'Mist' fogged with revelation.

Rating: 7/10 (25 November 2007)

The Mist/2007/***
Main Stars: David Drayton: Thomas Jane Mrs. Carmody: Marcia Gay Harden Amanda Dumfries: Laurie Holden
This is from the mind of Stephen King, not Frank Darabont. Although Darabont adapted this into his own film, this is based on a novella by Stephen King. So, if you think this film is a typical stupid horror film seen dozens of times a year, think again. The true horror is not in the monster, the bug, or the animal; it is in the people. Yes It is true this film has monsters with tentacles, weird looking heads, strange eyes, a bunch of legs, deformed bodies basically gross-out pieces of crap. That is typical in every stupid gimmicky cheap horror flick. This has all those things plus grotesque scenes with the people. But it also has something deeper. The people themselves: what they think and how they act.
It took me a while to whip up a star rating, but I finally gave it three stars for not only its effort in directing, performances, etc. but the chilling truth of it all. Not the bugs. But the people and how circumstances like these are taken. This is a truly chilling film in ways.
Just what is the premise? Actually, it is very simple. A strange collaboration of mist reverberates throughout a town. Within the mist are creatures. That could have been worded better but oh well. These creatures in the mist basically have no purpose of even living. Practically all they do is kill what they HEAR. If they hear the humans they kill. Easy, right? So how is it possible to make a feature-length film with that lame premise? Well, concentrating on the characters
The main character David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is the one this movie circles around. Drayton is an artist. He creates movie posters for a studio, is a married man and has a kid. Unfortunately, the mist comes after a violent storm, and after a while he, his kid, and all the other characters we will soon know are trapped in a convenience store. We soon get used to the store as being the home for the characters. So that's settled. However, this convenience store isn't as convenient as it seems. Unfortunate events happen, people get killed. It's realistic but it's also not. It's confusing sometimes when you think about it. Stephen King messes with your mind. Even though he had nothing to do with the production of this film besides being the guy that Darabont snatched the idea from, I just can't help but feel that he is all over this. It's disturbing in a way and so is the film. So deep but yet not hard to comprehend, probably not hard to create either. Although he messes with your mind and emotions or tries to anyway, his stories aren't extremely complicated. They are actually kind of juvenile. But it's what he puts inside that is truly deep.
The character we seem to hate as soon as we see is the crazy bible thumper Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden). She is insane, truly. She continues throughout the film to smash the bible and its words in the peoples' faces. It causes people to get stressed out. She thinks this is all how God wanted it to happen. She is bible crazy, overly dramatic about every event and expects it to happen the way the bible words it in Revelations. Harden is brilliant here as Carmody. She played her part so well I actually thought she was really insane. Very convincing. Or if someone just walked on the set he or she would probably think she was truly out of her mind. Actually, all the parts were played very well. Not one bad actor/actress present. Even Drayton's kid played his part to perfection.
Someone we begin to like is Amanda Dumfries (Laurie Holden), who begins to develop a friendship with David and take care of his kid. The actress is great and played her role so well. The entire film is convincing, wonderfully acted, well done!
But I can't give it any more than three stars. Something tells me we have all seen this before. It reminds me a lot of John Carpenter's The Fog but that was a two star at most film. This is better but still not excellent. Something continues to tell me that this has been brought about before, the beginning, the middle and even the ending, which was very good by the way. Some people disagree and thought it was too much to handle. Come on people, it's a film.
Perhaps this has been made before. Not just The Fog, or this storyline or even the people. Maybe the whole thing has been talked about before. Maybe it truly has been written (implied) in the pages of the bible and preached by bible enthusiasts throughout the world.
Movie directed by Frank Darabont.