Hazy, mysterious and with a distinct kick; The Mist holds up as a rather impressive 'last stand' film with a couple of things going for it.

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2009)

I wanted to love The Mist, I really did and that feeling dawns on you about half way through when you realise it isn't perfect and there are a few niggles but if you're in the right frame of mind and you're going with it, it offers an adrenaline fuelled ride of the horror and of the dramatic. As it turns out, I liked The Mist more than I did love it but it's still the sort of film you can engage with on certain dramatic levels that that hit particularly high notes of both terror, suspense as well as out and out horror. Take the incidence in which it has been established venturing outside is a death-wish and yet certain characters are forced into going out into the mist because of prior events. It's as basic, basic as routine as you like 'don't go there  but they have to' scenario that we've all seen many times before and yet you sit there, watching it and loving every tension filled second of it.
Don't let me make The Mist come across as a guilty pleasure, because it's anything but. In Frank Darabont, the film has an extremely competent filmmaker and one who began his C.V. of most accessible Stephen King adaptations with a character filled drama set in a prison before branching out into another character based drama set in a prison of sorts but incorporating elements of the supernatural. Now he has this: a film that prods the needle a little further into the direction of the supernatural and away from the character study a tad although we don't really mind all that much once everything gets going. The Mist is probably Darabont's weakest King adaptation of the three discussed but again, do not allow it to sound like a criticism.
The film is the sort that the trailers would have spoil for you, indeed I can remember one of those ridiculously fast TV spots popping up prior to its release not so long ago and revealing a little too much; I can only imagine how much a trailer might have given away and consequently spoilt at the time. That said, the intrigue of the mist and what it is and why it's there act as a wonderful back-boiling element to a film gradually establishing characters to whatever degree it sees fit and uneasy relationships others may have had in the past. One such individual in the film is David Drayton (Jane) whose house is partially destroyed by a falling tree that came as a result of a thunderstorm. He finds himself and his son holed up in a convenience store with a bunch of other innocents as odd mist descends, soon gobbling up the store's car park and general area.
The unique selling point of the film is in its ambiguity revolving around the mist. The film is everything from Night of the Living Dead to Deep Rising all the way through to the relatively recent Dog Soldiers in which individuals are trapped within a 'base' and must submit to the film adopting a last stand arc. The difference with The Mist is that rather than zombies or werewolves, the film tears up the piece of paper detailing all known/necessary 'beasties' to lay siege to the setting and gives us a series of wonderful creatures fresh from the mind of Stephen King. To tell anyone what actually comes out of the mist would be both a cruel spoiler but also nigh on impossible to describe which is an achievement in itself.
The Mist actually beds into a nice recent cannon of films detailing everyday people encountering fantastical monsters, following on from Korean film The Host and Cloverfield. I suppose the difference between these and previous films such as Eight Legged Freaks or From Dusk Till Dawn lie in their approach to the post 9/11 situation. Very early on in the shop, the camera flicks and switches and moves in that bizarre, hand held fashion you get when you watch amateur footage shown on news networks that was shot on location soon after a known attack. The feeling you get is distress and panic at the fact you don't know what's going on and neither do the characters. The added kick is as routine as you like: don't show the threat unless absolutely necessary.
The film does not branch off into a realm of politics but that's not to say it doesn't include a fair amount of what it feels is necessary. Early on, an elderly school teacher blames the American government of concentrating too much on building weapons rather than using the money to improve the educational system and the characters connected to the military are presented in a mysterious, ominous and shadowy light. What's additionally eerie is the getting across of a religious individual as the primary source for antagonism within the group, something that starts off as a relative annoyance toward them but escalates to something much larger in an impressive manner.
The Mist is, above most other things, just a cracking good ride. It carries that B-movie feel and that sense of overacting at times but it works for the film when things get rather frightening once encounters with the creatures crop up. Darabont recognises his inspirations early on with several paintings of films-past of this ilk and manages to steer clear of any blatant, unwanted product placement despite the fact the film takes place practically throughout in a convenience store full of goods. The Mist is a frightening at times and dramatic at other times production that keeps you gripped in that way a truly enjoyable horror films can; it isn't up there with the greats such as The Shining and Halloween but it isn't far off.