Patrick Still Lives (Severin Films Blu-Ray Review)

Is Patrick Still Lives Treasure or Treasure

DVD Distributed By Severin / October 27, 2020

Shortly after the Ozploitation shocker PATRICK became a worldwide hit, producer Gabriele Crisanti (BURIAL GROUND), screenwriter Piero Regnoli (NIGHTMARE CITY) and director Mario Landi (GIALLO IN VENICE) went way beyond ‘unofficial sequel’ or ‘unauthorized remake’ to instead create this “mind-boggling example of Italian exploitation that has to be seen to be believed” (Moria): When a young man becomes comatose after a freak accident, his father invites six strangers to a secluded villa for a weekend packed with relentless nudity, outrageous violence and perhaps the most depraved sex/gore death in all of Italian horror. Sacha Pitoëff (INFERNO), Gianni Dei (MANHATTAN GIGOLO) and Mariangela Giordano (MALABIMBA, BURIAL GROUND) star in “one of the most ultimate exploitation films ever made” (Monster Pictures), now scanned uncut in 2k from the original negative for the very first time in 40 years.

Jamie’s Take (3.5 / 5)

In 1978, Richard Franklin (Road Games, Psycho II, Cloak & Dagger) directed the Australian Ozploitation film Patrick about a comatose mental patient killing others thru telekinesis. The film was a hit (and quite good) and sure enough, the Italian’s didn’t miss a beat and churned out this bizarre rip-off that lead everyone (including myself) to believe this was a sequel. Patrick Still Lives is by no means a remake or sequel aside from having the same premise of a guy named Patrick in a comatose state killing others thru telekinesis. While Patrick was a well-made thriller directed with style, Patrick Still Lives is pure sleaze. Get your raincoats on dear readers. This is one sick fucking film.

Coherency has never been the Italians strong suit and immediately one will be asking what the hell is happening as our main character Patrick is standing on the road with his father when a car drives by and throws something out the window, hitting Patrick in the face. A bloody mess, Patrick falls to the ground as the viewer scratches his / her head wondering what that was that just hit him. As Patrick Still Lives continues, I realized asking questions is basically pointless as the film just gets more and more bizarre.

So now we have a group of rich, snobby couples who are invited to a desolate villa where even the house keepers are acting strange and seem just as nutty as the guests. There are even guard dogs around the perimeters that are either used to protect others from coming in or stop those from leaving. I don’t know, it’s unclear…I’m still lost as to why all these strangers decide just to spend a weekend together with no explanation as to why. I really need to stop asking myself these questions.

So as these people argue, fuck, have diner, fuck, go swimming in the nude, fuck, strange things start to happen (as if that’s not strange enough) as objects around the home start attacking these morons but not before they see a set of glowing eyes that fly at them with some 70’s sounding music to top it off. Once people start getting bumped off, the film suddenly turns from a Jess Franco film to a Joe D’Amato film and if you understand that reference, this film is for you. The gore starts flowing and director Mario Landi revels in it with even one outlandish and downright misogynistic murder scene that doesn’t pull away from the impact that left me stunned. I actually let out a scream that caused my dog to jolt out of her deep sleep.

If that wasn’t enough, the film even goes further by it’s reveal of what this mad doctor is doing to his son Patrick as well as other nude comatose patients that Patrick is absorbing their powers from. It’s completely incoherent and absolute apeshit but the film works on what it sets out to do: titillate, repulse, and shock whoever decides to view it. Patrick Still Lives knows what it is set out to do and doesn’t try to be anything it is not.

Severin’s transfer states before the film opens that some of the footage over the years has been damaged and that this transfer may not look its best but I found the transfer to look just fine given how old the film is and how it has rarely seen the day of light here in the U.S. At times the picture does look grainier or darker in certain sequences but it didn’t bother me for the most part. The special features is rather disappointing as aside from a brief interview with actor Gianni Dei who plays Patrick and the film’s trailer, there is nothing else added. Severin is known not only for their amazing transfers but ample special features and here, they don’t have much. I would have loved to have heard a film historian discuss the influence of the Australian film Patrick had on this movie and why the film came out so bonkers and depraved.

Patrick Still Lives is pure sleaze from beginning to end. At under 90 minutes the film entertains on so many levels; from it’s hilarious dialog (“Hysterical women make me nervous.”) to it’s cheap looking effects to some over the top nudity and gore (did every actor in this film get naked?). I was not bored that’s for sure.

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

Jamie says: Hidden Treasure!