Review of Patrick Still Lives (1980) by Camden N — 31 Dec 2009

Another resounding success from the underrated auteur of sleaze Mario Landi. Stylistically this shows some major improvement over Giallo a Venezia. The film has some splashes of expressionistic lighting, and Mario Landi's camera is more confident.

Whereas Giallo a Venezia looked like a TV movie, this definitely looks like (an admittedly cheap and sometimes inept) theatrical film. I must admit that, having seen that giallo in an outrageously low quality bootleg, it is not completely fair to compare the two visually.

I can at least say that Patrick Vive Ancora has more interesting camerawork. It also has more of a story, if not a particularly well written one. But did we come here for good writing? No, this is an Italian sleaze-fest, filled with delightfully hateful (and stupid) characters, a generally mean-spirited atmosphere, a lot of unnecessary nudity (both male and female), and some ridiculous death scenes.

Unlike Giallo a Venezia, the deaths in this film are often ludicrous, badly staged, or too fantastic to be disturbed by. There is one however that is surprisingly cringe inducing, and you'll know it when it happens.

Between this and Giallo a Venezia I can't help but assume that Landi really hates vaginas. The film is often sleazy and ridiculous enough to maintain interest, but it loses its steam in the last 15 minutes or so.

That this around the time that the Freddie Mercury-lookalike character dies may or may not be a coincidence (but I did love every minute he was on screen, that's for certain). The problem is that the filmmakers blew all their good deaths too early and left all the lame deaths for the lame climax.

Oh well. Altogether this film is nowhere near as sleazy as Giallo a Venezia, but it is more entertaining and easier on the eyes thanks to the superior print. It also benefits from a score by that giallo's composer Berto Pisano, who contributes a much different sort of score for this much different sort of film.

The main theme, for instance, sounds like an intense rip off of Tubular Bells. So all in all this is not nearly as mind-blowingly trashy as Giallo a Venezia, but it is ridiculous enough to ensure that you're never bored.