The Mist (2007)

[Guestx]

WARNING: It probably goes without saying that there will be spoilers ITT, but if you haven't seen The Mist and think one day you might want to, I recommend that you get out now, go watch it, and then come back because it's the kind of movie you want to go into knowing as little about it as possible.

So I've been watching The Mist--the TV show, that is--and now that I've finished the first season of the show I figured I'd check out the movie.

Man, this movie is fucking bleak. I think it's well-done, with an interesting storyline, some very good performances, and effective twists. But fuck, that ending just makes you feel like shit. Dude mercy-kills four people including his son, only to realize moments later that the danger has passed and it was all for nothing? And this is right after learning that his wife is also dead?

Fuck.

(Shitty day.)​

But the ending is effective. I had heard several times that the very end of the film was something impactful so I was waiting for it, but I still didn't expect what it delivered.

Tom Jane does a good job as the lead and Marcia Gay stands out as the villainous Ms. Carmody. I also felt like the movie was paced pretty well, with major developments in the plot coming just about when necessary in order for the film to not start dragging.

I did have a few issues though:

* While the effects as a whole were good, the CGI in the early scene with the tentacles looked really bad. Like SyFy original movie kind of bad. Like they spent all their money on the effects for the rest of the film and that was one of the last scenes they actually completed and only had a few bucks left to do it.

* The speed with which Ms. Carmody was able to take 80% of the people in the store and turn them from regular, mild-mannered folk into a blood-thirsty mob of religious extremists wasn't quite believable to me. I mean, they are suddenly willing to kill a man in the frenzy of religious mania, whereas just a few days before their greatest concern is getting home in time to watch Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.

(What a cunt.)​

* Another speed issue: The quickness with which they all decided, okay, sure, let's just go ahead and die now, also seemed a little unrealistic to me. I mean, I can see someone coming to that conclusion, but you'd think they'd want to discuss it a little more first. But I can understand why expedition was probably necessary to move the story along so I'm not going to dwell on this one too much.

All in all though, I enjoyed it and thought it was an above-average horror film. King's story stands out, as his stories often do, from the rest of the pack of more generic, formulaic fare.

I looked up Frank Darabont's filmography. I was surprised to learn that he also directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. From Shawshank to The Mist, that's kind of a strange progression. But I was even more surprised to learn how relatively little he has directed in his carer. Since The Mist all he has done is a few episodes of television. No other feature films. I wonder why, especially since this film was critically well-received and also seems to have been at least a modest financial success.

7.5/10

What do you guys think? Thoughts on The Mist?

 

[loyalyolayal]

8/10

would watch again.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Did you see the black and white version? Makes it feel more like the campy horror movie its trying to be. Frank produced I think the first few seasons of walking dead. Thats why you see actors from walking dead and shawshank

8/10

Darabont talking about the black and white version

 

[Capt Lunatic]

Ending is the best due to Carol riding by looking all "Fuckin' told you so."

6 out of 10. Would be higher but film contains an unacceptable amount of Tom Jane.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Good review on the movie

Talks about the style of the movie. Comparing it to old 50's-60's horror movies

 

[Rav1nHunter]

Ending is the best due to Carol riding by looking all "Fuckin' told you so."

6 out of 10. Would be higher but film contains an unacceptable amount of Tom Jane.

You shut your whore mouth.

 

[gonads20]

Sounds like a good movie but after reading this post I guess there is no point of watching The Mist.

I give the movie 8 out of 10 by just reading this.

 

[Guestx]

Did you see the black and white version?

Nah, I read in the IMDB trivia that Darabont wanted to release it in B&W and that the home video release had the B&W version, but I watched it in color.

Really, it takes a lot for me to feel like the decision to release a movie in B&W today is justified. I can only think of one film that was released in B&W in the past few decades where I really felt like it worked better that way than if it was released in color:

 

[DarkneT]

Average / 10

 

[Felis]

I really like The Mist and I love the downer ending. Well, maybe "love" is not the best word. But it's extremely powerful and lifts the movie from being an average ok-ish monster movie to a good, memorable one.*

(*tho tbh the twist isn't really very "realistic" imo. That clean-up seemed way too quick and easy - I mean, they had alien monsters there bigger than houses and plenty of very nasty mid-sized and small ones...)

Tom Jane does a good job as the lead and Marcia Gay stands out as the villainous Ms. Carmody.

Eh, I don't know. In the beginning and the middle of the film his acting was decent, though nothing special. But at the end, he seemed a bit out of his depth acting wise to me. Which is unfortunate as the ending is so very important for this movie.
Imo most of the other actors did a better job than him, especially, I agree with you there, the actress that played Ms. Carmody.

While the effects as a whole were good, the CGI in the early scene with the tentacles looked really bad. Like SyFy original movie kind of bad. Like they spent all their money on the effects for the rest of the film and that was one of the last scenes they actually completed and only had a few bucks left to do it.

I don't mind the tentacle scene. Actually I think it looks pretty good, even by today standards I'd still consider it ok.
What I didn't like, as far monster presentation goes, were the spider creatures - in daylight. In the dark shop they were ok and pretty scary. But outside (you know, the scene when the group goes to the car) they looked too cartoonish imo. But this is a common problem with these kind of films. It's usually scarier when you can't see the monster too clearly.
My favorite monster scene is probably the one where they drive through the mist and that gigantic, enormous creature walks by. Calm and very eerie. Great scene. Another one that I really liked is when the "small" insecty ones and the pterosaurians come to the shop window (and eventually break in) - and this despite the quite clear look on the monsters, here this still works because of the dynamic of the scene.

