The Fog (1980)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (written by) and
Debra Hill (written by)

Release Date:

8 February 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

What you can't see won't hurt you... it'll kill you!

Plot:

A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, is the target for revenge by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths.

Plot Keywords:

Fog | Bay | Leper | Ghost | Revenge

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Adrienne Barbeau	...	Stevie Wayne
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Elizabeth Solley
Janet Leigh	...	Kathy Williams
John Houseman	...	Mr. Machen
Tom Atkins	...	Nick Castle
James Canning	...	Dick Baxter
Charles Cyphers	...	Dan O'Bannon
Nancy Kyes	...	Sandy Fadel (as Nancy Loomis)
Ty Mitchell	...	Andy
Hal Holbrook	...	Father Malone
John F. Goff	...	Al Williams (as John Goff)
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Tommy Wallace
Regina Waldon	...	Mrs. Kobritz
Jim Haynie	...	Dockmaster
Darrow Igus	...	Mel

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's The Fog (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (2002) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Denmark:15 | USA:R (Approved No. 25792) | Netherlands:16 | Italy:T | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivia:

As Stevie calls out the progress of the fog through town over the radio, she mentions Russelville road and Smallhouse road. These are two prominent streets in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where John Carpenter spent time growing up.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the coroners office, Elizabeth's hair is shorter than it is in the rest of the movie, and she's wearing sneakers as opposed to her boots

Quotes:

Nick Castle: Do you feel that?
Dr. Phibes: I'll tell you what happened...
Nick Castle: It just got cold in here.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jamie Lee Curtis/James Brown/Ellen Shipley (#6.4)" (1980)

Old-fashioned horror movie works like a charm

THE FOG

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: Mono

While celebrating its centenary birthday, a small Californian coastal town is visited by a ghostly fog containing an army of murderous spirits who take revenge for a terrible injustice.

Released on a wave of expectation following the worldwide success of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978), THE FOG surprised everyone by generating only moderate returns at the US box-office, though it's arguably the better of the two films. Beautifully photographed by Carpenter stalwart Dean Cundey (BACK TO THE FUTURE, JURASSIC PARK, etc.), this unassuming 'ghost story' opens on a lonely clifftop at midnight, where crusty old sea dog John Houseman tells an audience of wide-eyed children how their home town was built on the foundations of tragedy. As with HALLOWEEN, the pace is slow but steady, punctuated by a series of well-judged scares, and there's a relentless accumulation of details which belies the script's modest ambitions.

Jamie Lee Curtis headlines the movie opposite her real life mother Janet Leigh, though Hal Holbrook takes the acting honors as a frightened priest who realizes the town was founded on deception and murder. As the fog rolls in, the narrative reaches an apocalyptic crescendo, as the film's principal cast are besieged by zombie-like phantoms inside an antiquated church, in scenes reminiscent of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). Scary stuff, to be sure, though Carpenter was forced to add new material during post-production in an effort to 'beef up' the movie's horror quotient, including a memorable late-night encounter between a fishing boat and the occupants of a ghostly schooner which looms out of the swirling fog (similar scenes would be added to HALLOWEEN II in 1981 for the same reasons, though under less agreeable circumstances). Production values are solid, and Carpenter cranks up the tension throughout, resulting in a small masterpiece of American Gothic. Highly recommended.