The Mist
Director: Frank Darabont
Release Date: February 7, 2008
Lead Actor: Thomas Jane
Running Time: 127 mins
Genre: Horror
Review by Fraser Green
Frank Darabont yet again adapts another Stephen King novel into a film, but this time it is a failure. Starring Thomas Jane (Deep Blue Sea, The Punisher), Marcia Gay Harden (Into the Wild, Meet Joe Black), Laurie Holden (The Majestic, Silent Hill), Andre Braugher (Glory, Frequency) and William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption) this cast deliver moderate performances not really that impressing.
David Drayton (Thomas Jane) was going about his work on night as a frightening storm hits the town and leaves devastating aftermath. As power is out and no phones are working, the best thing to do is to go and do some supermarket shopping. Whilst in the supermarket with his son Billy, a thick mist approaches the store with people screaming, running away from the mist. There is something terrifying in the mist and if anyone ventures into it, there will be bloody consequences. Now, with a hundred or so people locked in the supermarket, they must either find a way to escape or await rescue yet at the same time figure out what the hell is going on out there.
Firstly, for whatever attempt at a horror film this is, it is far too long. We are locked in the supermarket for a hour and twenty minutes with most of those minutes taken up by people arguing with each other whether this is God’s will or not. The only real suspense comes when they do make attempts to find a way out and away from this horrific mist, even then the suspense is pretty minimal. With hints from Eight Legged Freaks, Cloverfield and the giant sea monster from The Host, this film at times is hard to take seriously. However, it is filmed rather well by writer/director Frank Darabont and he manages to put quite a lot of good humour in the script. The sequence just before the ending could’ve been made better as well. But, I have seen Darabont adapt some Stephen King novels a lot better than this one. Just go and watch The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, you will know what I’m talking about.
My Rating: 2 stars
Im a bit disapointed. it looked really good, but i probably wont see it now.
cmon, this is at the very least a decent horror movie