Review of The Fog (2005) by Marischa B — 30 Dec 2012

In Antonio Island, Oregon, the dwellers are celebrating the anniversary of the foundation of the seaside town and the mayor has built the statues of the founders: Wayne, Castle, Williams and Malone. The descendant Nick Castle (Tom Welling) owns the Castle & Son, a fishing charter company, using his vessel Seagrass for tourism in the Antonio Bay. When his girlfriend Elizabeth Williams (Maggie Grace) returns to the island, coincidently a huge fog appears with weird noises and killing locals. When Elizabeth slips in Nick's boathouse and falls in the sea, she finds an 1871 journal written by a man called Blake, who bought half the island for his leper people to build a town for them to live. While sailing in the clipper ship Elizabeth Dane, bringing his community to Antonio Island, Blake is betrayed by Wayne, Castle, Williams and Malone. The quartet locks Blake and his friends in the vessel, steals their money and possessions and fires the ship, killing them. In the present days, the ghosts of Blake and his crew are seeking for revenge on the descendants of the criminals.

1981 "The Fog" is a dark ghost story of the master of horror John Carpenter, with great cinematography and special effects, giving a scary atmosphere without the need of gore. The screenplay builds the horror in a low pace, but increasing the tension.

I decided to see this remake just because of the names of Tom "Clark Kent" Welling, Maggie "Shannon Rutherford" Grace and Selma Blair. In spite of my wish of liking this movie, unfortunately it is terrible. The story is basically the same, but the modifications in the original screenplay are awful and confused. The edition never reaches the tension, and for example, I have not understood why Elizabeth leaves Antonio Bay (and Nicholas Castle) with the ghosts, or the modification in the statue of the angel in the cemetery. The songs that the DJ Stevie Wayne presents in her station are the best this movie offers to the viewers.