O Nevoeiro

I was very impressed by this adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Mist'. I have been a fan of the story since it came out and have played the text game and have heard the 3-D audio version of it. This is a masterful suspense/monster movie that puts an ensemble cast into the untenable situation of being in a deteriorating situation they cannot escape from. We watch as alliances are formed, religious paranoia takes hold and, nicely, the movie takes the time to establish characters whom we come to care for before the true action begins. I dock it a couple of points because some of the monsters seemed a little too cgi, and the middle lags a bit, but the much talked about ending is indeed awesome and I was most impressed by the director's decision to keep the music soundtrack down and even eliminate it completely during many of the action sequences. So many movies nowadays crank the music up to 11 to make up for the fact that their suspense scenes do not work. This movie does. I was breathlessly on the edge of my seat for most of it, even though I was already familiar with the story. Highly recommended.

If, two years ago, you told me that within a couple of years two excellent Stephen King film adaptations would be released, I would probably have laughed it off. Films like The Shining, Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, The Stand and 1408 are usually pretty far between (Note that I consider The Green Mile and Carrie to be the most over-rated King adaptations, so they do not appear here). I like most of the films that have been made from Stephen King novels, novellas, and short stories mainly because I like Stephen King, but I do not recommend many of them as truly good films.

Frank Darabont's (writing and directing) The Mist adapts a horror novella of the same name. King's horror work has been the most difficult material to adapt, but this film is comparable to other genre stand-outs such as The Shining and 1408.

A brief, dramatic thunderstorm is followed by a freak mist that descends on a small New England town. As the mist permeates the town, people congregate in the local supermarket and hardware store to stock up and gather supplies. David Drayton (Thomas Jane), his son (Nathan Gamble), and his neighbor (Andre Braugher) are among them. Tension builds as a steady stream of military vehicles pass through the mist headed south from a nearby base. But serious concern doesn't start until one of the locals runs to the supermarket with blood spatters on his clothing and talking of monsters in the mist.

Indeed, there are horrors outside in the fog, but there are also horrors inside the market - as paranoia, irrationality and religion come into conflict with practical issues of survival.

Unlike many horror films, The Mist examines fear and its effects realistically, looks at the horror created by forces beyond human control and the even more terrifying horror that fear creates through forces that are completely within our grasp - our own fears, our beliefs and our treatment of each other. It does so using a classic formula which is comparable to films like Night of the Living Dead and, more recently, Feast.

The cinematography, editing and directing are all excellent. The acting is quite good - Marcia Gay Harden and William Sadler stood out for me - and the script is exactly where it needed to be for this adaptation.

Highly recommended for King fans and horror fans. Recommended for Sci-Fi fans. Weakly recommended for average cinema-goers who are not generally interested in horror.

Films based on the writing of Stephen King have a habit of not translating to the screen very well; although director Frank Darabont made what is often considered the best of the Stephen King films in The Shawshank Redemption - and now with The Mist he's directed what is surely one of the major contenders for the title of best horror film to be based on a Stephen King story! When I first heard the plot description, I was expecting the film to be a cross between John Carpenter's The Fog and modern horror disappointment Feast; and while it does have elements of both those movies, it is thankfully much better than both. The film starts with a violent storm that leaves the Drayton family home in tatters. David Drayton sets off to the local store along with his son and a neighbour; but the town is soon plummeted into trouble when it is surrounded by a malicious mist. It soon transpires that there are otherworldly creatures within the mist and the townsfolk in the local store find themselves battling against the creatures as well as themselves...

The film takes on a real classic style horror feel and never tries to be exceedingly clever or overly gory and that is one of its main strengths. Frank Darabont puts his focus mainly on the tension between the characters and the atmosphere and this benefits the film as there's always enough to keep things interesting - and that is particularly impressive when you consider the thin plot and the fact that it's over two hours long. Thomas Jane takes the lead role and gives a great performance which is nicely pitched between family man and action hero. The rest of the ensemble perform well alongside the lead actor, with Marcia Gay Harden as a fanatical Christian and Toby Jones as the quiet shopkeeper stand out most. The special effects are used sparingly but are very well done and show some great imagination. The creatures that come out of the mist are varied and interesting. There is a lot of talk about the ending of this film and I have to say I'm not really surprised; you'll either love it or hate but personally I found it to be a refreshing end to a commercial modern horror film. Overall, The Mist is an excellent horror film and can be considered a must see for anyone who is a fan of the genre!

I'll start out by saying that I'm a Stephen King fan and thus I may have some bias. I've watched many Steven King movies but have never given one a rating this high. Most of his horror movies are in the 4-6 range with classics such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, and The Green Mile ranking 8-10 (although two of those aren't technically horror movies). In most modern horror (like the Saw series) there is a greater emphasis on gore than the horror of the human condition and this movie, kudos to the actors, help weave a tale that disgusts you inside and out without the pure reliance on blood spatter (although granted there is a fair amount of that).

Thomas Jane (leading male and well known from The Punisher) has a brilliant and emotional portrayal of his character in a mind-blowing situation that we feel intimately associated with thanks to his acting and great directing. Laurie Holden (of X-Files and Silent Hill fame) has a more subdued performance but plays her role well and for any X-Files nut (such as myself) it's fun to see her in another movie. The cast is chock full of well known actors and some unknowns that really see and express the writer and directors vision. It pays off: They succeed in pulling you into a traumatic situation made worse with a mixture of religious zealotry, military conspiracy, and small-town ignorance that explodes in your face wondering if your humanity is worse off facing The Mist or the human condition.

There is no spoiler here but I will say this about the ending: It's what makes the movie and makes it so much better than most of the crap put out there in horror land. Yes, yes, getting cut in half and having limbs ripped-off is horrible. However it is the decisions we have to make that concern those we love and respect that can really drive one mad. The ending makes you look at yourself and wonder, if given the same situation, what you would have to do with the information you have available. It makes you think hard about your humanity and your soul and about what is right or wrong in any given situation involving our mortality.

I would suggest this movie to anyone that likes horror or science fiction and wants something a little more intense than, say, Army of Darkness (one of my personal favorites for totally different reasons). This movie deals with serious issues we hear about daily. The mist is just a piece of Science Fiction thrown in to bring out the best...and worst in us.

Enjoy!!

I won't go into details as I don't want to ruin this film for everyone, but I will highly recommend it! One warning: Do not watch this film expecting a cheesy/entertaining horror, or even a high-quality entertaining slasher as this film is -all- about the characters and how extreme circumstances can bring out the extreme sides of human nature.

By the end of the film I was literally on the edge of my seat - cider forgotten - with my hand over my mouth.

Masterfully written screenplay (from the original short story by Stephen King) and masterfully directed, anyone who is generally sceptical about adaptations of Stephen King "horrors" will be rewarded by watching this, Frank Darabont has done a typically marvelous job (see Shawshank and Green Mile) and well and truly delivered.