Double Feature: Red Mist & Shrooms

Today's double feature consists of two films directed by Paddy Breathnach.

After Red Mist arrived via Netflix, I asked my horror loving neighbor if he had seen it, and if not if he wanted to watch it after I was finished. When I told him it was by the same director who directed Shrooms he immediately perked up and asked if I had ever seen Shrooms - when I replied no, but it's in my Netflix Queue, he told me to hold on - a second later, he was back with Shrooms in his hand. . . :-)

So, without further ado, on to the reviews ~ let's start with Red Mist:


Genre - Horror
Year Released - 2008
Running Time - 83 minutes
Directed by Paddy Breathnach (who, as I've already stated, also directed Shrooms)
Written by Spence Wright
Cast Includes:
Arielle Kebbel (The Uninvited, Reeker, Aquamarine, Dirty Deeds, and American Pie Presents Band Camp)
Sarah Carter (Alicia from Smallville, Final Destination 2, and DOA: Dead or Alive)
Andrew Lee Potts

Rating: 3 Skulls

The real reason to rent this film ~ Arielle Kebbel ;-)

Plot Summary:

A young doctor decides to test an experimental drug on a man who's been languishing in a coma, and the procedure has unexpected consequences. Although the man's body remains rooted to his hospital bed, his spirit can move around at will. Now, the crazed patient can inhabit unsuspecting bystanders and force them to exact his revenge.

First on his list? The meddling medical students responsible for his comatose condition.

Red Mist is also known as Freak Dog

[I do not know why the name was changed, especially since there were quite a few references to "Freak Dog" throughout the film]

Review:

This movie reminded me a lot of a book that I read, years ago, titled Captain Quad, written by Sean Costello - it was similar to this film, as it too dealt with the paranormal aspect of out-of-body experiences. The book dealt with a quadriplegic who was able to project himself outside of his body, where the film deals with a comatose patient who is able to possess the body of others. . .

Andrew Lee Potts plays Kenneth - a somewhat likeable, albeit creepy, guy who has a crush on Arielle Kebbel's character, Catherine. Catherine's friends are mean to Kenneth and treat him like dirt. However, after they discover that Kenneth has something on them, they all of a sudden act all nice and buddy-buddy, until Kenneth suffers a alcohol/drug-induced seizure that puts him into a coma.

After Catherine overhears another doctor claiming that they are going to terminate Kenneth [due to his insurance running out] she begins to feel guilty. She then begins to research different types of drug therapy and ends up injecting Kenneth with an experimental drug which ultimately gives Kenneth the ability to mentally possess and control others, allowing him to go after those who did him wrong.

Here's the trailer:


Red Mist is worth at least a rent - it has a cool storyline, some pretty gruesome deaths, a plausible resolution to the problem, and a decent ending - check it out.

Now,

Genre - Horror

Year Released - 2007

Running Time - 84 minutes

Directed by Paddy Breathnach

Written by Pearse Elliott

Cast Includes:

Lindsey Haun (Village of the Damned)

Jack Huston

Max Kasch (Holes and Waiting)

Maya Hazen

Alice Greczyn (Holly from Sex Drive)

Robert Hoffman

Rating: 4 Skulls

Plot Summary:
Keen for adventure, a group of American teenagers go to Ireland having been promised the "trip" of a lifetime by their Irish friend, Jake, a mushroom expert. But the vacation soon takes a horrible turn when the teenagers ignore Jake's warnings and ingest the local shrooms.
Before long, the panicked friends are stalked by ghastly creatures. Are these hallucinations - or gruesome reality?

Review:
At the beginning of Shrooms, we are taught by Jack Huston [who plays Jake] all about different kinds of 'mushrooms'. We are informed of "magic mushrooms" which, along with hallucinations, give boundless energy, uncontrollable laughter, and wisdom. We then learn of the "death's head" fungi [basically the heroin of shrooms] which only grow once every several seasons. If you happen to survive taking one of these mushrooms, it is said they give the gift of premonition, as well as uncontrollable ferocity, shape-shifting abilities, being able to commune with the dead, and themselves being a border to another dimension.

When one of the friends ends up taking one of the bad shrooms and another goes missing, things soon turn bad - very bad - is it real or hallucination?

Here's the trailer for Shrooms:


I really had a good time with this one - this was a fun movie - definitely recommended!

Jason