Stephen King's The Mist (DVD, 2008, Widescreen)

Far be it a secret that many of Stephen Kings' novels of Great Horror slumped into Cinema Productions. (Though recent Hollywood, in most instances alongside King himself, have brought significantly harder life to film- '1408' for example).
Now, King has brought to film his short story "The Mist"; and frankly - It Does Not Fail !!
The worst electrical storm on record has a small coastal Maine Town assessing the damages to their homes and businesses. Locals have flocked to the town's only Grocery Store to stock up on supplies while Police, Fire and Military Personnel blanket the surrounding area.
As a result of the Storm, everything is out — power, phones, and radios — leaving the town cut-off from the rest of the world. And alas the storm has also left behind an Ominous Mist that quickly shrouds the town, trapping those inside the Grocery Store when it appears that bloodthirsty, inhuman Monsters are lurking outside.
Panic and Confusion Reign inside the store as people struggle to decide what to do next. Three distinct groups begin to emerge: 1) those who want to find a safe means to escape, led by painter and family man David Drayton (Thomas Jane); 2) those who choose not to believe there's anything Evil in the Mist, led by David's neighbor, Brent Norton (Andre Braugher); and 3) those who embrace the chaos and believe the world is coming to an end, led by the religious zealot Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden).
With the emergence of these groups, 'The Mist' transcends normal Horror Movie conventions and becomes an enlightening study of religion, class, and human nature in the face of tragedy. Friends and neighbors suddenly become enemies because of the group they've chosen. David and the Maintenance Crew clash over how to fix the store's backup generator. David insists that the crew shouldn't risk their safety by going onto the store's roof to fix it, but the crew proceeds because only they (and not David) have the skills and training to make the right decisions.
Later, Brent and David clash when a bloodied David tries to describe the Abominable Creature with sharp tentacles that attacked the maintenance crew as they tried to fix the generator. Brent believes David fabricated the story as retaliation for a lawsuit Brent filed against him several months back. All the while, the insufferable Mrs. Carmody is gaining support amongst the scared with her doomsday preaching and calls for expiation and sacrifice of those whom she believes are at fault.
Writer/Director Frank Darabont does a tremendous job building and sustaining the suspense both inside and outside the store. The Monsters lurk quietly in the Mist, never totally visible until Darabont decides to thrust an attack upon us at the most unanticipated moments.
Once the immediate threat from the Mist has subsided, and before the next one arrives, Darabont turns on the tension within the store as the forces battle over complex societal issues and right approach to dealing with the situation.
For "The Mist" the Monsters are only a small part of the larger supporting cast. Although never fully exposed or explained, Darabont's terrifying creatures can best be described as flies, spiders and other creatures on steroids — they're ten times their normal size, with razor sharp teeth and penetrating claws.
The formulaic failure of past Stephen King adaptations have met the Modern Day Success' that truly grind-out the Horror King always intended !!
SEE THIS !! 5-Star - Cannot Fail You !!

Of the 108 Stephen King adaptations for film or TV, I am only familiar with a handful of them - 16 to be exact (counting also the film under review). Frank Darabont joins a list of remarkable past alumni (Brian De Palma, Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter) with this well-crafted monster movie with pretensions. Actually, Darabont is no newcomer to Stephen King territory - having already based three of his four feature-length movies on his work! - but this is the first movie I've seen from the director and, perhaps significantly, the only one of the three which is horror-related.

Frankly, I wasn't even aware of the film at all before reviews of its DVD release started cropping up through my Amazon friends. As far as I can recall, theatrical release wasn't spread so widely, perhaps the name Stephen King (because of rampant overexposure over the years) nowadays no longer enjoys the same crowd-pulling effect as it did during his heyday. Still, judging by that modest crowd of actors assembled for the film and its clearly intentional "realism" (read a flat, made-for-TV look and relatively restrained gore), the film-makers hardly endeavored to boost its box-office chances any. Besides, we have lately been literally invaded by monster/alien movies so that it isn't hard for one (even as solid as this one is) to get lost in the shuffle.

This story takes place in a small seaside American town that wakes up one morning to find itself enveloped in a mysterious cloud of thick mist. Soon enough, it becomes abundantly evident that this houses a barrage of slimy, unnaturally-enlarged and very deadly creatures of the bugs variety. To this tried-and-tested formula, Darabont and King add other much-used elements (religious fanaticism, military incompetence, scientific experimentation, impending apolcalypse, etc.) but take them beyond their bleakest and most ironic possibilities. The last half-hour, in fact, is where the film gets all choked up in message-mongering - complete with an overwhelmingly melancholic score. Indeed, learning that Darabont has even "presented" his own original black-and-white vision (as opposed to version) of this film on DVD only adds smoke to the fiery theory that this was intended from the start to be much more than a mere monster movie. Despite good work all around and the best intentions, THE BIRDS (1963), it certainly ain't...

Anyhow, the festering tensions between the diverse factions trapped (for most of the film) inside a supermarket and the inherent suspense present in the group's generally unsuccessful excursions on the "outside" are skillfully handled and, despite the anonymity of the actors involved, some of the townspeople are blessed with full-blooded characterizations, most prominently Marcia Gay Harden (as the unbalanced, ultra-religious spinster). Most viewers won't fine the characters in this film intriguing but you can't deny Marcia Gay. I was pretty tired the night I watched it but it never let me take even a yawn! The story was superb with great thrills and suspense, but the thing that intrigued me most was the story had some realistic touch. Altogether I have to say this movie is not worth a miss.

This movie is for the Suspence fan, the sci-fi fan. Gore fans stay away.

A small town is engulfed by a creepy mist hiding mutant monster bugs. Trapped in a store, the mob mentality of townies inside proves as dangerous as the giant insects outside. Good political religious proper gander if you like that. It's a usual Stephen King story.

Marcia Gay Harden's 'frumpy', 'frothing' zealot, and the ending are both brilliant and maddening i thought at the same time. I would have freaked if it were me in the end! Ending is a small mind blower. If it were you, you would freak.

EXTRAS take you through the production with commentary and docs, and the two-disc set offers The Mist in preferred black and white. As an old-school horror fan , buy this movie. It gives you a view of the world that...doesn't exist in reality. King at his best, but not his total best. B+

DTD

After a bad storm that puts a tree through his studio window, David Drayton (Jane), his son Billy (Gamble), and neighbor Brent (Braugher) head into town to get some supplies from the supermarket. Once there, the mist that they saw rolling across the lake has made it into town and engulfs the store. The terror level is upped when a man runs into the store with blood on his face, screaming that there is something out there. Indeed, there is, and soon those trapped in the store see what it is. To make matters worse, a religious fanatic by the name of Mrs. Carmody (Harden) is stirring up some of the customers with her talk of the end of the world. David finds himself looked to for guidance, and when things seem to be as bad as they can be, things get worse.

For anyone wanting a movie that keeps them guessing, this one is certainly it. You will find yourself taking sides against the various groups trying to make the right decisions to stay alive. The different groups vie for a chance of influence, although it all seems very futile, having to be stuck inside a grocery store. The horror and shock of this movie will make you cringe with fear. The small town horror and the isolation thing seems to be a big part of the subject of most of his stories.

The ending of this movie is not surprising, more like poetic justice. If you aren't in to having to see people make life ending decisions then this ending is not for you.

As Stephen King stories are concerned, this novella holds it's own to those such as The Shining, Carrie, Christene, Cujo and more.

5/5 rating for this one from me. If you love action and monsters, you will love this one.

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