I know it got very mixed reviews but I loved it. Perhaps it wasn't all blood and gore scary, but it was SCARY. in the end there were two monsters: those outside the store and those inside the store. Which would you rather face?
At last, I finally got to see The Mist. I thought we'd never get it here in the UK.
Stephen King adaptations are usually a bit hit or miss, and as a loyal fan of his work I can say that there are a lot of misses when it comes to the movies.
I read The Mist a while ago and couldn't put it down. It helps that it's only around 150ish pages long so it can be read in one sitting if you wish, and I thought then that i'd like to see it made into a movie.
The thing that I couldn't get over was how deep this movie was for a creature feature. It's not the usual 'small town is attacked by giant insects' movie that we've come to expect. They're usually quite entertaining and fun, but that's it! This movie however stays with you for a while afterwards. What also makes it different is the fact that in this movie, it's not only the giant insects, spiders, and monsterous birds that are a threat... It also shows how monsterous humans can be. My mate and I both agreed that if you took the fictional giant insect scenario away and replaced it with a very real situation in an enclosed environment, it would only be a matter of time before people started turning on each other out of fear, desperation, or even insanity. That is more terrifying than fictional beasts! There are some poor excuses for human beings in this movie, one in particular that thanks to too many bible readings has gone a bit loopy. The hysteria she causes is intense, and you will loathe her! Marcia Gay Harden played the character to a T! Thomas Jane was also brilliant as the all round good guy, who manages to gather a small rational posse in the crowded supermarket.
Considering it was made for a relative small amount (as opposed to the average Hollywood movie) it looked fantastic! Some of the creature effects were a bit bad but it doesn't distract from what's being depicted. It also manages to stay gripping, even though 90% of the movie is set in the supermarket. You will root for characters, you will loathe characters, you may scream, maybe even cry? The only things that were left out of the book were minor details, although the ending was changed to give the audience a bit more closure. The book kind of leaves it to you to imagine what happens next. All i'll say about the new ending is that it's not a mainstream one, you may be surprised?
What an excellent film. Thomas Jane and Marcia Gay Harden give an outstanding performance. Even though the danger in the film is what's lurking outside, it's the inside which is more of the problem. The only fault I can find with the film is the low budget CGI but maybe they could fix that for a future Director's cut on DVD. Also the ending is one of the most spectacular endings to a Stephen King adaptation since The Shining. This is one of the best horror films of the year and must be watched. A real gem.
I really liked this movie all the way until the end. All the characters were well written even though there are so many to deal with in this situation. I liked the nods to King and Carpenter as well. The end bummed me out though. I felt like I needed a strong drink...
the thing that pisses me off the most about the mist is not the film itself but the blind reviews and the 7.5 IMDB rating,
some people are so far up Stephen Kings and Frank Darabont's arse that they fail to watch the movie as-is, everybody seems to keep saying THE SAME FUCKING REVIEW, they are all just carbon copys of the last review, saying - some people are just paraphrasing other peoples opinions.
but please, this film was aweful, every part of the film was bad, and normaly every film has a redeeming feature that makes the 2 hours of your life not seem like a waste, but no, this film is so bad that there isnt one, only the fact that i laughed the entire way through as i genuinely thought that this was a subtle black comedy, due to the terriable script, dialogue, creature FX, and worst of all the predictability of it all, every time something happend we knew 5 steps before what was going to happen, ESPECIALY the end, we knew that he would kill his own son and be the only one left, and if the film was that bad and predictable 5 mins after he killed his son, either the fog would clear or the military would come and resque him, all the characters were cardboard cut-out stereotypes of people, the religious nutjob, the surrogate mother, the biker dude, the army men (who had obviously had no militarily training in preparation for the role which was laughably clear) the butcher who would be bound to be the first to draw human blood, the hillbillys, the bagboys fresh out of college, there were soo many things laughable about the film, and if i was sad enough i could write one laughable point per minute at least, some examples of why the film was soo shite
the soldiers eye-liner and lipstick
if you see giant alien bugs on the glass window, shine a light in its eyes and see if its attracted to it
when all else fails, shoot your son
best thing to use INSIDE a store is FIRE
Short dorky guys with half-inch thick glasses are inexplicably much better shots than military personnel who probably have better gun training
Being a teenager and making out in the back room will inevitably wind up getting you killed, just like in every Friday the 13th and Halloween movie featuring teenagers making out
All religious folks are insane, swearing nuts who think that, under the right circumstance, child sacrifice is perfectly acceptable
Black guys tend to completely ignore logic and frequently refuse to listen to reason (or even go back to explore the "evidence" other people insist is there.)
Never piss off an old lady with canned vegetables.
when you hear a wierd noise when you know there are aliens close, you have to check it out before you start running
seeing alien spiders will turn you into a religious freak
If someone hears something you didn't, and they have a college education, they're lying.
