Tag Archives: Charles Dance

Retrospective: Patrick (2013)

06 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by in retrospective

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While it’s clear that director Mark Hartley is a huge fan of the original 1978 feature of Patrick, and the Ozploitation scene, this is none more evident than in his fantastic documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! It seems an obvious choice for someone so immersed in the subgenre should take the helm and wield a reimagining of the classic Aussie feature, what is absent however, is the essence of the original feature that made it so iconic.

That’s not to say that it’s poorly constructed, the film is crafted well enough and Hartley does well to tap into the world of psychokinesis, and draw it out for a modern-age audience. It boasts a decent cast in Sharni Vinson (You’re Next), Rachel Griffiths and Charles Dance. All of whom manage to craft out some nice performances from dialogue that feels a little strained at times.

For those unfamiliar with the narrative, Patrick tells the tale of Kathy (Vinson), a nurse who starts work at a psychiatric clinic where she meets the titular character, Patrick, a comatose patient who has the ability to move objects with the power of his mind. 

Patrick is also being systematically abused by Dr Roget (Dance) and the Matron (Griffiths) through a series of Electroconvulsive therapy. This is like kicking the hornet’s nest and stirring a world of hatred in Patrick, who also becomes dangerously obsessed with Kathy and begins to manipulate things and people who come close to her, so that he can have her for himself.

The Diagnosis:

The film is slick enough, perhaps too slick, not harbouring the grit of its predecessor, but the cast are engaging and tied to the script despite its flaws and bring life to the fore. 

Stand out for me will always be Vinson, who deserves more praise than she currently receives and Dance happily chews up the scenery and gives across condescending like no other performer that I know. For that it’s worth the watch.

Currently this feature serves as a double feature blu-ray alongside the original in a current release by Umbrella Entertainment.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Dracula Untold (2014)

06 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in Universal Horror

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OUR FINAL entry into the Dracula reboot section looking back at Universal Horror movies is the most recent.

In this instance, the idea was to go back and tell an origin story (Will they ever learn?) behind Cinema’s most infamous villain.

Unofficially, this film is part of the ‘new Universal Horror’ franchise, but not necessarily part of the merged universe at this stage.

Universal Pictures definitely want to go all out with the release of The Mummy starting Tom Cruise, which is set to land mid-way through the year.

And whether or not Dracula makes another appearance down the track Dracula Untold marks a turning point for the film production company that allows them to bring ‘their’ monsters to a new generation.

When the movie was first being tauted, Alex Proyas had been listed to direct with the title, Dracula: Year Zero, which I can only have been a cross between Batman Begins and The Crow.

That would have been an interesting premise.

As it stands though, the title changed and directorial duties fell to Gary Shore.

Yeah, we’ve never heard of him either, but he does share the birthplace of Dublin with the creator of Dracula, Bram Stoker, and he has since gone on to direct a short segment as part of the feature, Holidays.

Essentially we see Vlad, protect his lands from the Turkish Empire, only to need to defend his people once more when he refuses to give up his son and 1,000 other boys to said Empire.

It’s a moment that furies the Sultan, played by Dominic Cooper, who looks like he’s loving the opportunity to play the villain of the piece.

So, Vlad has to turn to a chance encounter, Charles Dance living in a mountain, who is evil incarnate and as we know it the true darkness, a vampire that would turn Vlad into the infamous Count Dracula that we know and love today.

If Vlad can resist the need to feed, he will return as normal within 3 days, but as we all know that won’t happen or the legend will never begin.

Tragedy will strike and it will involve his family, the only things that tie Vlad to this world.

The film is unequivocally carried by Luke Evans as Dracula with his charismatic charms and devotion to his family.

Plus he’s ripped as fuck, which helps.

There are some support roles that would suggest the casting agent spooled through the Game of thrones cast, with the likes of Charles Dance, Paul Kaye, and Art Parkinson all playing significant roles, but all of them can’t help to disguise the lack in plot and storyline, and the absence of depth in the characters.

It feels like a paint by numbers piece, but instead of paint, the filmmakers are using state of the art CGI for their palette.

It’s all style, no substance and one can only wonder what the movie would look like if Luke Evans weren’t there to push the momentum forward.

And with an open ending, Universal definitely had great plans for this franchise.

But with a poor critical reaction to the release, it doesn’t bode well, unless The Mummy can unravel all the criticism that came about and bring Dracula back from the dead.

I guess we’ll find out in June.

  • Paul Farrell

LINKS:
Dracula Movies on Hammer Horror Productions