Patrick Still Lives

Patrick Still Lives

Genre: Exploitation, Horror

Original title: Patrick vive ancora

AKA: Patrick Is Still Alive

Director: Mario Landi

Year: 1980

A bedridden psycho is able to receive evil "vibrations" from hardened criminals and use them for his telekinetic powers.

An unofficial sequel to the 1978 Ozploitation classic Patrick. Patrick had moderate on its release but I find it kind of laughable that the Italians would stoop so low to rip off such a little known film with a phony sequel. 

The picture begins with someone driving past Patrick and throwing something out the window (a tin can I think!) which hits him & puts him in a coma. Next we see that his father owns some sort of hotel/therapy home & has invited criminals that he thinks may of been the ones which put Patrick in his coma, this way Patrick can seek revenge using his telekinetic powers. 

It's a ridiculous plot, with a ridiculous script with plenty of crazy characters yet despite all this Patrick Still Lives is actually very sleazy & entertaining flick. There literally isn't a minute that passes where you don't see a bottle of J&B being drunk, or a women stripping off for no reason at all, or a women being slapped by one of the male characters. It is that kind of movie. They copy some of Patrick's traits from the original such as him operating a typewriter with his mind or making doors close but for the first half of the movie Patrick is rarely seen. 

As the film progresses it really amps up the sensational aspects. There's a receptionist who Patrick gets to strip naked, dry hump his bed post and then masturbate in the corner of the room, all by using his mind! Then, a couple of gory deaths via dogs, drowning & a women being killed with a spike through the vagina which is WAY to graphic than it needed to be. 

I expected the low budget to really show on this type of film & whilst some of the special effects leave a lot to be desired the direction, editing & most of the performances are surprisingly serviceable. Also there is a really cool funky, bass heavy, prog-rock soundtrack that accompanies much of the first half of the film which I'd love to get my hands on. 

It's a bizarre film in many respects & Its whole look feels much older than its 1980 release date, yet Patrick Still Lives holds up as a sleazy & cheesy slice of exploitation horror which is much better than perhaps it has any right to be.

Rating: ★★★

Patrick doesn't even have to move an eyelid to get the chicks flocking towards him