A surprisingly intelligent horror movie

Rating: 7/10 (11 March 2009)

A group of people is caught in a supermarket, because a mysterious mist is covering the whole town. In this mist, alien monsters appear to attack and slaughter one person at a time... this sounds like a trashy TV b-movie on a rainy Sunday afternoon? It is. But only on the surface, for sure! Many audiences only see the outline plot, get their prejudices and attitudes towards it and are not able to see the deeper core of the story. It is really about human behavior in extreme situations. The monsters become the supporting part. The (very realistic) stupidity of scared people who drive themselves and others into irrational rages is both well observed and shocking. There are some important details to be watched which really give the film more than one way for interpretation. The all together cruel and depressing end IS one of the best to be seen in years. Beside the well written story, whose quality may be recognized at a second glance, THE MIST is just a really good horror movie. The CGI is great, the aliens are disgusting and terrifying. The uncompromising killings of likable characters is brutal and worth mentioning it.
All together, THE MIST is not as brilliant as THE GREEN MILE and, of course, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. But it is another, this time definitely UNDERrated, film version of a Stephen King novel. Frank Darabont proves again that he really knows how to keep the tension and shock the audience in an intelligent and demanding way.
8/10
(I hope the English from a German was understandable) :)