The Mist

I wouldn't compare Darabont's film to a cheap horror flick, or, heaven forbid, measure it through the lens of 1950s monster movies. I think The Mist works equally well as gritty horror, and as a kind of psychological drama where rationality vs. bigotry clashes within a small circle of people. Anyway, even the rather ridiculous tentacles at the beginning didn't spoil my overall very good impression. Scary, at times decently suspenseful and with a very powerful twist at the end. And Thomas Jane finally gave a believable performance (Punisher is forgiven). I wonder what the leaders (if they saw it) of the increasingly growing creationist movement in the United States, where their pseudo-scientific doctrine is already on school curricula and whose luminaries use much the same rhetoric as the deranged, had to say about the figure of the religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody. If Darabont wanted to symbolically smack them with it, I won't hesitate to give it the maximum rating :) I'm tempted to compare it with King's novel. (12/03/2008)

If there is one horror movie this year that deserves a full score, it’s this one. It has an awesome atmosphere, especially in the second half, and I also liked the diversity of the monsters. But it’s not only about monsters, the story has a very strong dramatic line, too. The ending is amazing! More movies like this! Darabont has another successful King adaptation under his belt. (26/11/2007)

The first reactions to Frank Darabont's new adaptation of Stephen King's literary source were enthusiastic and caused a great deal of anticipation among horror fans. Then followed somewhat mixed reactions, so I was curious about the result. The Mist is a typical example of a film where the creator balances between trying to shoot a psychological drama of a group of people surviving in extreme conditions and trying to please the mass audience and shoot a sci-fi horror in the style of Alien. Naturally, the few avid intellectuals will not be pleased with the presence of typical B-movie props such as giant mutated spiders or gigantic polyps, while a larger group of horror fans will miss some of the clichés they love, as well as greater plot dynamism and a lack of intense action. Many will rightly criticize The Mist for its somewhat outdated special effects, which can be done more professionally and with better results today. Despite all this, it is a significantly above-average genre movie that has a strong story with a very decent dramatic culmination and several strong scenes. However, I can't help but feel that more could have been extracted from this material, and the encounter with extraterrestrial life could have been much more imaginative. Why does the author think that the same forms of life live in the distant universe, only significantly larger than here? Overall impression: 85%. (28/06/2008)

For Darabont, the notion of horror is something completely out of place, given that he can't even handle the most basic genre practices. He borrows from Carpenter here, and Cameron there, only to drape the whole thing with dialogue straight out of a dumb 1960s sci-fi movie. For two hours, the plot spins in a merry-go-round, with maybe a spindle of religious fanaticism pushing the viewer's emotions. Otherwise, except for the very end, it’s an absolutely cold, terribly long, and unintentionally stupid B-movie, which apparently got rave reviews just for the impressive ending. (08/03/2008)

Hm... the blonde was terribly unappealing... come to think of it, I didn’t actually like anyone in this... The best part was stirring up the mob, how easy it is, right? And that ending? I kind of expected it, exactly like that. Mr. King always tries to end with that bit of a shock, but this one seemed transparent to me; oh well, it's dawn now and the mist is rolling over the tree tops. And I'm not scared at all. Such a pity. (11/04/2009)