Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

Ticket

By Kuong Lam

khlam@vwc.edu

A group of Americans finding their way inside a local supermarket and attempting to survive from the unknown in a deadly mist may seem like a cloudy concept for a horror movie. However, the Frank Darabont-directed “The Mist” based on the novella by Stephen King turns this very idea into a clever thriller that is reminiscent of a childhood nightmare.

After a storm hits a small town in Maine and causes massive damage to the town leaving behind a cloud of mist in the lake, movie poster artist David Drayton played by Thomas Jane (looking and acting just as tough as he did in The Punisher), drives son Billy (Nathan Gamble) and neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher) past several suspicious army tanks to the local supermarket to pick up supplies and groceries.

Not long after arriving at the supermarket to a scene of distressed citizens, a bloody local Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn) ambushes the entrance screaming “Something in the mist!”, but is not taken seriously until unfortunate, bloody events give him credibility.

Trapped by their own fear and will in the market, the townspeople do what any group of trapped individuals would do: panic. With each person almost representing a separate segment of society, Darabont opens the largest issue portrayed in the movie, the inevitable, and even vicious clashes among the people inside. The bickering makes you wonder whether the characters even remember where they are and why are they there. The blunt of the conflicts arises from Ms. Carmody (Marcia Harden), a religious local obsessed with the Bible and is convinced the mist is a precursor to Judgment Day where they are all doomed. Much time is spent on Ms. Carmody forming a cult amongst the citizens, while Drayton persuades the others that there must be a way out.

The violent debates between the church and state in the supermarket are often interrupted by scenes with the true antagonists: the monsters in the fog.

Since it is based on a King novel, the emotional element is inevitable. Poignant scenes between father and son, death of family members, and significant others are noticeable, but don’t interfere with the climaxes of the film.

Throughout “The Mist,” the mist itself gradually appears to get worsen. Drayton leads a small group of people to his car in an attempt to drive away from the mist, hoping to find civility that will put an end to their nightmare. The ending is the biggest twist in the film, so shocking and unforgettable that it is worth the price of admission alone.