2008 Woodie Awards
Plenty of solid terror in Stephen King adaptation
Sara Carr
Issue date: 12/11/07 Section: Arts & Society
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A story revolving around a haunting mist that covers a New England town may not sound so scary to the horror movie viewers of 2007.
This new-millennium crowd has been desensitized year after year by the slice and dice serial killers who spill enough blood by the final reel to flood the theater. However, in this well crafted (and not as bloody) Stephen King adaptation, the fear is as thick as the air. And it only gets worse when you realize that the humans inside with you are just as dangerous as the creatures outside.
Starring in The Mist is a talented Thomas Jane (The Punisher) as David Drayton, a small town local who, after a massive storm, takes his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) to the supermarket to get supplies.
While in the store, a man comes screaming in saying that something in the mist attacked him and took his friend. The shoppers lock the doors as mist envelopes the building and the surrounding area.
As time wears on, the skeptics, including a well-cast Andre Bower; leave the store to disappear in the mist with only the sounds of screams heard.
Then an evangelical Christian, Mrs. Carmondy (Marcia Gay Harden), ropes in believers for her theory that the world is ending, only to make half of the store violent radicals looking to make a sacrifice to appease their God. All the while, the creatures of the mist begin to penetrate the store. It seems that everything, from the monsters to the fear of society, are villains in this surprising horror film with a message.
It may be shocking to say that some horror films may be smart. But the successes of The Mist become less of a surprise when you realize that this is the third adaptation of a King novel from the same director behind The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont. Although this film does not reach the caliber of his previous stabs at the King collection, it is still far better than 90 percent of the horror films being released in Hollywood today.
This new-millennium crowd has been desensitized year after year by the slice and dice serial killers who spill enough blood by the final reel to flood the theater. However, in this well crafted (and not as bloody) Stephen King adaptation, the fear is as thick as the air. And it only gets worse when you realize that the humans inside with you are just as dangerous as the creatures outside.
Starring in The Mist is a talented Thomas Jane (The Punisher) as David Drayton, a small town local who, after a massive storm, takes his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) to the supermarket to get supplies.
While in the store, a man comes screaming in saying that something in the mist attacked him and took his friend. The shoppers lock the doors as mist envelopes the building and the surrounding area.
As time wears on, the skeptics, including a well-cast Andre Bower; leave the store to disappear in the mist with only the sounds of screams heard.
Then an evangelical Christian, Mrs. Carmondy (Marcia Gay Harden), ropes in believers for her theory that the world is ending, only to make half of the store violent radicals looking to make a sacrifice to appease their God. All the while, the creatures of the mist begin to penetrate the store. It seems that everything, from the monsters to the fear of society, are villains in this surprising horror film with a message.
It may be shocking to say that some horror films may be smart. But the successes of The Mist become less of a surprise when you realize that this is the third adaptation of a King novel from the same director behind The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont. Although this film does not reach the caliber of his previous stabs at the King collection, it is still far better than 90 percent of the horror films being released in Hollywood today.
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