If you're being attacked by a swarm of creatures attracted to light, run around yelling "turn out the lights!" while turning on lights and starting fires
Extreme Silly String isn't as fun as it sounds
some childproof lighters can be adultproof too and take a few nice minutes to light
If you have one man tell you that someone got killed in the mist, hear another man get killed in the mist, watch a guy get pulled into the mist by alien tentacles, have the legs of another man come back from the mist without the torso or head, it is still a good idea to see what's up out there
Never dress indistinguishably and venture into dangerous territory with 6 characters who have all earned more screen time than you up to that point in the film. Lots of blood, plenty of screaming...you get the idea.
Keep the Alien films in the back of your mind when retrieving medication from dark foreboding drug stores. These types of creatures are always big on the life-sized hive concept...and it never ends well for intruders.
extra dimensional spiders have seen that bit in "Aliens" when the chick wakes up just in time to give birth to aliens
Cheesey world music makes everything move in dramatic slow-mo
If you are walking out into a deadly mist during the day be sure to walk as slowly as possible and wave a torch around so any creatures can come get you with ease, never ever run like the wind!
The U.S Army usually do stupid things like opening doors to another dimension, but they are always there to clean the mess
ok so ive proberbly just spamed the whole page by now, and you aint read none of it, but watch the film as a COMEDY, youll have more fun laughing at the subtle jokes
Great movie, and one of the best adaptations of a work by Stephen King. The ending was a real shocker, but I loved it! Much better than the ending of the original novella.
One of the best horror films in the past decade. Great cast with one exceptional performance by Marcia Gay Harden. It's a classic horror film from Stephen King with great characters with real emotion and depth. Frank Darabont does a excellent job in adapting this from book to screen. My only minor problem was the CGI with the creatures because they felt too fake. Also, the ending has got to be the most depressing ending ever which is not necessary a bad thing.
The movie was average. It isn't something to go out and rent at blockbuster, more like go see it if it happens to be on HBO.
The movie started off strong, and had potential to be a very good movie, but then some things ended up not making sense, and the ending was horrible. I never read the book (by Stephen King), but I thought the ending ruined the movie, and rather than a 3/5 stars, it only deserves 2.5 stars. The rest of July 4th I was depressed. The ending could have been much better, even if it didn't follow the book.
Some things did not make any sense, like [SPOILER!]why couldnt the bugs come into the grocery store and just easily kill them? They out numbered all of the people anyway.[/SPOILER]
Overall the movie was only average, and if it is on cable, it may be something fun to watch with friends.
Wes Craven royally kicks the unexpected twisting arse of M. Night Shaymelemlam (Malamalam? Mylemlan?) Though to me, Thomas Jane will always be The Punisher, he plays a very convincing middle aged artist trapped in a mall under seig by an innumerable amount of otherwordly monsters. Mind you, whats outside the walls is quit preferable than dealing with the religious pshyco babble bullshit dished out by the extreme christian nutbag bitch on the inside.
This is a bit strange this movie, people react a bit more beleivably to the situation they are in, which gives it more realism. But at the same time, it completely robs you of your faith in human beings. If you had any. Only humans could dream up such total bullshit like religion. And only humans would act as stupidly and mindlessly as many of the people do here, but thats besides the point.
The creatures, the few that are shown, look pretty darn cool, and there are moments of some awesomely sick arse gore. Like spiders popping out of peoples bodies and faces. Thats always a winner.
The element of the mist also actualy works in creating a creepy atmosphere. Which was a welcome suprise. Unfortunately I found that the movie focused more on the pshyc of those trapped in the mall and not enough on the gnarly grizzled creatures trying to kill them, which makes too uninteresting too often.
The most debateable part of this movie is, you guessed it, the ending. For me it was neither here nor there, but its bound to piss off alot of people. Which seems a little trivial, given what you watch this poor guy go through. He has what is without doubt the shittiest day a person like him could have in the history of the planet.
Justins Best Bit: Finally sticking it to that pshycotic chunk of religiouse shit.
the movie is good, and exiting but the ending sux balls :( like rel bad!!!!! it made me wanna punch a baby :( not rele but it was terrible :( y cudnt the guy just wait!!!@!!!!!!!q/?
This movie was highly disappointing. There is usually a twist at the end of movies based off Stephen King novel's, but this was predictable and boring.
Frank Darabont (and perhaps Rob Reiner) seems to be the only director in Hollywood who "gets" Stephen King, and with this film he does it again. This is fundamentally a horror film about evil monsters lurking in a mysterious fog - but the monsters aren't the scariest thing in the film - that's not to say they're fluffy and jolly mind. What causes the tension is seeing how people react when fear takes over and the world they thought they knew is torn away. And this is the crux, the heart of the film as - much like Lord of The Flies - the survivors break away into groups, all heading for a violent confrontation. It's lacking that final half a star because between the monster attacks, there's so much characterisation to fit in that it has a couple of slow points, but that's a minor niggle. And just when you think you know what's going to happen, the ending comes along, punches you in the face and leaves you to walk out of the cinema in disbelief.
