The fog is a horror film from Director John Carpenter, this is one my favourite films. The fog is not a blood- soaked, gore filled horror film of usual. It cranks up the tension with suspense, giving it a eerie atmosphere. The film can be slow paced, but this creates a sense of threat, leaving you knowing that the fog hides many dangers. The fog has a life of it's own, it's presences accompanied with threatening music. The film also leaves most of the scares to the viewers imagination.
*****The Story***** **********************
A man sits by a campfire telling the story of the Elizabeth Dane, a ship that sunk of the coast of Antonio Bay, and of Captain Blake and his crew, who all died. We cut to the next day, and Antonio Bay
are celebrating it's 100th Anniversary, a memorial is to be unveiled that night in honour of the town's founding Fathers. The main characters are Kathy Williams, who is organising the celebration for the founding Fathers with her assistant. Nick Castle and Elizabeth Solley trying to unravel the strange happenings in the town. Stevie Wayne is the local DJ, who broadcasts to Antonio Bay from the lighthouse on the coast. Finally Father Malone who covers a dark secret from the towns past. Then there's the mysterious fog that rolls into the town from the ocean.
Elizabeth Solley- Jamie Lee Curtis (The original scream queen from the Halloweens).
Nick Castle- Tom Atkins (Escape from New York, another Carpenter film).
Stevie Wayne- Adrienne Barbeau (Adrienne was married to Director John Carpenter. She was also in Escape from New York).
Father Robert Malone- Hal Holbrook. (Was Captain 'Mr. Pappy' in Men of Honour).
Kathy Williams- Janet Leigh (Janet stars with her own daughter in this film, and that's Jamie Lee Curtis. Janet also has done films such as Halloween H20: 20 Years later, Psycho and Little Women (1949).
*****Director***** ********************
John Carpenter studied his film making at the University of Southern California, he gained valuable insight into films from such director as Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Birds). Carpenters first movie success was Halloween (1978). He wrote this with Debra Hill and has collaborated with her on many of his films (Escape From New York). John Carpenter not only directs but also has a hand in the music score on the film.
*****DVD Extras***** ************************
· Audio Commentary by John Carpenter and Debra Hill (Producer)- A standard extra, but gives insight into the film making, and facts about locations, actors who featured in the film.
· New Documentary 'Tales from the mist: inside the fog.' (30 minutes)- A documentary interviewing actors and crew associated with the film, we hear their own views on the film and it's success. And how the film came to be made.
· Original 1980 Documentary 'Fear on film: inside the fog'. (7 minutes)- Much the same as the new documentary but with less insight.
· Storyboard to film comparison (1 min, 30 secs)- A scene from the film is viewed in a split screen. The scene involved shows some unfortunate fisherman and an untimely end.
· Outtakes (4 minutes).
· Photo Gallery
· Trailer and Teaser
· Three TV Spots.
*****My Opinion***** *************************
To me, The Fog is a classic horror film, I enjoyed watched it again and again. The film doesn't use gore to scare the viewers, which makes it a different type of horror. Not bad for a film that needed rewrites and re- shoots. The first cut was deemed too short for a theatrical release. The film only cost $1,100,000 to make and went on to take $21,000,000 in the US. This is a testament to how good the film is. I'm sure if you checked out the film, you'd enjoy it as much as me.
As Hollywood usually does, a remake has just been made (2005) with Carpenter producing. But can a remake be as good as the original?
We will have to wait and see!!
Thanks for reading and rating
Fiona -x-x-
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Mar 25th, 2006
very helpful by (78%):
helpful by (22%):
