Pulp Friday: Patrick

Patrick #1I am partial to a good paperback movie tie-in and this week’s Pulp Curry features a beauty, Patrick, which I found in an excellent second hand book shop during recent travels in rural Victoria.

Published by Sun Books in 1978, the novel is based on the original screenplay by Everett de Roche of the influential Ozploitation film of the same name about man in a coma after murdering his mother and her lover by electrocuting them in a bath. The man, Patrick (Robert Thomspon), who strange psychokinetic powers, falls in love with his nurse, Kathy (Susan Penhaligon) communicating with her via an electric typewriter. He also uses his powers to ward off other potential male suiters in Kathy’s life and battle the hospital staff, particularly the Nurse Ratched-like Matron, Cassidy (Julia Blake).

The book was written Australian writer Keith Hetherington, who we have featured previously on this site. Hetherington, who was born in 1929 and I believe is still alive, had a long career, including writing Westerns and Larry Kent crime thrillers for Cleveland Publishing, fiction for Man and Pocket Man magazine, radio plays, television scripts, and various stand alone thrillers and a paperback tie ins for films such as Snapshot (1979) and The Chain Reaction (1980).

I love the cover for this paperback tie in, Robert Thompson aka Patrick’s creepy, penetrating eyes, although the copy I have, from which the front and back cover scan is taken, is slightly askew, the product of a printing fault.

Enjoy and have a good weekend.

Patrick #2

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3 Responses

  1. Oh yes the early 70’s and there’s the gratuitous female nude scene.
    Prod&Dir by Melbourne’s Richard Franklin who wanted to be a movie director when he was 14. Sadly he died too young. Did a frame-by-frame remake of PSYCHO.
    When I see Hetherington I think of Mr Squiggle whose creator was born c.1920 – how cute if Norman & Keith were related.

  2. Ann,
    Thanks for stopping.
    Yes, I remember the gratuitous nude scene. It was the 1970s, so there had to be at least one nude scene…
    Cheers,
    Andrew

  3. I remember seeing PATRICK the movie at the cinema and then buying the novel. Recall that the novel was a fairly good adaptation of the film and enjoyable to read. The telekinesis craze started with CARRIE (…and Uri Geller) in the mid 70s. PATRICK was our contribution to the genre. Kept the novel for many years but I must have donated it to the op shop or perhaps it moved by itself.

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