This film actually left me with my mouth hanging open at the end. This is the best horror film i've seen in a very long time. It was recommended to me a few times but it didn't look that impressive so I never bothered seeing it. Then today I saw a very small trailer for it that looked mildly interesting so I thought i would give it a shot. Boy am I glad I did. Everything about it was very well done. The set up, the direction, the performances. All solid. But after all that, you can only worry about then ending because in films of this type, they never live up. This one, however, did more than that. Possibly one of the most shocking endings ever. I spent the whole film, wondering what they were going to do with the ending so that the film went out with a bang. Thankfully, it was the best part of the film and pushed it up from a three and a half star to a four star. There isn't a whole lot of explaining as to what The Mist is but by the end that doesn't matter. Slows down slightly in the middle of the film would have to be my only major problem with it, but I can forgive that after the stunning ending. You just won't see it coming.
Starts slow and feels like more run of the mill Steven King, but the tension and paranoia build to a point where the people trapped inside the market become more frightening than the monsters outside. Also contains one of the least feel-good endings in recent memory.
Great suspense build up, but a bit long winded and drawn out, way to much religious content for my liking, and the ending, typical Stephen King twisted mind!
Most directors start with horrors to publish their names, but Frank Darabont has gone the other way. Lets be honest the CG is crap but that doesn't really matter because the acting tops it all off and suprisingly it is the acting that gives you the shivers because the scary parts are not the actual monsters trying to get in the grocery store but the people within the grocery store - the venal, spiteful and downright horrifying side of human nature, especially that Mrs. Carmody. The ending will leave you clinically depressed and thinking about the film for days to come.
At first I was disappointed by the strange setup for the story but don't be fooled! Although this piece has weaknesses, the last hour or so is intense and saved the movie. I could describe this as an half-life esque story but without Gordon Freeman.. Yeah, I know.. they are definitely in need of a hero...
Note: avoid the french translation
p.s.: I don't get the R rating
I don't get why this movie was getting such positive reviews. The acting was heavy handed at times, and just bad at others. Thomas Jane just seems like he's trying so hard to deliver his lines at times. The special effects were also not impressive...very higher end TV movie looking. I had high hopes for this, because I like Frank Darabont's work, but he dropped the ball on this one.
"[Frank Darabont's] latest film The Mist, based on a Stephen King book, is his exploration of a genre unknown to him - the horror/thriller. And there's a lot to like about it but it's far from the level he has reached before."
Buenos efectos, que por momentos hacen acordar a La Guerra de los Mundos... El nene un actorazo (mejor que el protagonista jeje) El final no me convencio demasiado pero la recomiendo! Ademas sirve para reflexionar sobre la naturaleza (violenta?) del hombre
All I can really say is Wow. This was another fantastic adaption from one of Stephen King's stories. This would be my second favorite Stephen King movie. There is an interesting message about man, and how fragile society is when a crisis arises which I thought worked so perfectly into this story. Also the big conflict between the people within the story worked great as well. The creature effects and the creatures themselves were great, but they could have been more realistic to give it a more real quality. This is why I give it 4 1/2 stars, and talk about an ending, I didn't see that coming. This was a great Stephen King movie.
"The Mist" was the very first Stephen King story I ever read and immediately turned him into my favorite author; I've been hooked on his writing ever since. And while I don't remember all the details of the book (it's been nearly two decades since I opened up "Skeleton Crew" where this was first presented), I have to say that this was a pretty effective adaptation of a very entertaining and creepy read. Less a horror movie than an interesting character study in a fantastical "What if?" scenario, Darabont once again successfully captures the tone of King's work even if he doesn't stay completely faithful to it. I have mixed feelings on the ending, since the ending of the book was so haunting and perfect, but in the end, I have a feeling that King would approve of the one Darabont gives us. It's still a pretty King-ish ending and really a logical extension of the ideas and theme of the original story. Certainly not the best adaptation of King's work, but still well-done nonetheless.
Some critics compare this to The Twilight Zone and I can see why. It has a very similar tone to some episodes of TZ and there is the feeling that we are watching a play or some kind of staged microcosm of the country/world. So it can feel very forced and at times it's a bit annoying in plausibility, but it's interesting to watch human dynamics, even if they are only hypothesized. The ending disturbed some people, but after I thought about it for awhile, I think it was true to the style of the rest of the film and got my mind jogging.
MCT:July 8, 2008
MCT:July 7, 2008
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MCT:July 5, 2008
