A lot more than I expected

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2015)

I got a copy of The Mist to watch at a party with my best friends, expecting some cheap horror movie rip-off of The Fog... but by the end of The Mist, we were all shocked, in a good way. This movie has a deeper side to it and to really let it sink in you have to watch it all the way through.
The movie starts off rather strangely, with a lightning storm that seems to not have much relevance to the plot until later. Dave Drayton goes to the supermarket with his son Billy and neighbor/friend Brent... apparently a military project has happened in the night that the public doesn't know about, says Brent. While in the supermarket, a heavy mist settles over everything and the large group of people inside are forced to barricade themselves in against some very otherworldly attackers, from giant octopus tentacles to oversized killer insects. Soon tensions run high, especially when the nutty religious fanatic lady trapped in the group starts convincing people of some bad ideas.
Okay, sure, some of the effects were kinda lame, like the giant octopus tentacles, but still, this movie has a good enough story to still be well-worth watching. It's the ending that really leaves an impression, more than the rest of the movie, and unlike most apocalypse movies that feature commandos shooting at zombies or superspies fighting off the end of the planet, this film features a truth in the fiction, it depicts the madness and mayhem that would ensue should the world ever really come to an end.
I also recommend watching Testament (1983) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) if you're looking for movies similar to The Mist.