A Mist-erious and scary thrill ride 9/10

Rating: 9/10 (23 November 2007)

-Warning: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN THE FILM!!!-
"The Mist" is the best horror film since "Saw." It delivers scares, laughs and cheers. Yes cheers. Everyone in the audience cheered when the female villain met her demise in the film. A group of people seek shelter inside a grocery store when an eerie mist surrounds the area. Then without warning ferocious creatures from another world come to devour people. when the audience is caught off guard, tentacles appear, followed by large insects, arachnids, and pterodactyl-like creatures. They don't go much into detail as to where these creatures came from, but no need to, because the story centers around the refugees.
If you believe "The Mist" is a rip-off of "The Fog" you are badly mistaken. This horror film based on a story by Stephen King, is suspenseful and full of impressive special effects. Plus the film doesn't feel long, like Director Frank Darabont's 3 hour film "The Green Mile." It's at a good pace with occasional fade ins and outs to give the story an episodic feel.
I give this film 9/10 because it was superbly written, directed, and acted. The only reason why it doesn't get 10 is, well, most horror films deserve a sad ending. But Darabont somewhat goofed when it came to credibility. Which is kind of what brought down "Children of Men" from being a flawless movie because of the ending. Most of the survivors die at the end only two minutes before help arrives and the mist clears away instantly. Plus it was also out-of-character for some people acted differently in intense situations. If only that help arrived earlier there would be more survivors. Oh well. While some classics like "Dawn of the Dead" and "28 Days later," were wise to cut out their original endings. "The Mist" is still a horror film that will be remembered years from now as a scary film with big-budgeted special effects and a clever character study of the grocery store survivors.