Instant classic

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2007)

Pure entertainment from beginning to end. I remember hearing this story as a book-on-tape years ago, and thought the movie would be your typical so-so rendition of a pretty good Stephen King yarn.
Man was I ever wrong. This movie has all the elements of a classic horror film as mentioned in a previous comment, with all the spectacular elements of brilliant modern cinema. The complete inanity of the premise is completely forgotten ten minutes into the film. From there on, the details of the mist situation don't really matter anymore, only the dynamics of the social microcosm within the grocery store count. It's really a puckish exploration of human nature, winding toward a cheerless, grisly yet somehow appropriate conclusion.
The plot is absurd, the dialog is tight, acting is terrific (Mrs. Carmody!), creatures are horrifying, and the surprise ending is just plain diabolical.