The Mist (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Michael Jackson Was Wrong, It Does Matter if The Mist is Black or White. (dvd features below)
On the two disc edition of The Mist, on disc 2 there is a glorious Black and White version of the film, with an introduction by the director Frank Darabont. Darabont says he originally wanted The Mist to be in B&W and be a throwback to the 50's and 60's horror movies such as Night of the Living Dead, which I felt it had a lot in common with. Darabont says this can be considered his director's cut. I knew he directed two other King favorites The Shawshank Redemption (Two-Disc Special Edition) and The Green Mile, but I didn't realize his other contributions to the horror genre, until I checked out IMDB. Starting in 1980 as a production assistant on Hell Night and going on to write the screenplays for...

A King-sized thriller!
Director Frank Darabont successfully adapts yet another King tale. He had done a great job with King's prison tales The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, but is equally good at working on King's thrillers.

***This may contain some spoilers. I think I'm vague enough, but some like to be warned of any potential spoilers within a review. So, here's your warning***

This film is based on a novella, a short novel that is usually less than 150 pages, which helps to keep this film tightly focused on a small band of people trapped in a supermarket as a strange mists surrounds an entire town. Within this mist are incredible monsters that are very effectively produced as part CGI and part puppets. They do look frighteningly real and not as obvious special effects. As with any of these "band of survivors" kind of films...

Lovecraft smiles in his grave
Frank Darabont's "The Mist" would have made Howard Phillips Lovecraft proud, even if he would have had to leave the house to watch it.

Bank on it: when you see a Stephen King film that does NOT INVOLVE direction by Stephen King and the material is excellent in the first place, you're in for a terrifying ride: ("Salem's Lot", "Pet Cemetery", "The Shining" all attest to this) this film is a case in point. Thomas Jane gives the same performance he always does but it works as the befuddled, terrified and courageous Everyman David Drayton
makes a simple decision with tremendous consequences: he goes to the grocery store.

The sheer mystery and grotesque nature of what goes on is convincing by virtue of the relatively banal, provincial setting: relations between annoying townsfolk and the "artist" (Drayton) escalate when the fantastic is finally introduced into their own lives. The scene in which the teenage boy makes an unwise decision to be a tough guy in front...

Click to Editorial Reviews