The Mist (2007)

A freak storm unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.

Director:

Frank Darabont

Writers:

Frank Darabont (screenplay), Stephen King (novel)

Stars:

Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden

6 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Jane	...	David Drayton
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Mrs. Carmody
Laurie Holden	...	Amanda Dunfrey
Andre Braugher	...	Brent Norton
Toby Jones	...	Ollie Weeks
William Sadler	...	Jim
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Dan Miller
Frances Sternhagen	...	Irene Reppler
Nathan Gamble	...	Billy Drayton
Alexa Davalos	...	Sally
Chris Owen	...	Norm
Sam Witwer	...	Private Jessup
Robert C. Treveiler	...	Bud Brown (as Robert Treveiler)
David Jensen	...	Myron
Melissa McBride	...	Woman With Kids at Home

Storyline

Everyone thinks of it as a harmless lightning storm. When Dave Drayton notices a strange mist on the lake, he thinks nothing of it. When he, his son, Billy Drayton, and his neighbor Brent Norton travel to the supermarket, the unthinkable happens. On their way to the market, they see the army, firefighters, and the police heading toward the mist. When he sees this Brent mentions something about "Project Arrowhead", a secret military project that no one knows about. As they are shopping, they see three soldiers walk in, pick up a few things, then head toward the mist. All eighty of the store's shoppers have no clue what is going on until an old man runs in the market with a bloody nose and declares "Something in the mist!" He tells them to close the door. About five seconds after they close the door, the entire store shakes, as though it has been lifted several feet above the ground. When David is asked to check on the generator, he finds the loading dock door being pushed on by ...

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Plot Keywords:

survival horror | desperation | survival | religious fanatic | fog | 

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Taglines:

Fear Changes Everything

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, terror and gore, and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stephen King's The Mist

Filming Locations:

Minden, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,931,973 (USA) (22 November 2007)

Gross:

£494,092 (UK) (18 July 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Darkwoods Productions, Weinstein Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color Black and White (alternate DVD version)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film Frank Darabont has made that is set in "the present," barring the "framing story" in The Green Mile (1999).

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Goofs

Central Maine Power (CMP) trucks have an orange cargo area with a white cab, unlike those shown in the film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Billy Drayton: Whoa!

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Crazy Credits

The end credits begin as the song at the end of the film fades out. As the end credits roll up the screen, the sounds of military vehicles (helicopters, tanks, APCs, etc.) can be heard over the credits.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemania: Stephen King: O vasilias tou tromou (2009)

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Soundtracks

The Vicious Blues
from Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
Written by Mark Isham
Courtesy of Miramax Film Corp.
Under license from the Disney Music Group / New Line Productions, Inc. / Alan Rudolph and The Estate of Robert B. Altman

User Reviews

The Humanity of Horror

If, two years ago, you told me that within a couple of years two excellent Stephen King film adaptations would be released, I would probably have laughed it off. Films like The Shining, Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, The Stand and 1408 are usually pretty far between (Note that I consider The Green Mile and Carrie to be the most over-rated King adaptations, so they do not appear here). I like most of the films that have been made from Stephen King novels, novellas, and short stories mainly because I like Stephen King, but I do not recommend many of them as truly good films.

Frank Darabont's (writing and directing) The Mist adapts a horror novella of the same name. King's horror work has been the most difficult material to adapt, but this film is comparable to other genre stand-outs such as The Shining and 1408.

A brief, dramatic thunderstorm is followed by a freak mist that descends on a small New England town. As the mist permeates the town, people congregate in the local supermarket and hardware store to stock up and gather supplies. David Drayton (Thomas Jane), his son (Nathan Gamble), and his neighbor (Andre Braugher) are among them. Tension builds as a steady stream of military vehicles pass through the mist headed south from a nearby base. But serious concern doesn't start until one of the locals runs to the supermarket with blood spatters on his clothing and talking of monsters in the mist.

Indeed, there are horrors outside in the fog, but there are also horrors inside the market - as paranoia, irrationality and religion come into conflict with practical issues of survival.

Unlike many horror films, The Mist examines fear and its effects realistically, looks at the horror created by forces beyond human control and the even more terrifying horror that fear creates through forces that are completely within our grasp - our own fears, our beliefs and our treatment of each other. It does so using a classic formula which is comparable to films like Night of the Living Dead and, more recently, Feast.

The cinematography, editing and directing are all excellent. The acting is quite good - Marcia Gay Harden and William Sadler stood out for me - and the script is exactly where it needed to be for this adaptation.

Highly recommended for King fans and horror fans. Recommended for Sci-Fi fans. Weakly recommended for average cinema-goers who are not generally interested in horror.