Overall, a nice horror package but has it's fair share of problems

Rating: 7/10 (15 August 2008)

The Mist is a rare film you'll probably get to see it 'clean' (with no spoilers or even much expectation at all). It's not a big film and is shot more like a TV movie than a Hollywood blockbuster. In a small American town, the residents become trapped in a supermarket by a thick mist - but soon realise that something is IN the mist. A siege ensues that becomes as much about the human soul as it does about the nasties outside.
On the whole, I liked 'The Mist' and I think it was a decently acted piece, with a strong human element that's sorely lacking in today's horror movies. Tom Jane is very likable as the typical 'everyman' to which people gravitate towards to at times of crisis. Marcia Gay Harden is delightfully OTT as a Christian fanatic who gradually convinces the townsfolk that it's God's will that they be destroyed. As the situation worsens, so does the behaviour of the people and this becomes one of the more successful parts of the film. The sanctuary of the store, becomes just as dangerous as the mist itself.
While it's a proper B-movie, which I love, the lack of a big budget makes some scenes less effective than they should be. The ropey CG is thankfully kept in the mist or the shadows for the most part, but when it's first revealed around the half hour mark, the impact is taken away by the fact that it's clearly not real. The creepiest moments are those where characters go into the mist and where the horror is unseen. The gore effects however, particularly during a gruesome foray into the drug store are impressive and help to counter the CG beasties' deficiencies.
As I mentioned before, the acting is pretty good and help to sell the situation. However, there are some incredibly dumb mistakes that lead to disaster (and for a horror film, the fact that they stick out is bad). For instance, if you're holed up in a glass-fronted store, don't leave the electric lamps on display right next to the windows! Or if somethings trying to get under a metal gate... try closing the gate!!! It's a shame that a film which concentrates on the human condition, quite successfully, ends up stretching common sense like that.
Now on to the now-famous ending... which I won't give away of course. What I will say is that it's both extremely downbeat AND unexpected. It's bleak, but in a way that you probably wouldn't see coming until it hits you. The idea is fantastic... but I'm not so sure about the execution. First, the music (largely absent until now) smothers the final scenes and changes the entire feel of the film from small intimate B-movie to overwrought epic. Then, the passage of time is so short in the final moments that the outcome loses its impact. Finally, Tom Jane (who has been very good in the film until this point) doesn't quite sell the drama in my opinion. I just don't think the ending manages to deliver the powerful sucker punch it intended - and only a tiny bit of editing would have changed that.
But the good things about The Mist make you forgive the flaws unlike some films where they overshadow them. Either way, it's worth a look but rent it first, because this is looking like a case of love it/hate it.