Mullinar speaks about the high profile of the project, the special effects for the scene where his hands are burnt, Franklin's "pre-editing" style of directing – like Penhaligon previously and Franklin on the commentary – hash-smoking Helpmann breaking his back lifting Robert Thompson in the final scene, as well as the American dubbing of the film and his earlier BREAKER MORANT (he also admits that the PATRICK's shock ending was corny).

Franklin covers much of the same information as on the commentary track (appropriate since this extra wasn't produced for the film) and goes into more detail about the basis of the story, Everett de Roche's original draft (the backstory of which was closer the anecdote he described so they just "ripped off PSYCHO" for the opening), and the film's poor reception in Australia and its colossal success at Cannes. He also mentions that his intended lead for PATRICK was Jenny Agutter (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON), but that she was not available and producer Ginnane recommended Penhaligon (Agutter would later appear in the Ginnane-produced THE SURVIVOR). Franklin also recalls not minding the Americans re-editing the film but was incensed at the redubbing (Helpmann sued the American company and won), and also discusses the Italian "sequel" which he was flattered by despite its gore. De Roche also discusses the basis of the script – which had sat around for five years before being taken up by Ginnane and Franklin – and not only goes into a bit more detail about the story that inspired the script but provides some clarity about how Patrick wound up in a coma.

Ginnane talks about going against the prevailing Australian culture at the time, making genre films rather than ones with cultural significance and finding people like De Roche who were interested in working in the genre (describing Franklin as "a surfer who likes movies"). Like Franklin, he concedes that De Palma was first in embracing Hitchcockian homages. He also discusses the primitive state of Australian filmmaking at the time with regard to special effects, opticals, and some of the more complex camera set-ups, as well as the stuntwork. He mentions that Franklin had input on the American cut of the film but not the redubbing, and recalls its performance theatrically and on American television (and he feels that it would not have sold to television as an Australian picture), as well as in Italy where he felt the Goblin scoring got the film notoriety in that country (he is less pleased about the Italian "sequel" than Franklin but they were able to bar its distribution outside of Italy until the recent DVD release).

Also ported over is a vintage TV interview with Franklin (20:24) shot during ROAD GAMES, in which he recalls his days at UCLA, directing episodes of HOMICIDE for Australian television (still in black and white in 1971) and his love of genre filmmaking. He recalls being given de Roche's script for the first draft of PATRICK by fellow director Simon Wincer (who would direct HARLEQUIN for producer Anthony Ginnane), as well as the fine line between suspense and comedy (discussing the British film DOMINIQUE IS DEAD as a film where a lack of "breathers" made the tension monotonous). He also discusses his involvement as co-producer on BLUE LAGOON. For the chase scenes of ROAD GAMES, he confesses to consulting George Miller because of his work on MAD MAX (who then pointed him to the chase scene in BEN HUR). Too-lengthy clips from PATRICK, BLUE LAGOON (including excerpts from that film's making-of featurette), and ROAD GAMES may have impressed viewers in early video days but most viewers now will probably fast forward.

New to the Ozploitation Classics edition is a brief on set interview with Franklin (9:18) intercut with behind the scenes video of the shoot, a new "Where Was It Filmed?" featurette (16:18) in which the host attempts to track down various locations from the much changed Australian cityscape, and an excerpt from dubbed US version (3:30). Like MAD MAX, the film was released stateside with an Americanized dub track that makes it sound like an Italian horror film (although in this case it is more grating to those familiar with the original performances). A stills and poster gallery (5:44), American theatrical trailer (1:48), TV Spots (0:56), and Australian trailer (3:20) are included along with a trailer for the Italian rip-off. The disc closes out with an Antony I. Ginnane trailer reel (31:10) featuring trailers for PATRICK, SNAPSHOT, THIRST, HARLEQUIN, THE SURVIVOR, RACE FOR THE YANKEE ZEPHYR, DEAD KIDS, TURKEY SHOOT, DARK AGE, HIGHTIDE, THE LIGHTHORSEMEN, THE TIME GUARDIAN, THE DREAMING, and SCREAMERS.

PATRICK: EVIL AWAKENS was released theatrically in Australia and then on Blu-ray in 2013 from Umbrella Entertainment. It bypassed theaters stateside, hitting Blu-ray stateside in 2014 from Phase 4 Films during a time when they were picking up quite a few domestic and international horror titles (including a belated DVD release of Jaume Balaguero's 2005 Spanish horror film FRAGILE). Umbrella's Ozploiation Classics disc is not entirely identical to the 2013 disc, although the fine 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen transfer of a digitally-shot and graded production that favors chilly and sickly colors appears to be the same. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is gimmicky as expected, adding to the film's overall sense of bombast and English SDH subtitles are provided.

Extras include an audio commentary by director Mark Hartley, cinematographer Garry Richards, and writer Justin King in which they note that Ginanne was supposed to participate but that he was off trying to sell the film internationally and raise money for other planned remakes (the only other one that came to fruition was a remake of TURKEY SHOOT with PRISON BREAK's Dominic Purcell released stateside as ELIMINATION GAME). They discuss the changes to the story and the backstory during the four year development – Ginnane apparently rejected a number of treatments for the remake – the "fair bit of borrowing" not only from the original film, Franklin's own copy of the screenplay, and the original novelization, but also from Franklin's PSYCHO II. They are overly complimentary of the film's effects while revealing that scenes establishing Kathy's developing relationship with Patrick were dropped because of scheduling considerations, and most interestingly reveal that actress Sergeant impressed them by sending an audition tape from Los Angeles that incorporated other actors, camera movement, and a choice of locations superior to what they scouted in Australia.

The making-of documentary "The Spit, The Stunts, The Sex, The Gore" (28:22) covers the aforementioned aspects of the shoot, providing a look at the film before grading, showing just how much of the film's locations and sets were augmented by digital matte painting, Vinson's body double for a nightmarish sex scene, and a look at the film's make-up effects (in the commentary, Hartley notes that one effect had to be redone digitally because the dummy head was not convincing). A selection of cast and crew interviews (58:10) includes Dance, Griffiths, Vinson, Ginnane, Hartley, King, and Richards as well as costume designer Aphrodite Kondos – who was standby costumer on the original film and designer on a number of Giannane's Ozploitation horror films from the time – production designer Robbie Perkins (the LONG WEEKEND remake), make-up effects artist Larry Van Duynhoven (LAKE MUNGO), and visual effects artist Steve Cooper. Despite the overall running time, these are all short EPK pieces addressing the remake, the original, and the usual comment among actors of not liking horror films.