The Mist (2007)

Directed by: Frank Darabont 

Starring: Thomas Jane, Nathan Gamble, Marcia Gay Harden

IMDB Page

The Mist is a horror film adapted from a Stephen King novella. I haven't read the book (Who reads those anymore?), so I can't say how accurate it is compared to its source material. I can say its pretty dang scary and equally depressing.

The Mist takes place in the state of Maine, like a lot of Stephen King stories do. (Well, I haven't read much from him, but he is from Maine.)  David Drayton (Jane) is an accomplished artist, living in a nice house with his son, Billy (Nathan Gamble). After a rather turbulent storm, the two join their arrogant lawyer-neighbor, Brent (Andre Braugher), to venture into town for some supplies. After reaching the supermarket, the town is covered in a thick mist. Things turn even more strange after a bloodied man runs into the store, yelling about there being "things in the mist". The store is locked down as more odd events start to happen. Soon, it is relieved that there are truly "things" in the mist, as one of the store employees is dragged away by a couple spike laden tentacles. More and more creatures of various types begin to attack the store over the course of the night. David must soon put himself and his son at risk once the survivors' mob mentality turns out to be as dangerous as the creatures attacking them. 

Your local forecast: Highs in the mid 50s with mostly cloudy skies. Low visibility with a 90% chance of being eaten by giant tentacle monsters. 

The Mist manages to be a pretty frightening film. The various monsters are downright terrifying. There are the giant tentacle monsters, which you never really see in their entirety. There are football sized fly like creatures, that have a lethal bite. There are mutant pterodactyl creatures that eat the fly creatures, but will still eat your face. Also: 

AHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE GET A FLAMETHROWER! 

Spiders. Too many spiders.Millions of little spiders. Spiders that shoot acid web.  Four foot tall giant spiders. Medium sized spiders, that like to jump on top of your head. If you have any degree of arachnophobia, you might want to watch this film with a change of undergarments ready. Or put the television in the bathroom, so you can watch from atop the throne and not have to worry about cleanup. 

Forget the flamethrower, I'm skipping right to the thermonuclear bomb. 

Apart from the fact it managed to scare me, there are a few things wrong with The Mist. First of all, the acting can seem a bit over the top and clichéd at times. (Although the only black guy isn't the first one to die.) I remember a couple scenes were ruined by an odd or over acted reaction from one of the characters. Not all of the acting is bad, there are some parts where the terrified murmur of the crowd as a monster or dead body comes into view will send a chill down your spine.

Thats not a kite on the other end of that rope... 

My biggest beef was with the way the religious zealot is portrayed. She serves as another villain along with the monsters, destroying the logic of the trapped people as they try to make a plan for survival. I'm not very religious to begin with, but I think the way they hammered the bible thumping types was a bit too over the top. The fact that people actually listened to her insane rants, even going as far to kill someone by throwing them out of the store, seemed a bit odd to me. 

(Minor spoiler below. Don't read the next paragraph if you haven't seen the film yet.) 

Those looking for a happy ending might not enjoy this one either. The film's conclusion is deeply depressing. I don't want to give too much of it away, but the actions of the main character seemed pretty hasty considering what he did. It just didn't seem like a normal person would choose to do what he did with almost no hesitation. 

Bottom Line: 6/10: The Mist is a truly scary film. Its held back by only a couple things, mostly I didn't like the ending. Its a well put together film, I enjoyed watching it, but wouldn't opt for another viewing. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.