All pathologists know is smoke crack, be bisexual, murder deviants and lie

If the phrase "extremely horny edgelord Final Destination" means anything to you I urge you to watch this movie

Now this looks great on paper. The core idea revolves around a group of pathology interns playing murderous games after dark. Commit the smartest murder you can, submit it to the group who then have to work out how you did it. There's a quality idea in there and plenty of opportunity for a gritty and intelligent thriller exploring the darker side of our naturally murderous psyches. It's pretty obvious that's not what the writers of "Crank" are going to give you though.

In practise it all feels a tad eighties, like a cross between "Flatliners" and "The Lost Boys", and when the edgy bad boy pathologists are roaming the halls it's like the brat pack never went away. However, where Keifer Sutherland's pack of vampires were an understandably seductive prospect, it's impossible to believe that all it would take was some gentle bullying and a hint of potential lesbian action to turn Milo Ventimiglia's posh grade A super student into a murderous crack addict.

Still, suspend your disbelief and that's forgive-able. There is some good fun here, particularly in the performances which are all pretty decent, and things (ahem) perk up whenever Alyssa Milano is on screen. The main problem is how hard the movie tries to be adult, and the constant swearing, rutting and drug use has a whiff of "Hollyoaks In The City" desperation about it. It's such a constant barrage that it becomes, well, a bit dull unfortunately. Shame, there's a good movie in there somewhere and with a defter touch and a bit more maturity this could have been pretty special.

When I realised PATHOLOGY was written by the two guys who directed the CRANK films and other OTT fare, I knew that I wasn't going to be in for exactly highbrow entertainment. However, this is a film that starts off promisingly enough, with plenty of potential. Milo Ventimiglia plays a somewhat gifted medical student who finds himself exposed to unending levels of corruption as he becomes drawn into a literally vicious circle of fellow medical students with murder in mind.

Sadly, a mildly intriguing first half of the movie gives way to a sloppy second half, where the narrative breaks down and the emphasis is more on footage of gory death and surgery rather than genuine storytelling. Ventimiglia's lead is underwritten and fails to get the audience onside, while a nominally sympathetic character such as the one played by Alyssa Milano is barely on screen so has little time to register.

Still, these characters are almost saintly in comparison to the truly horrible creations of Jake, Juliette, Griffin and Catherine. All four are equally loathsome and while there is a certain sick fascination from watching them at play you end up wishing the most awful things would happen to them. I'm not spoiling the ending, only to say that at this point it becomes fairly sanitised and plays it safe by Hollywood standards. Sadly by this stage you couldn't care less about any of those involved and the film itself becomes a kind of game where you're sitting waiting for the next moment of depravity. Not much fun in my book.