"Holy Crap, Holy Crap, Holy Crap"

Rating: 10/10 (21 March 2008)

A friend and I watched this, somewhat skeptical, King flicks tend to get slaughtered sometimes, and I was STILL not over how horribly Tommyknockers, one of my very favorite King novels, turned out.
The Mist did not disappoint though. Being from Maine, the characters and plot and setting seemed very familiar, even as the situation inside the supermarket degenerates and people flock to the crazy bible lady. I know it's only a movie, and not to say bad things about back home, but the way the people stupidly followed the crackpot seemed just a little TOO real, for me anyway. It hit too close to home. I could, HAVE seen people back home react this way in situations. And it scared the hell out of me. This movie made me shake uncontrollably. That just doesn't happen to me. King is a very astute observer of people.
This was a true horror movie. The creatures were radical. King's exploration of how different people react and interact in crisis only amplified the suspense and terror.
There were several themes to this flick, a little of The Tommyknockers-style messing-with-technology-you-don't understand, after all, this happened because of the military and their experiments with other dimensions. How different people interpret things based on how superstitious they are, how little it takes for seemingly reasonable people to become monsters...
It wasn't bad enough to be surrounded by an array of hungry prehistoric-looking creatures from another dimension. We find ourselves trapped in a supermarket with bible-thumping superstitious sheep. Myself, I would have been one of the first out the door, like the guy who's lower torso was pulled back on the rope. Seriously, it's preferable to being trapped in a supermarket with the religious nuts.
"God demands a blood-sacrifice!" The dual-terror is unbearable. I can't help see the similarities in the almost incomprehensible monsters, and the people turning to superstition and violence, and I think this was King's intention - to show how similarly incomprehensible and horrible they are. The creatures were outside, AND inside, in a way...
The ending was too horrible for me though, too upsetting. I know it's just a movie, and I know it's irony, but I can still hear the screaming, the screaming of a man who's just shot four people, including his own son, essentially sacrificing himself by using the remaining 4 bullets to spare the others from being killed by the creatures, a very selfless and noble thing to do. Which turns to terror a few moments later, as the rescuers finally arrive, too late. Screaming, screaming, I can still hear his screaming...
This is true horror.