Review of The Fog (1980) by Ahmedaiman9999 — 01 Nov 2018

Lock your doors. Bolt your windows. There's something in THE FOG; there's an atmosphere full of dread and eeriness that I haven't seen it created like this before!

As he did in Halloween, Carpenter did an equally fascinating job in building up The Fog's idiosyncratic atmosphere from the get-go until the very end; the rich-colored shadow-drenched cinematography by Dean Cundey, the spine-chilling score that also has an ancient tale vibe into it to suit the story perfectly, the campfire intro scene, and almost every subtle nuance of the movie's style made The Fog one of the most atmospheric horror films ever.

Unfortunately, The Fog is also Carpenter's most poorly-written movie I've seen so far. The storytelling is all over the place, the characters are neither interesting, nor well-established (the performances, however, are all great, especially from Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, and Adrienne Barbeau.), and the plot is far from being cohesive; tons of plot-holes aside, the movie even feels if it forgot what it has established from its beginning, and only returned to it at the third act.

I wasn't prepared to see these glaring storytelling inadequacies in a Carpenter film, but what disappointed me even more is The Fog's lack of flexible and effective camera work that is necessary for a horror movie. When it comes to building up to Jumpscare scenes, John Carpenter is a real master, and there is no better example than Halloween. But here all the jump scares fall entirely flat, and felt so cheap and poorly-executed. Not to mention that the assault and attack scenes are completely ruined by too many cuts. It's so weird that Halloween, which came out two years before The Fog, seems to be way more fresh and modern than this movie.

Honestly, I became more interested in the characters and the story from the middle of the second act. The third act is very good, and full of intense moments, but it's a bit rushed, especially near the very end.

(6.