The Mist Reviews

''As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?''

A freak storm unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.

Thomas Jane: David Drayton

Let's start by saying Frank Darabont can do no wrong when faced with bringing any novel to our eyes in a whirlwind of cinematic bliss, in a movie adaptation. He wonderfully brought The Green Mile to life, as well as one of the greatest film adapt efforts in film history; The Shawshank Redemption.
The Mist(2007) is relievedly not another excuse for a gore fest or predictable slasher effort. Granted it has its fair share of gruesome violent happenings but it is the signature way in which King develops his characters and focuses on human nature; That turbulent emotion that allows The Mist to succeed and flourish.
As a novella, The Mist is like most of King's work; pulpy, scary, and compelling. The film, Screenplay written and directed by Frank Darabont, is a stunning adaptation that manages to capture the slow burn of dread and desperation that permeates the novella. And while there is an uncanny titular similarity to John Carpenter's The Fog, this is an altogether different beast of bereavement.



The premise is of a simple nature; A brutal storm blasts through a small community. Movie poster artist David Drayton and his son, Bill(Nathan Gamble) head into town for supplies, accompanied by Norton(Andre Braugher), their argumentative neighbour. Once they arrive at a small shopping plaza, a thick menacing mist descends upon them, capturing a large number of people inside a grocery store. The utter randomness of these proceedings is enough to make anyone sane puzzled yet I was glued to the screen in intrigued abandon, it turns out there are prehistoric-looking monsters waiting in the shrouded mystery and the inhabitants of the store become increasingly desperate for survival against the creatures that lurk out in the unknown...

''It appears we may have a problem of some magnitude.''

What transpires in The Mist has perhaps certain parallels to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, a B movie whose guerrilla fearlessness and intellect pushed it into legitimacy and cult legend proportions. The Mist is as much about enigmatic happenings that go bump in the night styling as the way in which trapped humans respond to such a fantastic dilemma. Similarly to Living Dead the breakdown of social order and martial law is addressed and analyzed, the role of the military comes into focus, religious fundamentalism is embodied by evil self proclaimed visionary Mrs. Carmody(Marcia Gay Harden), a fire-and-brimstone type who becomes a macabre, sacrifice-minded beacon to the store's desperate denizens whom in the end turn to her when things appear hopeless. In an era where most of today's horror crowd expects Hostels or SAWs every time they walk into a cinema, Darabont's script is built on a principle of logic and authentic human action (even when characters do things we know are unwise, their rationality is convincingly displayed for us to understand) as opposed to manipulative twists and anti-climaxes. The ending is at once ballsy, depressing, and righteous.
The Mist is less about otherworldly monsters, but more about mankind's uncanny ability to be the monster, to do evil upon each other.

That being said, The Mist of course also works as well as a traditional horror film, with several genuinely scary sequences involving mutant hybrids of prehistoric looking pterodactyls, infectious houseflies, and acid spewing spiders. The CG is well-utilized and the sharp editing keeps it from being overdone. Darabont transforms the creatures—which are essentially '50s B-movie fodder—into absolutely convincing visions of hell. This film jolts current horror trends by actually scaring the audience instead of merely repulsing them.
Interestingly enough to finish off, The Mist is the opposite of The Shawshank Redemption in one crucial way. The Shawshank Redemption was about hope, friendship and life, The Mist is about hopelessness, despair and fear. One thing that they do have in common, in relation to each other, is an astonishing conclusion true to Stehphen King's novels. The Mist is a true psychological horror film in the sense it gives us a realistic ending of regret and shock; Not a glossed over Hollywoodised happy conclusion, but one that is believable. That in itself is inspirational.

''Don't go out there! There's something in the mist!''

"As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?"

Who needs pseudo-horror movies like Hostel or the endless Saw sequels, with their cheap gore and a complete misunderstanding of the essence of the genre? Torture porn enthusiasts can enjoy them, but genuine horror connoisseurs can enjoy the likes of 2007's The Mist, a return to form for Frank Darabont and a brilliant reminder of what the horror genre can offer. The Mist is based on Stephen King's novella of the same name, denoting the third time that Darabont has adapted the man's works for the screen after the immense success of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Taking on his first horror-oriented project adapted from a King story, Darabont has hit it out of the park, creating an intensely unsettling old-fashioned tale of survival, using forgotten devices like tension, suspense and restraint to fashion one of the best mainstream horrors in years. It's a B-movie on the surface, yet there's sophistication and boldness underneath.

After a violent thunderstorm that downs power lines and trees, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) takes his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) and morose neighbour Brent (Andre Braugher) to the grocery store for supplies. While the trio are shopping, a mysterious thick mist envelops the area, trapping everyone inside the store. Too afraid to go outside, the shoppers soon become fractured, with the group breaking off into factions. David and a number of others (including Toby Jones and Laurie Holden) try to use logic and reason to figure out a survival plan, but religious zealot Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) leads her own group, who view the mist as an embodiment of God's wrath on the sinners of the planet.

Some may perceive the characters within the grocery store as clichéd, but Darabont executes them in a credible fashion, essentially showing us the types of people that we deal with in everyday life. They are fundamentally you and me; average, everyday folks who are as scared, lost, dubious, and even stupid as regular humans might be in a similar scenario. Miraculously, The Mist rarely feels contrived or forced - the drama is executed in a believable fashion, exuding an organic disposition that allows the proceedings to feel wholly real. What Darabont has created here is far more than a B-grade horror - it's smart, and there's an element of social commentary. Moreover, Darabont uses psychological horror to a large degree, focusing on the mental torture of the mist about as much as the violence. Indeed, the portrayal of mob hysteria is one of the reasons why The Mist is so damn scary. Darabont structures the feature with a sure hand, portioning out the terrifying moments and gradually building alarm. While it runs a solid two hours, the film's runtime flies by effortlessly. Even the small dialogue scenes are wholly engaging.

