Login
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!''
10/10
