The Mist
Greetings, ‘The Mist’ is a 2007 horror film that was directed by Frank Darabont and is based on a novella of the same name by Stephen King which was published in 1980. Darabont has had quite the history in horror as he had worked on the ‘Nightmare in Elm Street’ series, ‘The Fly II’, the remake of ‘The Blob’ and his most recent projects include directing two episodes in the final ‘Stranger Things’ series. He had also adapted other works by King including ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘The Green Mile’ for the big screen. The cast for this film is considerable in number and includes Thomas Pane, Laurie Holden, Nathan Gamble, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher and Tony Jones as the principal characters. Other actors and actresses include Sam Witwer, Jeffery DeMunn and Frances Sternhagen who played Dr. Marian Lazarus in ‘Outland’. The soundtrack was composed by Mark Isham who contributed to the musical scorings of gritty superhero film ‘Blade’, the remake of ‘The Crazies’ and the critically panned ‘Cool World’.
The plot is set in Bridgton, Maine and begins with a powerful thunderstorm that blows a large tree into the Drayton household. Once the storm has passed, the damage to the house is inspected in the following morning by the father of the family who is named David. He determines that he will need to go into town to buy supplies and opts to take Billy, his eight year old son, with him while his wife Stephanie stays at home. Before departing, a curious David sees that a mist is slowly crossing over the lake and is headed in his direction but he doesn’t take much stock of it. Despite having a fractious relationship with his neighbour Brent Norton, David agrees to take him into town to purchase supplies as well as he had also suffered extensive damage to his property. The two men and the child in the back seat can’t help but notice that several military convoys pass them as they drive to the nearest store. They arrive at their destination of the Food House grocery store and enter the building.
A growing sense of unease settles over Bridgton as several police cars speed down a street in a hurry. The trepidation rises again when a horrified, bleeding local called Dan runs into the store and starts ranting incoherently about the mist taking his friend John Lee. The store employees try to calm down the hysterical Dan as the mist descends upon the supermarket and the parking lot is covered in a thick white vapour. Civil alert sirens begin to blur and the store is shaken by violent tremors which spooks everyone inside. Store Managers Ollie and Bud are confused as to what is happening but they lock the building down as an attempt to safeguard themselves against whatever lurks in the mist. One woman, a mother, states that she left her children at home and that she needs to get them. She doesn’t listen to the pleas and warnings of others. When no one volunteers to go with her, she walks out by herself and is engulfed by the mist as the store is shuttered once again.
I very much enjoyed this film and liked the subtle nods to King’s other works such as David painting a vision he had of the Gunslinger from ‘The Dark Tower’ series. The monsters are a little dated with the use of contemporary CGI but they are varied, imaginative and fun to watch as they terrorise the townsfolk. Just as important to the bleak setting is the transformation of the upstanding citizenry into tribal, paranoid and monstrous figures that ensures the sanctuary of the supermarket can’t be relied upon. King’s usual trope of a psychotic Christian is used to good effect as the world around the characters seems to be apocalyptic and the scared masses look to the religious zealot for salvation. Of course, this movie is well known for taking a different approach to the ending from the novella and has a very haunting conclusion because of it. I can confidently say that ‘The Mist’ is one of my favourite King adaptations and I very much intend to read the short story that inspired it.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effect=7/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
You know nothing. Hell is only a word. The reality is much, much worse. Now let me show you!
Dr. William Weir
Event Horizon
