One of the better Stephen King horror adaptations

Rating: 7/10 (14 April 2008)

There aren't enough horror films out there that utilize character development as part of their narrative or at least try to say something whether it's about society or the individual. Fortunately, The Mist makes an attempt, albeit not the best, in trying to examine fear and how it affects people in an enclosed setting. Needless to say it results in the inevitable mob mentality as witnessed in numerous tales (Lord of the Flies, J.J. Abram's "Lost", etc.) but in this case the antagonists are not from our world. This is a nice touch in that in no way can the audience relate to the creatures in any way. They show no emotion nor any motivation in their killing almost as if they were going about their business as usual. There is a similarity to "The Old Ones" of H.P. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu" where he describes their indifference to life around them and even note the monster at the end of the film with tentacles as if a nod to Lovecraft. That being said we are left to focus not on the creatures but on the struggle inside the supermarket between a growing religious fanaticism amongst the many against the few who hold onto using logic. This alone is enough to garner ten stars from me as this is the stuff that makes classics but unfortunately the third act falls apart rather quickly.
I won't give it away here but when you do see it I wonder if the general public will agree with me in wanting to know why everything had to lead up to this. Why does our lead protagonist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) deserve this? The problem isn't the down ending, which I typically enjoy in films, the problem is simply what does it all mean? What are we left with when the lights go up? That religion was the way to go? Or just wait a little longer and everything will resolve itself so don't fight it? I can't help but think that the ending's sole purpose was shocking for the sake of shock value and nothing else. Which leads to my next question: What is the deal with Stephen King endings anyway? I've read his books and somehow they end just right at least on paper but on the big screen they seem to fall apart (check out IT or The Stand as examples). There's something about the relationship between the reader (their imagination) and the written word and how it can dupe you into buying any convoluted plot that works to this very day. However, on the big screen, the filmmaker has to make his interpretation of said ending work for everyone. He can't convince it's right or wrong, it just has to work that one time and that's it. The majority of this film is entertaining, great atmosphere, good character actors and although this film's third act can be chalked up with all the other unsuccessful Stephen King endings the first two acts do make up for it.