Coventry It always strikes me as quite remarkable that med students in horror films are even dumber than the average adolescent horror movie characters. I mean, these people are supposed to represent our doctors and scientists of tomorrow, yet when confronted with a potentially perilous situation, they take the absolute worst decisions of all. Basically speaking, "Red Mist" is another umpteenth variation on the 'I know what you did last Summer' slasher theme. In other words, a bunch of young people do something incredibly stupid that results in the death of an innocent person, but in order to save their own careers/reputations, the make a pact to keep it secret. The events naturally come back to haunt them. The culprits who were immediately prepared to ditch the dead guy usually die first and most painfully. The sole member of the group with a bit of a conscious, usually the one who insists at first on calling the police, still has a slight chance of survival. Nothing new or innovative there, as "Red Mist" revolves on a band of dim-witted med students that go out partying with drugs that they have stolen from the hospital pharmacy and cause for the mentally retarded morgue assistant Kenneth to OD into an epileptic attack and subsequently a coma. The whole group is perfectly happy with Kenneth's "permanent vegetative state", as this prevents him from talking about what really happened, but the celestial Catherine is overrun by feelings of guilt and remorse. To help poor Kenneth and bring him out of the coma, she secretly experiments upon him with a new type of drug. The treatment doesn't have the wanted effect, however, as it causes "out of the body" episodes during which Kenneth possess the bodies of random people and uses them to extract revenge on those who wronged him! Indeed, what we're dealing with here is a genuine amalgamation of "I Know what you did last Summer" and the obscure Aussie shocker "Patrick". The plot isn't very original, but even more troublesome is that "Red Mist" doesn't distinguish itself from the overload of contemporary horror films in terms of gore, atmosphere or suspense, neither. The film is dull and slow-paced, with unmemorable murders and clichéd situations. The attempts to bring additional depth and plot twists are well-intended but completely miss their effect (like the scene where Catherine suddenly awakes in a body bag in the middle of the woods) due to the overall predictability of the concept. The acting performances are decent, especially from Arielle Kebbel and Andrew Lee Potts, but these freshly faced twenty-something hunks and babes seriously don't look like future doctors or surgeons. This film is a slight improvement over "Shrooms" for director Paddy Breatnach, as that film was completely incoherent and messy, but it still isn't solid horror like it ought to be.

Paul Andrews Freakdog is set at Fort Haven County General Hospital where several trainee Doctor's decide to have a party, while there slightly retarded hospital janitor Kenneth Chisum (Andrew Lee Potts) turns up & when he is called names & thrown out he mentions the drugs that Sean (Martin Compston) stole from the hospital pharmacy that everyone has been getting high on. Worried Kenneth will tell he is invited to the party & is stuffed full of drugs & alcohol which causes him to have an epileptic seizure, while arguing whether to save Kenneth or not he suffers brain damage & goes into a deep coma. While Sean wants Kenneth to die Catherine (Arielle Kebbel) doesn't & the group reach the compromise of dumping Kenneth outside ER. In a deep coma Catherine feels guilty & tries to help Kenneth by injecting him with experimental drugs which raise his brain activity to the extent Kenneth can possess other people which he uses to extract his revenge on those who left for dead in a coma...Much more commonly known under the title Red Mist this English production was directed by Paddy Breathnach & could be looked as a modern updating of the classic Australian film Patrick (1978) with it's main villain in a coma but there's a bit of I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) here as well as a bunch of teens who try to cover a terrible accident up for their own personal selfish reasons are killed off one by one. I enjoyed Freakdog much more than I thought I would, at just over 80 odd minutes it's fairly short but I have to say that the pace is quite sedate with the script taking the time to build the story & character's & the time invested is worth it. I liked the idea of a comatose killer who can possess people & use them to kill, setting people up to take the blame & even possess those he wants to kill & have them commit suicide, the kills are good & the film is surprisingly engaging. However the cast of character's are a little thin, all the medical students are portrayed as selfish unlikable people which makes it hard to sympathise with them when they get killed, the one exception is Catherine who show's just enough guilt & turmoil for us to relate to her & the situation she was in. I suppose what it boils down to is that Freakdog is just another teen slasher but there's enough about it to lift it from the usual low budget dross out there, the story, character's & kills are all better than expected although the ending is a little ambiguous which may irritate some.The film looks very slick, the super white & clean lines of the hospital location is a nice change from the usual dark & dank horror film settings. There are some good kills here, a woman has her head based in a car door, a man has acid pured down his throat, a woman mutilates herself by cutting herself with a shard of glass & there's a cool & satisfying kill in which a man has a kitchen knife stuck through his throat with blood gushing consequences. Although very clean & stylish looking there's not much tension here & the scares are minimal, I guess Freakdog is more of a horror thriller than an all out horror film.With a supposed budget of about $3,000,000 this is set entirely in the US but was filmed entirely in Belfast in Northern Ireland. The acting is pretty good actually, the lead Arielle Kebbel is super hot & a decent actress too.Freakdog is a much better film than I expected, the only thing that holds it back is a slowish pace at times & too many unlikable character's which means when the killing starts it's hard to really care. However it's stylish & the story, acting & kills are good. Better than average & better than many low budget horror films out there.

stuartnicol1 This is such a pointless film. You find out who the killer is, you know why hes doing it and you know who hes going to kill. Thus all you are watching is a boring killing spree. Don't get me wrong, the special effects are solid and the kills are occasionally interesting. The concept of taking over peoples bodies is also interesting but this film offers nothing in terms of story. No scares, no shock, no point. Just avoid it, unless u want some admittedly well done killing with no scares or interesting storyline.4/10 as the deaths are well done and the acting isn't terrible but with no twists, turns, excitement or depth, its hard to call this a good film.

trashgang What is it with some people, the problem this movie had is that many people broke it down. But the movie already had one problem, the title. Is it Freakdog or is it Red Mist. Anyhow don't be bothered by it. This is another film made by the director of Schroom, one that was spitted out by the creeps and freaks. Being a geek myself I watched without prejudice Red Mist. The storyline is good and easy to follow. The killings that appear are mostly done off camera except the one on the stairs which is for me the best one and the goriest one. By filming most killings not in front of the camera and not having any nudity but still having his 18 logo this is were this film fails. By having the famous 18 logo people expect vicious killings. But no. The red stuff flows but always when the killings have happened.The movie never bored me and the plot is really nice. I would not recommend it to the hard core horror freaks but to those who like a good suspense with a little horror twist. I rather have given it a 15 logo.