Fog

John Carpenter in his prime was a true master of the genre. He reinvented the serial killer film with HALLOWEEN, and proved equally adept with the monster movie in 1982's THE THING. In between, he wrote and directed this supernatural ghost story and it shows an auteur bringing his 'A' game. Unfortunately, it falls short of being a classic - both in the horror genre and in Carpenter's oeuvre. It feels underwritten. It needs more character and plot development. It has a fantastic premise, revealed through creepy, tension building first half-hour. And then. . . Well it races to a climax. As if there's no middle. Which is fine for short attention spans, but not very rewarding. I wanted more.

The small coastal town of Antonio Bay is celebrating its 100th year since being founded. However the residents are not aware of the tragic history of their small town and think nothing of the wider significance of the date as they prepare for a big party; they don't even put together all the strange things that start happening on the day itself. However when a small boat is lost in a dense fog that contains a mysterious ship some residents begin to suspect something more sinister than meteorology is at work.

With a remake in the cinemas and the fact that I had just returned from the coast of northern California I thought I'd revisit The Fog having not seen it for almost 15 years. Trading on the very hallmarks that made John Carpenter famous (before he couldn't buy a hit movie) The Fog is an effective chiller even if it won't scare those accustomed to more gory, modern fare. Quite short and to the point, the film makes good use of the fog to draw tension out of every scene and overcomes the potential silliness of a smoke machine working overtime behind the scenes. Instead the tension is consistent and produces a good few jumps and build ups along the way; the ghosts are kept well hidden so that the limited effects don't undermine them by totally exposing them. Carpenter uses his usual minimalist electronic score to good effect, playing it low and constant like a heartbeat.

The famous cast help the convincing atmosphere and do more than just run and scream. Barbeau leads the cast well from the solitude of her lighthouse and she helps keep the tension up with her delivery. Curtis and Leigh both have smaller roles but they add class to the film and they "do" scared well. Atkins makes for a good male lead and he gets solid help from Holbrook and a few others in supporting roles. The zombie creatures move slowly but are a good presence.

Overall this is a solid chiller from the days when Carpenter seemed to know what he was doing. The low budget effects are covered up by solid delivery and a consistently tense atmosphere which is supported by convincing performances and Carpenter's usual low, steady consistent score.

THE FOG

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: Mono

While celebrating its centenary birthday, a small Californian coastal town is visited by a ghostly fog containing an army of murderous spirits who take revenge for a terrible injustice.

Released on a wave of expectation following the worldwide success of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978), THE FOG surprised everyone by generating only moderate returns at the US box-office, though it's arguably the better of the two films. Beautifully photographed by Carpenter stalwart Dean Cundey (BACK TO THE FUTURE, JURASSIC PARK, etc.), this unassuming 'ghost story' opens on a lonely clifftop at midnight, where crusty old sea dog John Houseman tells an audience of wide-eyed children how their home town was built on the foundations of tragedy. As with HALLOWEEN, the pace is slow but steady, punctuated by a series of well-judged scares, and there's a relentless accumulation of details which belies the script's modest ambitions.

Jamie Lee Curtis headlines the movie opposite her real life mother Janet Leigh, though Hal Holbrook takes the acting honors as a frightened priest who realizes the town was founded on deception and murder. As the fog rolls in, the narrative reaches an apocalyptic crescendo, as the film's principal cast are besieged by zombie-like phantoms inside an antiquated church, in scenes reminiscent of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). Scary stuff, to be sure, though Carpenter was forced to add new material during post-production in an effort to 'beef up' the movie's horror quotient, including a memorable late-night encounter between a fishing boat and the occupants of a ghostly schooner which looms out of the swirling fog (similar scenes would be added to HALLOWEEN II in 1981 for the same reasons, though under less agreeable circumstances). Production values are solid, and Carpenter cranks up the tension throughout, resulting in a small masterpiece of American Gothic. Highly recommended.

This movie is on par with halloween but is not as widely talk about as halloween. This movie has great atmosphere, good to decent acting and fantastic directing from Carpenter. But the best part about this movie is blake. Everything about blake they did 100 % right. His backstory is intriguing and very well written and when the priest is reading his diary, i get chills every time. The special effects by rob bottin are top notch. The scenes in the fog with blake and his fellow ghost crew are some of the best scenes carpenter has done. The opening scene setts the tone of this movie perfectly i think. Everything outside blake and the great directing by carpenter is decent and thats it. The acting is desent. They have some really great actors and actresses like Jamie Lee Curtis, janet leigh and hal holbrook but i never feel that the acting goes outside decent. But the scenes with blake, the opening scene and the scene when hal hoolbrok reading the diary is enough to put this movie on the same level as halloween, the thing and christine. 9/10

John Houseman sits around a campfire telling children about the story of a ship that went down near their home Antonio Bay and how the drowned sailors will reappear 100 years to that very night in the fog. It is a wonderful beginning to a very chilling film, directed by the modern horror meister John Carpenter. As with most of his films, Carpenter creates a scary atmosphere through moody settings(the California coastline, a lighthouse, an old Church), relentless mood music as in Halloween, good character acting(Holbrook, Houseman, Curtis, Leigh), and a claustrophobic feeling of something vice-like gripping you. The story has some plot problems, but none enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. Adrienne Barbeau is as lovely as ever in the lead, and the film is credible amidst the background of supernatural actions.