In order to shoot as quickly as possible and make the most of the limited budget, Darabont brought in a television camera crew, most notably cinematographer Ronn Schmidt (The Shield). Darabont is known for stately, elegant and slow-moving pictures, but The Mist is all handheld, and Schmidt had two cameramen filming simultaneously to maximise coverage. Fortunately, this doesn't result in the movie feeling cheap or rushed, though - it augments the realism, making the proceedings all the more frightening. It instils the picture with energy, too, making this Darabont's most fast-paced movie to date. Admittedly, the tiny $18 million budget did not permit lavish digital effects, hence several of the CGI creatures look phoney, but the movie does not live and die by its monsters. In fact, creatures are only occasionally glimpsed, with a "less is more" approach doing wonders for the material. Darabont stages the bloodshed and attacks with a sure hand, resulting in several harrowing moments.

It's the bone-chilling sense of atmosphere that genuinely elevates The Mist. With the exception of the final act, no musical score is used at all; instead, Darabont relies on the eerie ambience of this setting to remarkable effect. This endows the picture with more immediacy, and one feels like they are actually inside the grocery store with the characters. Darabont originally wanted to make a black and white movie, but studio interference apparently forbade that. A black and white version is available on home media, though, and it's this reviewer's preferred way to watch the movie. It's exactly the same film as the theatrical cut, but with a desaturated colour palette, and the result is remarkable. The lack of colour amplifies the atmosphere further and gives the production a more old-fashioned disposition, evoking the classic horrors of yesteryear. Furthermore, the monsters look less hokey in black and white, and it gives the movie a timeless feel.

The Mist is filled with solid character actors. Leading them is Jane, who's a revelation as David Drayton. Although Jane has the charisma and body of an action hero (he was the Punisher), he plays an ordinary man here, and it's an excellent performance. He makes us believe that he's just a regular guy who's ill-equipped to deal with the terrifying circumstances that he finds himself in. Moreover, a number of moments in the final third ask for the kind of acting that most veteran stars would baulk at, but Jane pulls it off. Harden is top-notch as well, turning a villainous stereotype into a credible character. Special mention must also go to veteran players like William Sadler, Toby Jones, Jeffrey DeMunn, Andre Braugher, and Frances Sternhagen, who make their background characters seem both believable and worthy of emotional investment. The Mist is very much an ensemble movie, and this ensemble really deliver the goods.

The ending of The Mist diverts from King's novella, resulting in a conclusion far darker and more harrowing than anticipated. Darabont had the opportunity to make the movie on a bigger budget if he agreed to change the ending, but he refused, and it's for the best. Eschewing heroics, The Mist closes on a brave, disturbing note, and you may be left questioning both your self-worth and your crisis management skills. It's a haunting gut-churner, turning The Mist into a truly great horror movie. You may not want to watch this sobering descent into hell very often, but it will linger on your mind, and that's more than what can be said for the glossy, shallow Hollywood horrors of recent years.

8.8/10

Based on a Stephen King novella, what else can a viewer expect but gore and monsters? Oh yes, stupid dialog and stupid people. Honestly, I've yet to see a horror picture that is worth watching.

Marcia Gay Harden's character's mouth should have been taped with super strong tape; that religious lady was so annoying! (Harden was excellent in this performance, as I think that was the point with her character.)
There are some good performances in this film.
There were also some great lines in there, including some by Harden's character when she's praying in the bathroom, and other true comments about people's belief in humanity.
Special effects were quite decent and well done.

I only watched until the end to find out if anyone got out alive... otherwise I'd have stopped. So the story is interesting, but when it does become obvious what happened, it just feels stupid and a waste of time.
It's a horrible horror picture that is way too long.

I didn't read the book, so I will only focus on what I saw on the screen.

I often wonder why is it so necessary for scary movies or thrillers for the characters (most of the times nearly ALL of them)to be completely stupid for the script to go on. That talks about the incompetence of the screenplay writer (at least).

This movie was one of the finest examples of it. Every single character is more retarded than the one before. The only one that seemed a logical human being was the child.

The movie seems to depend on this for the disasters to happen. When you create a stupid movie, yes, you can only rely on stupid characters to do stupid stuff that leads them into disaster.

The sad thing is that if it was well thought, disasters can happen without EVERYBODY being imbecile.

The end just ties everything with a bow, proving once again my point.

And I saw it because someone recommended it highly!!!

We all know Stephen King is the undisputed master when it comes to horror novels, but not all his works have translated well to the big screen. But I'm glad to say this one, based on a novella (mini-novel) of his, is a beauty. When I read it a few years back in college, I remember thinking 'man, this would make an awesome movie!' so I was excited when I found out that not only was it coming out, but that Frank Darabont was at the helm. The critics came, and many were harsh towards it. I suppose they just didnt except such a King-style ending. lol

All the things that make King special are in this film; the slow build-up of suspense, the complete unexplained mystery, a raving lunatic, terrifying monsters, and finally, the end.

And what an ending. Speechless. wow

THAT alone is worth the price of admission (or at least a rental). The ending. Predictable if you know King (as Voxy points out in her review), but shocking nonetheless.

Well, that, and the justice dealt to the crazy bible thumper. It's been a while that I stood up and yelled 'YES MUTHAFUCKAA!' at my TV. :)