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Stephen King's novella The Mist appeared in his 1985 anthology, Skeleton Crew, which also included The Raft, which was part of Creepshow 2. The Mist was the longest story in the book, and remains one of King's most compelling. Its basic premise is similar to John Carpenter's The Fog, and I would presume King also drew inspiration from Dawn of the Dead, George A Romero's 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, about a group fo people hiding in a shopping mall, being terrorized by legions of zombies lurking around outside. 'The Mist' has been adapted by Frank Darabont, responsible for The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, both of which also came from King material. Now Darabont tries his hand at horror. David Drayton (Thomas Jane) lives in a small Maine town, with his wife, and son, Billy (Nathan Gamble). A nasty storm knocks out the power, so David and Billy head to the local supermarket, to gather emergency supplies, along with most of the other residents, including Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), David's neighbor, a lawyer from New York. He and David have been feuding with each other; Norton is very litigious, willing to sue over even the slightest infraction, and he complains about everything, and also believes that there is a conspiracy against him because he is an outsider. In any sense, once in the supermarket, a mist covers the town, and Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn), runs into the store, claiming something is in it. Few believe him at first, and then David, along with store clerk Ollie (Toby Jones) encounter large, slimy tentacles in the loading dock, which carry off Norm the bagboy (Chris Owen). Norton takes a rational position and wants to go out and look for help. He thinks David and Ollie are lying. David, meanwhile, encourages everyone to stay inside. More terrifying than the monsters themselves is Mrs Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), a religious fanatic who rants and raves about the end of days, and believes the mist and the creatures within it have been sent as a punishment from God for humanity's wickedness. She starts to gain more followers, as desperate, scared people tend to listen to those who explanations make the most sense, and Carmody seems to be right about everything. David meets Amanda (Laurie Holden), a pretty schoolteacher, who watches after Billy. David eventually seems to favor Norton's strategy, as he and some others head next door to the pharmacy to get medicine, and as he entertains the notion of making a mad dash for his vehicle, to get as far as he can, and maybe check up on the wife he has left at home. 'The Mist' is intriguing because of what happens inside the store, more so than what happens outside of it. The creatures come in different varieties of ugliness and ickiness, from large wasp-like things to things that look like prehistoric birds to giant praying mantises to things that defy adequate description, except for the fact that they shoot an acidic webby substance and have quills on their backs. I won't say the film is scary, because it really isn't, but it does build tension quite nicely, and leaves us guessing for a bit just what exactly is out there in the mist. Those tentacles must be attached to something, right? The creature effects are very good, appropriately disgusting, and there are several bloody deaths. But the way the characters interact with one another inside, as they devise plans to survive and ultimately escape, as the apparent hopelessness of the situation leads many to start listening to Carmody, who is vicious and unforgiving in her rhetoric, going so far as to suggest a human sacrifice to appease the appetite of the creatures, and sooth the wrath of God. Marcia Gay Harden is terrific, and makes Carmody practically insufferable, easy to hate, and completely off her rocker, even Carrie's mom has a better grasp on reality. Jane makes for a rather bland protagonist, not much of a hero, but he does emerge nonetheless as a natural leader. Braugher is good as the early voice of reason, but his character is supremely obnoxious, and full of himself. As for how and why this mist has appeared, few details are divulged, though it is hinted that the whole crisis is the result of military experiments, which accidentally opened the gates to another dimension, or the gates of hell, from Carmody's perspective. The military is always implicated in things like this, especially in zombie movies. The ending is surprisingly effective, despite how bad many seem to claim it is, and it hits all the right notes, and is actually not quite what you may expect. 'The Mist', overall, is a solid film, better than most adaptations of King's horror tales. email this review to a friend
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