RED MIST/MEDICAL MAYHEM

Making genre films is easy. Just follow the formula, right? Except such films also need to be different. So how does supernatural thriller Red Mist hope to stand out?

***********************************

Here is Red Mist's formula set up: A coma victim given the wrong drugs gets to live a second, "out of body" life and spends it wreaking havoc on the various careless doctors who failed him.

Sounds promising, doesn't it? Lots of opportunity for blood, for instance. Hence, the title Red Mist, no doubt.

And the twist that raises this simple scenario above the norm is … wait for it ... no!

Sorry, it would obviously be unfair to give that detail away at the moment. Everyone will simply have to wait to see whether Irish director Paddy (Shrooms, I Went Down) Breathnach can come up with enough surprises to deliver the punch and originality that this genre audience expects.

What is known is that shooting started in Belfast in February starring a pair of excellent Brits, Stephen Dillane (main picture, with Nicole Kidman in The Hours) and Andrew Lee Potts (Connor in TV’s Primeval) along with two American lasses, Arielle Kebbel (The Grudge 2,) and Sarah Carter (Skinwalkers).

Also, that the UK’s special effects powerhouse, Framestore-CFC, is heavily involved - following their work on The golden Compass, Harry Potter, X-Men, you name it - so the visuals could be amazing.

All will be revealed in just a few months, with the film scheduled for released in November.

The two UK producers behind the project obviously like nasty things – and Northern Ireland - as they have three other scary features shooting in Belfast this year: The God Machine, a violent ghost story; Beach Boys, an urban gang thriller; and Chatakwa Falls, a sinister love story.

Even when working away from Northen Ireland, their tastes run to shockers, with a horror mockumentary called Video 8 underway in Australia.

All of which is quite surprising when you consider their previous credits.

One, Mark Huffam, has worked on mainstream titles like Saving Private Ryan, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Hours, Johnny English, Goal! and the forthcoming Mamma Mia!

The other, Simon Bosanquet, was behind such palatable fare as Wuthering Heights, Onegin, Ripley’s Game and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.

Indeed, as if to prove this pair have normal feelings after all, it turns out they are making an adaptation of David Copperfield, directed by Peter Howitt, starring Rowan Atkinson.

That sounds likely to be amiable enough, doesn't it?

But one can’t be sure. Who is to say there won’t be a twist in the tale?

Filed February 21, 2008.