Review of The Mist (2007) by Vinnie G — 12 Nov 2012

The Mist ranks among the most effective horror films of the past decade and is further proof Frank Darabont is pretty much unparallelled when it comes to Stephen King adaptations. The "killer mist" conceit itself could easily come across as cheesy or cornball, but instead Darabont uses it as an instrument of tension and an extension of the characters themselves. The decision to root the setting in a naturalistic, documentary style is a bold one that pays major dividends. Very little feels staged, and the dialogue for instance comes across almost as it were actually happening in real life. I've always felt Thomas Jane was an underrated, underutilized leading man, and he does fine work as our embattled hero, while several of the supporting cast is familiar with Walking Dead fans, except here they're much better and less annoying, obviously.

Yet the deciding factor of one's enjoyment of The Mist lies with its ending, which I remember was quite a controversial spark plug upon its release. Personally, I like it a lot on the page. It's daring, dark and certainly unconventional, all traits I adore in endings, but for whatever reason the translation isn't quite as powerful as it should have been on the screen. Some of it might be due to the overbearing choral music accompanying the scene, which in a film largely silent in that department sticks out like a sore thumb, no matter what thematic symbolism it was meant to evoke. I definitely liked how it played out more than I didn't, but some slight fine tuning could have made it a classic. Other than that, some of the visual effects are a little cheesy, understandable considering the budget Darabont had to work with. I can't fault him for what he had to monetarily compromise just to get the thing made in the first place, and on the plus side the bugs are some of the creepiest CG critters I've seen.

Lastly, I would be remiss to not bring up how the film portrays Christianity in a very distorted and radical form. I understand what Darabont was going for, in that the perversion of religion is a dangerous and powerful weapon for controlling people in a fear-induced environment, as can be seen throughout the annals of history. However, here it becomes borderline over-the-top, including Marcia Gay Harden's performance, and like the aforementioned choral piece is slightly distracting. It's a stock horror choice in a film trying not to be defined by genre limitations. Then again, it's hard to nitpick too much with an ambitious horror film that actually connects on most of its targets.