The Mist Review

I went to see "The Mist" last night with my brother. I'm a fan of Stephen King, especially his movies with Frank Darabont at the helm ("The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile"). This is Darabont's first entry into a more traditional King story.

The story begins with a thunderstorm. While the residents of the town survey the damage, they notice a strange mist moving off the mountain. As they head to the local supermarket to pick up supplies, the mist rolls in, along with a local screaming, "There's something in the mist!" What remains of the movie is a story of survival.

I'm not a fan of your typical, gore-laden horror movies. "Saw" and "Hostel" and all of the remakes aren't too appealing to me. The unseen is what is truly scary. And the mist is thick with unseen, but horrible creatures. The special effects aren't too special, and are delivered in small doses that don't pull you out of the film to notice.

But the best part of the movie is the interaction between the survivors. In the midst of fear, prejudice, denial, hostility, and pure crazy bubble to the surface. The role of crazy is played by a fundamentalist gloom-and-doom fear-monger (Texan Marcia Gay Harden, who I would assume has seen her fair share). During the movie, my brother said, "This doesn't portray Christians in a good light." I told him I found it more anti-crazy than anti-Christian. She works up the crowd, slowly convincing them that God's judgment has fallen.

The questions posed during the film aren't sufficiently answered, nor should they be. If it tried, it would seem pat. The same struggles that humanity has wrestled with for generations are asked, but the question really is, "What would you do?"

The ending, which I won't spoil here, was one of the most jarring moments in the film. For a moment, I thought to myself, "Surely they won't go this direction." But they did.

So, like "Shawshank" and "Green Mile", Darabont presents a film that forces you to think. And feel.