Pathology

Newly-qualified Dr Ted Grey (Ventimiglia) bids farewell to his idyllic manor house existence with adoring fiancée Gwen (Milano) to join one of America’s most prestigious pathology programmes in the city. Greeted with praise from his mentor and contempt from his peers, Ted takes time to adapt. But despite the initial conflict, he soon finds himself taking drinks and talking mortality with the lab’s elite clique.

The group’s assumed leader Jake (Weston) takes a liking to Ted and his innovative diagnoses, inviting him to join their dark game of death: kill anybody in an inventive way, bring them back to the lab and see who can deduce the cause of their demise.Reluctant at first, Ted soon gets swept up in the murderous fun. But when he starts sleeping with Jake’s girlfriend Juliette (Lee Smith), things start to unravel quickly and every moment becomes a matter of life and death.

With a fresh and interesting premise, Pathology is far more sophisticated than your average gore flick. Occasionally delving into philosophy and outrightly dissecting humanity, this film goes more than just skin-deep. Ventimiglia (of Heroes fame) is a perfect casting choice: Ted’s crises' of conscience reflected sublimely in a frequently brooding performance. The supporting cast are just as apt, particularly Weston’s unpredictable antagonist who you just love to loathe.There are some curiosities to the film, such as Ted’s unlikely gravitation to this amoral group, and some inexplicable sado-masochistic sex. But it’s all easily forgiven if you remember that you’re on this ride for the sheer hell of it.

The theme is relentlessly chilling, and with razor-sharp dialogue playing against a backdrop of graphically gruesome scenes that will set your hairs on end, this is a prime example of smart horror executed with precision.

Owen Rye