Almost a TV version... Darabont finally disappoints!

Rating: 3/10 (22 November 2007)

I am a huge fan of Frank Darabont. My number 1 movie (and number 2 on IMDb)is the Shawshank Redemtion. Also in my top 10 and very high here as well is The Green Mile. Both are adaptations of Stephen King short stories but more importantly, both are non-horror short stories. This was Durabant's forte. I've never seen a good version of a King horror and this one misses as well. His horror work should simply stay on paper.
The film starts OK with Thomas Jane as a husband and father in Maine. A wicked storm blows in (lliterally blowing a tree in to his art studio. After assessing the damage with his former-enemy neighbor Jane runs into town with his kid in tow and his neighbor to get some needed supplies.
AT this point the movie is fine. Good characters, good acting, good dialog. But then the Mist rolls in and everyone get a bit freaked out. Why, they've never seen fog? But of course they must already know that this is no ordinary mist. The next few minutes build a bit of tension but that immediately goes away when they *** Spoiler alert** roll up the grocery back door. Here come the creatures and boy are they ever creatures. But what are they? One with huge tentacles, one that looks much like the water tentacle in The Abyss. Someone dies and the group goes into the market to describe to all what they just saw. Only the others think it's a joke. This is where the film really strays away from what would be real reactions and goes into several character developments that just don't fit and don't work.
Soon there's more creatures and once again they don't fit or work. Clearly looking like robots or man-made CGI creatures, followed by more and more. Blah! These creatures don't look real, not from this planet yet no one ever says "what is that?" Then the movie breaks up into 2 groups, the religious fanatic based group led by a "diturbed" woman (who no one would EVER follow). The other group is made up of our here and the only normal people in the group.
Off we go into human sacrifice and warring factions... all the while we have little or no idea what's happening and few are asking those important questions.
I will stop here as I won't ruin the one redeeming, but predictable aspect in regards to how it ends. You see it coming and it's your typical King bizarre, in your face, ending.
Overall, this looks like a made for TV miniseries complete with frequent fades to black for commercials (edited for TV already, now that's thinking ahead!)The dialog is just not what people would be saying. The actions of the people caught up in this tragedy are also not what people would do. The creatures look man-made and fake. The tension is just not there.
I rate this a 3 out of 10 only for the few good performances we see.
I simply can't believe that my favorite Director got caught up in this one. Having made my favorite and perfect movie once in Redemtion, it's unfathomable that he could also churn out one of my all time worst. I nearly walked out and I NEVER do that! Wait for video, if at all. This is real junk.