Do you know who deserves a check...I mean a really big check...I mean the kind of huge check that they give the winner of a golf tournament? Lois Duncan. Who's Lois Duncan? The author of I Know What You Did Last Summer. So many books and movies have ripped off that idea and she gets little credit for being the originator of that idea. (For the record, I've only seen a handful of Korean films, and three of them had the premise of her book.) The notion of a group of friends hiding a deadly secret felt original at one point, but it's become way too hackneyed. But, that didn't stop the makers of Red Mist from using it as the jumping-off point for their film.

So, again, someone please give Mrs. Duncan her check. The movie hits all of the I Know What You Did Last Summer high-notes, from the bully who forces everyone to keep the secret to the intelligent girl who is against the idea. But, Red Mist doesn't stop there. Once this plot has been established, one has to wonder, what are they going to do with the story, as Kenneth is in a coma? Never fear, there are other movies to plunder. After some mis-guided medical tampering, which reminded me of Re-Animator, the movie turns into Patrick. "What's Patrick?", you may be asking. Patrick is an Australian film from 1978 about a coma victim who is able to use his telekinetic powers to kill. Red Mist changes this idea, but only slightly.

Unoriginal ideas aside, there isn't much else happening in Red Mist. The movie opens with an poorly edited and hopelessly vague explanation for why Kenneth is a "weirdo", and then introduces us to the interns who are all a*&holes, because isn't that how young doctors are supposed to act? The movie just assumes that we'll accept the fact that the doctors are all jerks who hate Kenneth simply because he's different and we'll all move on from there. The movie also asks us to accept the basis for the murders based on a few lines of dialogue from a doctor. Some of the murders are rather gory, and while this may interesting some viewers, these scenes don't really fit the tone of the rest of the film. The pace is sluggish at times, and the movie reaches a point where it really wants us to care if Catherine can help and then stop Kenneth, but it's difficult to muster concern...especially when everyone who Kenneth is killing is so unlikable.

Red Mist falls into a deep sleep on DVD courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing only slight grain and no defects from the source material. The colors are good, most notably the reds. The image is a tad dark at times, as if the filmmakers were going for shadowy look and took it one step too far. I noted some mild video noise in some shots. The DVD features a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which is one of the muddier tracks which I've heard recently. Even with the volume turned up higher than normal, I had difficulty understanding the dialogue and was finally forced to turn on the subtitles. That aside, there are some good stereo effects, especially in the hospital corridors and the bar scene provides good surround effects.