The Mist

Frank Darabont returns to the Stephen King well once again and this one is my personal favorite. I have a soft spot for horror stories, I know The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both much more subtle artistic masterpieces of modern cinema, I watch those films quite often and they tug at my heart strings each and every time. This film, however, is a fantastic character study with a subtly layered screenplay, powerful performances from it's ensemble of movie stars and "hey it's that guy!" character actors that also just so happens to include expertly directed gut wrenching sequences of horrorific monsters. It's a truly spooky film unlike most modern horror films. Darabont puts you right there in that supermarket, surrounded by panicked townsfolk and religious nutcases. Not only is the film scary, it's painfully tragic. I don't want to spoil the ending because it's so incredibly powerful so I'll say as little as I can but just don't expect every character that you've grown to love to make it out unscathed. This film has immense rewatchability unlike so many horror films that are meant to shock you momentarily with a jump scare then laugh it off with a quip. This is NOT that kind of film. Yes things get shocking but they're earned shocks and not just a series of the filmmakers shouting BOO!

This is one of the most heart breaking and depressing horror movies I have ever witnessed ,I still have trouble stomaching the ending. The characters and acting were great and creatures were creepy. This is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Pop quiz. Tell me, what do you consider to be the most successful Stephen King adaptation, made for film or television? "Carrie"? "The Dead Zone"? "Salem's Lot"? "Stand By Me"? No! Not "Maximum Overdrive"!! (And if that is your choice, may God forgive you, because I won't.)

All of the above, except "Maximium Overdrive" of course, are great pieces of work. But my choice as the benchmark Stephen King adaptation would probably be "The Shawshank Redemption", directed by Frank Darabont.

Stephen King has been very good for Frank Darabont. "The Shawshank Redemption" has become a modern classic and "The Green Mile" was nearly as good. I am glad to say that "The Mist" is nearly as good again.

"The Mist" is a great film, perfectly structured, but a film that requires patience. It is a film of the slow build and of a gradual getting to know the characters, their obsessions, their fears and prejudices. It was nice to see a King horror film where his great talent of touching on the reality of a small town, has been exploited. It makes it all the more horrific when all hell does break loose, because the people who are getting hurt are ones that you know.

Thomas Jane is faintly wooden. Personally I would not have cast him, but all of the other performances are top notch. Marcia Gay Harden's possibly psychotic, fundamental Christian, Toby Jones' short, pudgy, perfectly ordinary hero, Andre Braugher's uptight, big city lawyer and William Sadler's scared, malleable blue collar worker. All excellent.

"The Mist" is not "The Shawshank Redemption" in one crucial way. Whereas "The Shawshank Redemption" was about hope and life, "The Mist" is about hopelessness and death. One thing that they have in common is an astonishing ending. The ending of "The Mist" is wonderful, horrific, twisted and shocking. Not anything that I saw coming.

"The Mist" is marvellous. Must see.

I won't go into details as I don't want to ruin this film for everyone, but I will highly recommend it! One warning: Do not watch this film expecting a cheesy/entertaining horror, or even a high-quality entertaining slasher as this film is -all- about the characters and how extreme circumstances can bring out the extreme sides of human nature.

By the end of the film I was literally on the edge of my seat - cider forgotten - with my hand over my mouth.

Masterfully written screenplay (from the original short story by Stephen King) and masterfully directed, anyone who is generally sceptical about adaptations of Stephen King "horrors" will be rewarded by watching this, Frank Darabont has done a typically marvelous job (see Shawshank and Green Mile) and well and truly delivered.

I'll start out by saying that I'm a Stephen King fan and thus I may have some bias. I've watched many Steven King movies but have never given one a rating this high. Most of his horror movies are in the 4-6 range with classics such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, and The Green Mile ranking 8-10 (although two of those aren't technically horror movies). In most modern horror (like the Saw series) there is a greater emphasis on gore than the horror of the human condition and this movie, kudos to the actors, help weave a tale that disgusts you inside and out without the pure reliance on blood spatter (although granted there is a fair amount of that).

Thomas Jane (leading male and well known from The Punisher) has a brilliant and emotional portrayal of his character in a mind-blowing situation that we feel intimately associated with thanks to his acting and great directing. Laurie Holden (of X-Files and Silent Hill fame) has a more subdued performance but plays her role well and for any X-Files nut (such as myself) it's fun to see her in another movie. The cast is chock full of well known actors and some unknowns that really see and express the writer and directors vision. It pays off: They succeed in pulling you into a traumatic situation made worse with a mixture of religious zealotry, military conspiracy, and small-town ignorance that explodes in your face wondering if your humanity is worse off facing The Mist or the human condition.

There is no spoiler here but I will say this about the ending: It's what makes the movie and makes it so much better than most of the crap put out there in horror land. Yes, yes, getting cut in half and having limbs ripped-off is horrible. However it is the decisions we have to make that concern those we love and respect that can really drive one mad. The ending makes you look at yourself and wonder, if given the same situation, what you would have to do with the information you have available. It makes you think hard about your humanity and your soul and about what is right or wrong in any given situation involving our mortality.

I would suggest this movie to anyone that likes horror or science fiction and wants something a little more intense than, say, Army of Darkness (one of my personal favorites for totally different reasons). This movie deals with serious issues we hear about daily. The mist is just a piece of Science Fiction thrown in to bring out the best...and worst in us.

Enjoy!!