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

The Mist is director Frank Darabont's shot at doing an actual horror film that's similar to those made during the 1950s. Just think of Them, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came From Beneath the Sea, and you'll have an idea of what he was trying to do with Stephen King's most famous novella. It should also be noted that the movie is in both color and black and white on the Two-Disc Collector's Edition. Simply take your pick of which version you want to watch. I want it be known up front that if you decide to watch this movie hoping to see a Frank Darabont film (The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption), you're likely to be disappointed with the product. The ending won't make you stand up and cheer, or shed a tear in sadness. Instead, you might find yourself saying, as I did, if only the lead character had waited another goddamn minute or two. Still, I don't see any other way the film could have ended. Some stories simply have tragic endings.

For those of you who haven't read the novella or seen the movie, the story deals with a large group of people who find themselves trapped inside a local grocery store when a heavy mist drifts in from the surrounding woodlands, enveloping the entire Maine town and bringing with it an array of dangerous and hungry creatures in search of some subsistence. It's not important how the mist came to be, though the film points to a military experiment gone wrong with the creatures entering our world from another dimension. What's really unusual about this story isn't so much the danger that awaiting patiently outside the grocery store, but rather the danger that's inside the place. As the tale progresses and the fear for their lives intensifies, the trapped people quickly split into two distinct camps with one being led by a religious zealot and the other by a sensible everyday man who simply wants to get himself and his young son back to safety. The underlying current here is how swiftly the thin veneer of civilization can slip away when human beings are trapped and filled with an increasing fear for their lives and have nowhere to turn. The rest of the story deals with what happens inside the store, especially when some the jaw-smacking creatures breach the defenses that have been placed to keep them out. As frightening as the creatures are, the people in the scared me worse.

I have to be honest and say that I was a little disappointed in the film when I first saw it in the theater. I don't know why. Maybe it was the mood I was in. I certainly didn't like the ending and the lack of hope it represented to me. When the DVD set came out, I purchased it for my film library and decided to watch the movie a second time. This proved to be a good thing because I found myself enjoying the film a lot more and could see how well made it was. It was like I slapped myself in the side of head and went, "Why didn't see this before. I still had problems with the finale because everyone you care about gives ave up at the end and you don't want to see them die.

The ending to Stephen King's novella was somewhat different, but he's publicly stated that if he'd come up with Darabont's ending when originally writing the story, he'd gone with it. Certainly the ending has provoked a great deal of controversy with the fans.

Still, the movie's very entertaining with a large number of scenes that will have you jumping in your seat or squeezing the daylights out of your date's arm. It's fast pace with extremely good acting by Thomas Jane, Academy Award Winner Marcia Gay Harden, Toby Jones (who played Truman Capote the year before), Laurie Holden, the always fabulous Jeffrey DeMunn (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption), and Andre Braugher (who was in the remake of Salem's Lot for television and the fabulous William Saddler (who was in The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile).

The Special Effects are truly excellent. None of creatures looked fake and actually scared the daylights out of me. Darabont managed to create a total sense of isolation for the people in the store, and you could feel their dread of the unknown. Why I didn't see this before is beyond me, but this is definitely exellent film making.

As I wrote earlier, the Two-Disc Collector's Edition has the movie in both color and black and white formats. There's a commentary by Frank Darabont, which is always fun to listen to, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie and the creation of many of its special effects. This is definitely a movie that all horror buffs should have in their film library. I'm glad that I bought the DVD and gave the film another chance. I believe it deserves a second chance with Stephen kIng fans. The film is actually of A-list quality and deserves a large audience. Highly recommended.