MOVIE REVIEW

Medical students dabble on the dark side in this gleeful horror-fest celebrating bad behavior.

By Mark Olsen, Special to The Times

"Pathology" is a nasty, naughty little film, a delightfully disagreeable horror-thriller about a group of medical students who engage in unusual extracurricular activities. Milo Ventimiglia (a familiar face from TV's "Heroes" and "Gilmore Girls") plays a clean-cut, straight-arrow medical student who finds himself thrown in with a group of burned-out fellow pathology residents in the Los Angeles county morgue. Soon after being introduced to their heavy drinking, meth smoking and kinky sex, Ventimiglia's character is initiated into the group's most outré hobby, a game by which one of them kills someone and the rest have to determine the increasingly obscure and baroque method.

Directed by Marc Schoelermann and credited on screen to the writing team of "Neveldine and Taylor" (syndicated DJs Mark and Brian to their mothers), the team behind the film seems to have done its homework and not only with regards to the exacting depictions of various medical procedures. The med-students-gone-wild of "Flatliners" and the ghoul-gang from "The Lost Boys" are the most obvious templates, although Schoelermann favors the off-putting green sheen of contemporary horror for the look of the film rather than Joel Schumacher's neon and Day-Glo fantasia.

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As the group's leader, actor Michael Weston obviously draws from the strutting charisma of the pre-"24" persona of Kiefer Sutherland, and as henchman No. 1, Johnny Whitworth does a lively impression of "Heathers"-era Christian Slater. Bringing the movie's fun-house reflexivity full-circle is the casting of Alyssa Milano as Ventimiglia's sacrificial fiancée, returning her in some sense to her early post-"Who's the Boss" career, when she appeared in such tawdry screen-cap classics as "Embrace of the Vampire." While such wire-crossing cross-referencing may go unnoticed by some audiences, the undercurrent of rude energy and spark of giggling excitement provided by all the winking and nodding comes through loud and clear.

Perhaps the biggest surprise to come from "Pathology" is the unexpected sensitivity Schoelermann has to the dislocating isolation of downtown Los Angeles, the spooky-sad emptiness that often takes over at night. The production also re-purposes the chilly-modern exteriors of the Caltrans building -- the Thomas Mayne-designed structure occasionally referred to as "The Death Star" -- as a medical center, making "Pathology" an unlikely campaign piece for the benefits of shooting in real places and not always heading to the soundstage or leafy anonymity of Vancouver. Gleefully brimming with body parts and bad behavior, "Pathology" is a fun piece of flamboyant tastelessness.

"Pathology." MPAA rating: R for disturbing and perverse behavior throughout, including violence, gruesome images, strong sexual content, nudity, drug use and language. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes. In limited release.