Review of The Mist (2007) by Pablo C — 05 Jul 2014

Review from Nov. 2007.

Kudos to Stephen King for releasing two highly entertaining, creepy, and sophisticated horror films this year. "The Mist" provides a spellbinding mix of classic B-movie scares and socio-political commentary to offer something refreshingly new and remarkably old-fashion at the same time. The story is simple: A diverse group of people from a small town are forced to barricade themselves inside a grocery story after the town is consumed by a mysterious mist occupied by...bad things. The twist, and what makes "The Mist" truly unsettling, is that even though what's outside is really bad, the real evil is already inside the store. The most terrifying scenes in the movie have nothing to do with the creatures outside. Of course none of this would work without a good cast, and "The Mist" has a great one. The cast is full of recognizable and talented faces. Thomas Jane is an authentic leading man, but the performance that will really get your attention is Marcia Gay Harden as the crazed religious fanatic who slowly begins to convert the grocery store occupants to do her will. Personally, I'm bothered by the offensively stereotypical depictions of Christians in the media these days, but one of the characters does say something about God that appeased me a little; plus, Marcia Gay Harden is really good. Like, Oscar nomination good. You just love to hate her in this film, but aside from that she shows you brief glimpses of humanity behind the madness through small facial expressions and stuff like that. It's very impressive stuff. Oh yeah, and about the stuff outside the store: also very impressive. The creature effects are grotesque yet elegant, and realistic for the most part. There's some unconvincing CGI shots, but the effects are mostly old school (make up, robotics, etc...), and look more convincing that way. Finally, the film does drag on a bit too much, and the ending is unnecessarily morbid, though some like it just for the shock value. The film is definitely worth seeing though. It was made with obvious talent and skill and doesn't fail to entertain.