company: Dimension Films
year: 2007
runtime: 126′
country: United States
director: Frank Darabont
cast: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden,
Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher,
Toby Jones, William Sadler
dvd companies: Genius Products
and Dimension Home Entertainment
release date: March 25, 2008
retail price: $24.95
disc details: Region 1 / dual layer x 2
order this film from Amazon.com
Plot: Citizens of Bridgport, Maine contend with dangerous otherwordly creatures and themselves after an ominous mist envelops their town and traps them in a supermarket.
I missed this film while it was out in theatres and took my sweet time in catching up to it on home video, assured by the trailers that it was going to be little more than another prototypical glossed-up studio horror. I’m happy to say that my cynicism was misplaced, and that it’s better to be late in coming to a good film than to never see it at all.
Sourced from Stephen King’s 1980 novella, THE MIST follows in the trend of claustraphobic survival horror initiated by Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD while tapping into a Lovecraftian fear of things unknown. The focus throughout is on the collective of survivors and the tensions that build between them as an ambiguous and alien threat swirls about outside. The drama is centered on artist David (Thomas Jane) and his young son Billy, who are picking up supplies at the local supermarket when the titular mist descends, announced by a local man’s frantic story that one of his neighbors was taken by something hiding within it. David spearhead’s efforts to protect the store and those within it, piling supplies in front of the plate glass storefront and gathering makeshift “weapons” (rakes, knives, and mops doused in kerosene) to defend against the creatures lurking just beyond it.
It isn’t long before the large group held up within the supermarket splits into factions, including one led by David’s disgruntled lawyer neighbor Brenton (Andre Braughter) who refuses to believe that there’s anything at all in the mist. His group leaves on a mission to find help just before their assumption is proven disastrously wrong. Fatal to his group as it may be, Brenton’s skepticism is never dangerous to those outside his sphere of influence. The same cannot be said of the brand of apocalyptic Christianity held by the vitriolic Mrs. Carmondy (Marcia Gay Harden).
Mrs. Carmondy’s lengthy diatribes about divine judgment and the end of the world falls on an assortment of deaf and annoyed ears early on, but as the crisis continues and more and more lives are lost a congregation develops around her. The message she preaches is not of hope and faith, but of expiation – atonement for the sins she sees as having brought the mist and its many monsters upon them. To Mrs. Carmondy these sins can only be paid for in blood, at first that of a local military man (connected to a secret government project underway just outside of town) and later that of David’s own son. Things grow so dangerous within the store that David and a small group of sensible locals see no alternative but to take their chances in the mist . . .
While the struggles of the human characters dominate the narrative, the film delivers on the monstrous goods in spades. The idea of Lovecraftian horrors let loose upon the everyday offered ample opportunity for the effects crew (headed by Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger on the design side of things and Cafe FX for the frequent CGI) to devise hideous creatures that do hideous things – huge spiders with gnashing human teeth, bat-winged reptiles, and claw-ridged tentacles belonging to who-knows-what. While these animated monsters aren’t as endearing to me as, say, the ghostly giant grasshoppers of BEGINNING OF THE END or the pulsing tendriled eye-monsters of THE CRAWLING EYE, they’re campy brand of horribleness should appeal just fine to newer fans of B-movie thrills.
Director Frank Darabont [THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE] effectively guides the proceedings, offering up a few moments of camp among the overriding seriousness of the rest. Photography, by Ronn Schmidt [THE SHIELD], is gritty and immediate, alternating between static and handheld with generally fine results. The only potential misstep of the project may be with its ending, which brings things to a decidedly grim conclusion that deviates (reportedly with King’s blessings) from that of the source novella. Ending aside this is a fun little film steeped in the old-school tradition of lower tier horrors that, with more rubber and less computer trickery, would fit nicely on a double bill with any of the more grotesque creature features of old.
The Genius Products / Dimension Home Entertainment dual disc DVD of THE MIST is quite the looker. The film itself is presented in two transfers – one in the original color and another in Darabont’s own preferred black and white. Both look as good as one should rightfully expect for a film scarcely two years old and the black and white version, with its harsher contrast, provides for a unique alternate viewing experience. Audio is offered in English 5.1 surround for both versions, with an additional French dub (also 5.1) present on the theatrical presentation. Subtitles are offered in Spanish and English SDH for both versions.
Extras are expectedly stacked. The theatrical presentation is accompanied by a full-length commentary track with screenwriter and director Darabong while the black and white version comes with an optional introduction by the same. There are a nice collection of featurettes focusing on the creature design and visual effects as well as a more traditional Making-Of and some Behind The Scenes videos originally posted online. An appreciation of Drew Struzan, the artist who inspired the character of David in the film and an assortment of short deleted scenes (with optional commentary from Darabont) and trailers round out the set.
THE MIST opened to mixed critical reception but made more than enough at the box office to account for its relatively low ($18 million) budget, and certainly exceeded this reviewer’s expectations. It’s no classic of the genre by any means and the ending will rub many the wrong way, but it succeeds more than it faulters and is certainly worthy of recommendation. The special edition DVD package comes without any complaints on my part, though casual viewers may want to consider the lower-priced single disc release instead.
