Patrick

Dragon's Domain Records, to be distributed through buysoundtrax.com, presents the soundtrack release of PATRICK, featuring music composed by Brian May (MAD MAX, THE ROAD WARRIOR, CLOAK & DAGGER) for the 1978 horror film directed by Richard Franklin (ROAD GAMES, PSYCHO II, LINK), produced by Antony I. Ginnane and William Fayman during the boom of the Australian New Wave of cinema in the late 1970s and early 1980s and starring Susan Penhaligon, Robert Helpmann, Rod Mullianar, Bruce Barry, Julia Blake, Walter Pym and Robert Thompson as Patrick.

Directed by Richard Franklin and written by Everett De Roche, PATRICK is a psychological horror-thriller that tells the story of a mentally disturbed young man who becomes so enraged by his mother's unchecked libido that he electrocutes her and her lover while they are frolicking in a bathtub. After this act of matricide inflicts irreparable damage to his brain, Patrick ends up comatose in a bed at the Roget Clinic, unable to move or speak and fully dependent on the care of others for his most basic needs. Kathie, a young nurse recently hired by the Clinic, is assigned to care for Patrick and immediately takes a shine toward him. Unbeknownst to Kathie and the hospital staff, Patrick possesses telekinetic powers. His conscious mind is capable of leaving his physical body to travel limitless distances in search of victims. Kathie becomes increasingly aware of Patrick's abilities and pleads for assistance, but nobody at the hospital will believe her. As Patrick becomes more infatuated with her, his control over his abilities increases and the stakes get higher.

Brian May's unorthodox approach to scoring PATRICK involved composing music that expresses both sides of the narrative coin. One, a tale of lopsided love—an invalid patient with telekinetic powers aches to win the affection of his unrequited love. The raw emotion of May's saccharine music imbues sympathy for Patrick's motivations while injecting the necessary terror into his violent psychokinetic attacks. The other side of the coin is Patrick's willingness to stop at nothing, not even murder, to possess Kathie. Like other films featuring telekinetic characters, PATRICK utilizes sound effects to materialize psychological concepts into physical forms.

Born in Adelaide in 1934, Brian May (no relation to Brian Harold May of Queen) was one of the first composers to achieve international acclaim as an Australian composer and was best known as the composer of MAD MAX and THE ROAD WARRIOR (MAD MAX II). May received his musical training as a pianist, violinist and conductor at the Adelaide Elder Conservatorium. He joined the Australia Broadcasting Company in 1957, where he formed the ABC Adelaide Big Band, an ensemble that performed all manner of light music for broadcast, and May became a leading figure in Australian light music as a result. He moved to Melbourne in 1970 to arrange and conduct the ABC's Melbourne Show band. Moving into film music in a period of time when Australia's film industry was just beginning to take its place among international film circles, May composed such notable film scores as RACE FOR THE YANKEE ZEPHYR, ROAD GAMES, CLOAK AND DAGGER, DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR, MISSING IN ACTION 2, SKY PIRATES, STEEL DAWN, DR. GIGGLES, FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHT MARE and BLINDSIDE. He won the Australian Film Institute Award for best original score with MAD MAX; many other awards followed, including the Golden Award from the Australian Performing Rights Association. He continued to score films until 1993, composing music for more than 30 films and many hours of television, most of which he orchestrated himself. Sadly, the composer passed away in 1997 at the age of 63.

Previously released on very rare compact disc releases, Dragon's Domain Records is excited to bring the PATRICK back to the marketplace, newly remastered by Digital Outland. The booklet includes liner notes written by author and composer Brian Satterwhite.

01 Main Title 2:08

02 Matricide 1:05

03 The Flat 1:19

04 The Intruder 1:23

05 Room 15 1:21

06 You Can Feel 2:07

07 Bossa for Ed 1:56

08 Kathy's Tune 1:49

09 The Trance 1:48

10 Patrick Power 1:51

11 Kathy's Theme 1:50

12 The Strobe 3:07

13 Exit Matron 1:59

14 Kathy Looks for Ed 1:42

15 Dr. Roget 1:37

16 The Needle 1:17

17 Kathy Returns 1:00

18 I'm Going Now 1:33

19 He's Dead 1:24

20 End Title 1:57