The Mist

I had only seen this movie once before in color.  I have the film on DVD, but for a variety of reasons I only watched it once.  When I decided to watch it again for this review, I figured I'd go for the black and white version as I had heard the movie is actually more effective that way.  Go figure, my dvd player wouldn't read the disc; technology, I tell ya.

Even so, this still stands as a very good movie.  The plot is simple enough, a group of people get trapped in a grocery store when a mysterious fog envelopes the town.  Lurking in the mist, are supernatural monsters that terrorize the townsfolk.  

Like many episodes of The Twilight Zone, the film uses the monsters as a way to analyze human nature.  It mostly focuses on on how quick we turn on each other in a panic.  

The film is incredibly intense and actually horrifying.  Watching these people as they're plunged into a hell they have no way of comprehending, it's mind blowing.  Even I, genre savvy as I am, don't really know how I'd handle that sort of situation.  I will say this, and I say this as a Christian myself, fanatics go elsewhere, I don't want to be anywhere near you when that stuff goes down.  I'll take my chances with the six legged leviathan thank you very much.  What say you, Constant Readers? How would you fare against the Lovecraftian nightmares that lurk in the mist?

I'd like to think that we wouldn't be so quick to embrace human sacrifice and that we'd be able to keep our cool, even in a jacked up situation like that.  As a Superman fan, I try to lean more towards the optimistic side, but there's a reason you're not supposed to yell "Fire!" in a movie theater.  

The film was made on a rather low budget so the CGI isn't mind-blowing, but I wouldn't qualify it as terrible either.  It basically works well enough.

The performances are all strong.  I wouldn't have minded some more screen time for Andre Braugher, but it probably would've just ended up as padding.  Marcia Gay Harden plays a crazy Christian quite well.  Thomas Jane did a good job for the most part, though I thought his screaming at the end felt a bit fake.  

Speaking of the ending, good lord that's dark.  Them playing Host of the Seraphim only heightened the bone chilling intensity.  I kinda prefer the short story ending myself, it's ambiguous and after a few minutes you start to realize that the movie ending doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  When you're watching it though, it's pretty effective.

I thought that the characters kind of gave up a bit too easily.  There's a point where Thomas Jane is looking around, silently asking the others if he should do what he's thinking of doing, and they all nod solemnly.   Had he panned to me, I would've shook my head in a resounding no.  Linkara's right, you gotta go out swingin'.

The first time I watched this movie, the only film I had seen Jane in at that point was The Punisher, so I still envisioned him in that role.  I didn't have that problem this time around.  Though I gotta say, a Punisher vs. The Mist comic would be a pretty sweet read.  If anyone's capable of single-handedly taking down those extra-dimensional freaks, it's Frank Castle.

Oh, and there are winks to the fans galore.  Seeing the Dark Tower-esque paintings in the opening was a nice touch, but what really hit the geek spot for me was when Harden's character uttered the phrase. "My life for you".  Between the reference, the music, and the fact that it actually worked, that scene gives you goosebumps.  

All in all, very good movie.  If you haven't seen it and you're looking for something to scare you.  I recommend this film.