The speed with which Ms. Carmody was able to take 80% of the people in the store and turn them from regular, mild-mannered folk into a blood-thirsty mob of religious extremists wasn't quite believable to me. I mean, they are suddenly willing to kill a man in the frenzy of religious mania, whereas just a few days before they were just worried about getting home to watch Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.

Now this I don't really have a problem with. People tend to turn to religion in extreme situations. And this was not only an extreme situation that developed very quickly, but also one that seemed a lot like it had supernatural causes. This wasn't a plague or an earthquake or any other "normal" disaster, where you can still try to explain it rationally. This were monsters that looked like they crawled out of the pits of hell. Ideal conditions for religious fanatics.
What I found a bit unbelievable was, as mentioned above, the speed and ease with which the army was able to get the situation under control. And especially with so little extra collateral damage..

 

[Felis]

Really, it takes a lot for me to feel like the decision to release a movie in B&W today is justified. I can only think of one film that was released in B&W in the past few decades where I really felt like it worked better that way than if it was released in color:

How about Pleasantville? There the B&W is even essential to the story.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

Generally liked it but the twist ending is a load of nonsense IMHO, really not built up at all previously and just feels tacked on.

 

[Organic Damage]

Good movie elevated to very good by the ending. I love how whenever this comes up for discussion people's views on the "twist" are so polarizing -- almost mirroring the central conflict of the film.

It doesn't even matter (to me) that the army seemed to mop up too easily. That's not the point. It could have been angels descending from on high to dispatch the "demons" but getting there too late for Jane's family. His character lacked faith, so he had no hope that anything would happen to spare his family besides what he himself could do.

 

[puppybird]

Is the series on Netflix any good?

 

[Guestx]

Is the series on Netflix any good?

I like it but a lot of people have said it's disappointing. So I guess the best advice I could give is to check it out but go into it with modest expectations.

It's a show that gets better as it progresses, I think.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

I never got why nobody checked the whiny religious chick, like the moment she opened her mouth...

especially in a small town, when she goes after the Army soldier.

bruh, feed her to the monsters

highly entertaining movie tho

 

[HARRISON_3]

​

That chick seriously needed the D.

 

[kenetics]

WARNING: It probably goes without saying that there will be spoilers ITT, but if you haven't seen The Mist and think one day you might want to, I recommend that you get out now, go watch it, and then come back because it's the kind of movie you want to go into knowing as little about it as possible.

So I've been watching The Mist--that TV show, that is--and now that I've finished the first season of the show I figured I'd check out the movie.

Man, this movie is fucking bleak. I think it's well-done, with an interesting storyline, some very good performances, and effective twists. But fuck, that ending just makes you feel like shit. Dude mercy-kills four people including his son, only to realize moments later that the danger has passed and it was all for nothing? And this is right after learning that his wife is also dead?

Fuck.

(Shitty day.)​

But the ending is effective. I had heard several times that the very end of the film was something impactful so I was waiting for it, but I still didn't expect what it delivered.

Tom Jane does a good job as the lead and Marcia Gay stands out as the villainous Ms. Carmody. I also felt like the movie was paced pretty well, with major developments in the plot coming just about when necessary in order for the film to not start dragging.

I did have a few issues though:

* While the effects as a whole were good, the CGI in the early scene with the tentacles looked really bad. Like SyFy original movie kind of bad. Like they spent all their money on the effects for the rest of the film and that was one of the last scenes they actually completed and only had a few bucks left to do it.

* The speed with which Ms. Carmody was able to take 80% of the people in the store and turn them from regular, mild-mannered folk into a blood-thirsty mob of religious extremists wasn't quite believable to me. I mean, they are suddenly willing to kill a man in the frenzy of religious mania, whereas just a few days before their greatest concern is getting home in time to watch Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.

(What a cunt.)​

* Another speed issue: The quickness with which they all decided, okay, sure, let's just go ahead and die now, also seemed a little unrealistic to me. I mean, I can see someone come to that conclusion, but you'd think they'd want to discuss it a little more first. But I can understand why expedition was probably necessary to move the story along so I'm not going to dwell on this one too much.

All in all though, I enjoyed it and thought it was an above-average horror film. King's story stands out, as his stories often do, from the rest of the pack of more generic, formulaic fare.

I looked up Frank Darabont's filmography. I was surprised to learn that he also directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. From Shawshank to The Mist, that's kind of a strange progression. But I was even more surprised to learn how relatively little he has directed in his carer. Since The Mist all he has done is a few episodes of television. No other feature films. I wonder why, especially since this film was critically well-received and also seems to have been at least a modest financial success.

7.5/10

What do you guys think? Thoughts on The Mist?

How is the show?

 

[00 Buck]

Meh movie IMO, had some really annoying parts. That religious nut lady leading everyone, ex-competition shooter who can barely shoot, not enough monster killing action, etc...

 

[Knock Out Ned]

So, did all the creatures come from the All World (Dark Tower world)?