Movie Review: The Mist (2007)

The Mist (2007)

The Darkness of Humanity

Directed By: Frank Darabont

Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, & Laurie Holden

MPAA Rating: "R" (for violence, terror and gore, and language)

Stephen King is a master of creating brilliant characters and putting them in harrowing situations that involve such things as killer clowns and deranged hotels. In one of his most famous novellas, King uses a sinister mist that is filled with obligatory vicious creatures. The creatures are kept hidden for much of the film and wisely so...because the computer-generated arthropods and dinosaur hybrids only remain scary as long as we cannot see them. Once they are revealed, no matter how wonderful they look, the mystery is gone. But, the horror of The Mist is not in the monsters outside, but in the humans inside. The most villainous of them all is Mrs. Carmody (Harden), a deceitful murderous maniac masked as a twentieth-century prophet from God.

Pitted against her is David Drayton (Jane), an artist who, after a terrible storm, heads to the local supermarket with his son, Billy (Nathan Gamble), to gather supplies. Suddenly, a thick mist engulfs the entire store. Also in the store is David's rude neighbor, Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), a local schoolteacher, Amanda Dunfrey (Holden), and Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones). After a hapless bagboy is killed by massive tentacles that attack the loading dock, the residents of the store find themselves taking sides against each other. As the situation grows excessively bleak and deadly, the once-grounded individuals who had mocked Mrs. Carmody eventually become her most obsessive supporters...and she is determined to offer a blood sacrifice to end the nightmare.

I read King's novella a few months ago...It was one of the best stories I had read in quite some time, perfect in almost every aspect. Needless to say, I was excited for the film adaptation, helmed by King enthusiast Frank Darabont (who also wrote and directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, two other acclaimed King adaptations). If anyone could make such a compelling read into an equally-fascinating film, Darabont was surely the person to do it. Here, he proves yet again to understand King's work. He understands that The Mist was never really about the creatures within the mist, but about the animalistic horrors of humanity. "People are basically good," Amanda persists. Anyone who has ever read Lord of the Flies knows that this isn't the case. "Sure, as long as the machines are working and you can dial 911," David replies, " But you take those things away, you throw people in the dark, you scare the shit out of them. No more rules."

The film is wonderfully-acted (particularly from a fanatical Harden who seems to fill the role as though it were created specifically for her) and beautifully-directed. The creatures may look like obvious creature effects, but Darabont has the good sense to keep them masked in haze for much of the duration. The film sticks closely to the short story, capturing the mood and tone of King's work...until, of course, the controversial ending. The ending to the novella was perfect, though it would hardly work for a film. The new ending seems appropriate to a point, though a final ironic and unsettling twist seems to defy the logic set forth by the novella. It undermines the very basis on which King created the creatures, turning them into something a little less than terrifying. Perhaps The Mist would have been best without its new ending, but it's hard to deny just how unsettling and disturbing it is. I may not have liked the conclusion, but the journey...it's delightfully horrific.