The Mist (Two-Disc Collector's Edition -DVD Movie)

On the two disc edition of The Mist, on disc 2 there is a glorious Black and White version of the film, with an introduction by the director Frank Darabont. Darabont says he originally wanted The Mist to be in B&W and be a throwback to the 50's and 60's horror movies such as Night of the Living Dead, which I felt it had a lot in common with. Darabont says this can be considered his director's cut. I knew he directed two other King favorites The Shawshank Redemption (Two-Disc Special Edition) and The Green Mile, but I didn't realize his other contributions to the horror genre, until I checked out IMDB. Starting in 1980 as a production assistant on Hell Night and going on to write the screenplays for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 - Dream Warriors, The Blob, The Fly II (Collector's Edition), and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

The Mist is an entertaining, at times infuriating, tragic horror film filled with fun scares in the form of 50s and 60s era monsters lurking in the mist outside and the uglier monsters inside that apply to our present day, a true creature double feature.

Darabont reminded me of Romero and his use of horror and social commentary. Here he makes an atmospheric horror movie, our main character, David Drayton, played by, Thomas Jane, (Deep Blue Sea) designs posters for horror movies, followed by a big storm, and ultimately has David and his son (mom at home) trapped in a supermarket with the towns people. Similar to the mall in Dawn of the Dead [Blu-ray] evil lurks outside the market, not in the form of zombies that can be seen, but old school monsters that lurk out in the mist. That's the surface of the film, but as we go through the layers we find much more, such as the monsters that lurk inside the supermarket. Human nature, when afraid and backed into a corner and the role the military plays once the smoke clears are some of the movie's other factors.

The Black and White Version is the way to go, to get that old school feel the director intended, even the way the title on the dvd is written is like an old monster movie. Highly Recommended, one of King's best film adaptations.

2 DISC DVD FEATURES (FROM BACK OF DVD)
DISC I Features Commentary by Writer/Director Frank Darabont - Deleted Scenes with optional commentary - Drew Struzan: An appreciation of an artist - Behind the scenes webisodes - Trailer Gallery Dolby Dig 5.1
DISC II - Frank Darabont introduces The Mist in Black & White - The Director's Vision: The Complete Feature Film in Black & White - When Darkness came : The Making of the mist - Taming the beast - The making of scene 35 - Monsters among us: A look at the creature FX - The Horror of it all: The visual FX of the mist. Dolby Dig 5.1

Frank Darabont's "The Mist" would have made Howard Phillips Lovecraft proud, even if he would have had to leave the house to watch it.

Bank on it: when you see a Stephen King film that does NOT INVOLVE direction by Stephen King and the material is excellent in the first place, you're in for a terrifying ride: ("Salem's Lot", "Pet Cemetery", "The Shining" all attest to this) this film is a case in point. Thomas Jane gives the same performance he always does but it works as the befuddled, terrified and courageous Everyman David Drayton
makes a simple decision with tremendous consequences: he goes to the grocery store.

The sheer mystery and grotesque nature of what goes on is convincing by virtue of the relatively banal, provincial setting: relations between annoying townsfolk and the "artist" (Drayton) escalate when the fantastic is finally introduced into their own lives. The scene in which the teenage boy makes an unwise decision to be a tough guy in front of the other locals lets you know what you're in for. Andre Braugher is in this movie for about five seconds and I have no idea why: he's such a great actor and I would have been curious as to how his character would have dealt with the situation if he hadn't denied it was happening, or thought it was an "inside joke" being played by the locals. Scarier than the things outside, though, is the religious fanatic played by Marcia Gay Harden, known as Mrs. Carmody to anyone who even skimmed the novella: the ultimate bad religious, the most irritating and horrifying phenomena in perhaps the entire tale, she takes full advantage of the situation to impose her blasphemous view of the Old Testament on the dumbstruck crowd, turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. When the young marine is offered up to the looming horror outside as "Food for the Gods", one can barely watch.

But the ending: this is key here. You will never see it coming and it is absolutely perfect. Great!

Director Frank Darabont successfully adapts yet another King tale. He had done a great job with King's prison tales The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, but is equally good at working on King's thrillers.

***This may contain some spoilers. I think I'm vague enough, but some like to be warned of any potential spoilers within a review. So, here's your warning***

This film is based on a novella, a short novel that is usually less than 150 pages, which helps to keep this film tightly focused on a small band of people trapped in a supermarket as a strange mists surrounds an entire town. Within this mist are incredible monsters that are very effectively produced as part CGI and part puppets. They do look frighteningly real and not as obvious special effects. As with any of these "band of survivors" kind of films there are an odd collection of characters, but I can't label them as stereotypes and that is a welcome change for this genre of film.

All the actors bring a real and human quality to their characters. Thomas Jane, of Deep Blue Sea, King's Dreamcatcher, and husband to Patricia Arquette of NBC's Medium for which he had a role on two episodes, has always been something of an action actor with passing acting abilities, but here the director gets a sincere and highly emotional performance out of him. Andre Braugher as the initially hostile out-of-towner, turned nice guy, turned angry guy, turned determine guy is performed quite well considering the complexity of the actual role. You see the tension with him all the time, but you also see a "nice guy" trying to come out and get along with others who struggles with insecurities. In addition, there is Toby Jones, The Painted Veil and Infamous, as a shift manager who is keenly insightful about people in general, but believably so. The supermarket is rounded out with the likes of Frances Sternhagen who graces any film she's in, William Sadler who is great at playing semi-villains, and the ever reliable Jeffrey DuMunn who is no stranger to starring in King films. Lauren Holden as a kind of a stand-in wife/son to Thomas Jane's character and his son while trapped at the supermarket and is good in her role. She may be best known as the macho cop in the horror film Silent Hill.

I would be remiss if I didn't note the Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden's role as the sick, sadistic, Bible thumping, I'm against the world, bitter religious zealot Mrs. Carmody. In the Stephen King world this is the Christian stereotype as it was in his Carrie novel. King himself admits that he has had a very negative view of Christians prior to his near fatal car accident, and often painted them with the same brush he painted Mrs. Carmody. Even prior to his accident he was beginning to lighten up on his view of Christians and his The Green Mile - Six Volume Box Setis a good example to that softening of King's views. Having said this, Harden plays this role a bit over-the-top at times, but is still convincing. She does eventually become a caricature of sorts, but she is very compelling to watch and I give her kudos for that kind of performance.

As much as the actors make this a very enjoyable film, much credit for the success of this highly effective horror film is the writing and directing by Danabont who just knows how to handle King's stories. King often fought with his publishers when he had downer endings. Publisher hate it when an author kills off the heroes in a story or evil appears to win, but King, to his credit, never flinched and has had numerous stories in which his main characters die and evil won. I admire that with King and some of his most effective stories have been the ones with downer endings. I'm not saying who dies in this story and who doesn't in this story or if the evil in the mist wins as I don't believe in spoiling someone else's enjoyment of a film, but this adaptation is very faithful to the novella and it does have a strong ending. In fact, the ending is quite shocking, moving, harrowing, and just plain jaw-dropping. I doubt anyone would see it coming which makes it all that much more effective.

This is an outstanding horror film that is worthy of a place in your DVD collection.

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