Pathology

“If we could really get away with it, kill anyone? Anyone at all? You’d kill anyone. Anyone at all.”

It’s not very often one can sympathise with a cold-blooded killer. However Pathology’s Ted Grey is one of the exceptions. Through his clinical doctor’s mind and unbiased presentation of events, it is easy for the viewer to become personally invested in the film’s twisted moral philosophy.

Pathology is the 2008 medical thriller directed by Marc Schölermann, following top Harvard graduate, Dr Ted Grey (Milo Ventimiglia, Heroes), who joins a prestigious pathology program. His high intelligence is noticed by a few elitist interns, led by the commanding Dr Jake Gallo (Michael Weston, House M.D.), and he’s inducted into their group. Then they play the game, determining who can commit the perfect murder.

I have mixed feelings in regard to the actors’ performances. Milo Ventimiglia did an adequate job of Ted, with perhaps two moments of brilliance, but Michael Weston is in a whole different league. I first saw him a few years ago in House M.D. and I liked him then, but after watching this I can’t help but feel he’s extremely underrated. The presence he has on screen is immense and the viewer’s eye is drawn to him immediately. His brutal lines are immaculately delivered and he’s almost intoxicating in the way that you’re hanging on his every amoral word. He was the perfect choice for the role.

Alyssa Milano, who plays Ted’s girlfriend however, was disappointing. She was not very convincing in portraying all the layers her character had; the lawyer, daddy’s little girl, and the sexy girlfriend. The only one I felt she did a particularly good job of was the lawyer, delivering her lines in a snappy yet articulate way so you could actually picture her standing in a courtroom.

The script is also not the greatest. It certainly has its moments, particularly with Dr Gallo and Ted also has a few great one-liners, but as a whole it’s sloppy. Some of the sentences were awkward and a couple of the sex scenes were unnecessary and just cheapened the whole production. Obviously the violence earns its restricted rating considering you get to see autopsies in their unedited and gory-glory, but it felt like the sex was stuck in just for the sake of the rating. There was only one sex scene that felt appropriate because it showed the masochism of Dr Gallo in a way that directly related to his character. Other than that one scene, the sex should have been swapped for bigger plot development. At ninety-one minutes running time and with such a big concept, they could have done a lot more with that.

Something that struck me and had instant appeal to me was the fact that the viewer is made to think. Through personal experience, there generally isn’t much depth in the philosophical sense to a typical horror or slasher film, which sets Pathology apart from the rest. The group of interns discuss death in such a blasé manner, and murder they treat like a sport. The scary part of this is that they show the audience how easy it can be. This isn’t just because they are medical students and know how to avoid detection, but because they all do it without remorse, without respect. Ted is so easily drawn into this world too, with that same detached view, which emphasises this possible world. Despite this, you can’t help but agree a little or be charmed even by Dr Gallo’s attitude towards murder because the way it’s worded, the way he sells his ideas, sounds perfectly logical. It really challenges the viewer’s perception of human nature in itself and thanks to the style of the film, the morality of murder aside from basic societal stigma.

It’s honestly a shame that this film didn’t have a higher budget, because there is so much potential to expand on the excellent concept. Change most of the actors, have a better script and this would at least reach cult-status. It’s not a fantastic film as such but if you like horror, sadism or psychological thrillers in general, Pathology is definitely something worth watching.

“We’re animals. It’s in our nature to kill.”