There's no doubt Stephen King is the king of the written horror, although not every book of his makes a good film, Tommy Knockers and Dreamcatcher to name but two. Cr**ing aliens on the toilet makes for a good movie Stephen? But when it does work you know your going to be entertained, IT, Christine ... Read review
From legendary frightmaster Stephen King and Academy Award nominated director Frank ... more
Darabont comes one of the most tense and terrifying films since The Shining.After a mysterious mist envelopes a small New England town, a group of locals trapped in a supermarket must battle a siege of otherworldly creatures...and the fears that threaten to tear them apart. Starring Thomas Jane (The Punisher), and Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), The Mist has been hailed by critics as one of the best horror films ever made, with an ending that continues to shock audiences the world over.
From legendary frightmaster Stephen King and Academy Award nominated director Frank ... more
Darabont comes one of the most tense and terrifying films since The Shining.After a mysterious mist envelopes a small New England town, a group of locals trapped in a supermarket must battle a siege of other worldly creatures...and the fears that threaten to tear them apart. Starring Thomas Jane (The Punisher), and Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), The Mist has been hailed by critics as one of the best horror films ever made, with an ending that continues to shock audiences the world over.
From legendary frightmaster Stephen King and Academy Award nominated director Frank ... more
Darabont comes one of the most tense and terrifying films since The Shining.After a mysterious mist envelopes a small New England town, a group of locals trapped in a supermarket must battle a siege of other worldly creatures...and the fears that threaten to tear them apart. Starring Thomas Jane (The Punisher), and Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), The Mist has been hailed by critics as one of the best horror films ever made, with an ending that continues to shock audiences the world over.
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
Advantages: Best horror for ten years Disadvantages: Slight King cliches
...no doubt Stephen King is the king of the written horror, although not every book of his makes a good film, Tommy Knockers and Dreamcatcher to name but two. Cr**ing aliens on the toilet makes for a good movie Stephen? But when it does work you know your going to be entertained, IT, Christine and Cujo some early classics. Not a lot of people know that King wrote the Shawshank Redemption, adapted and then directed by Frank Darabont, The Mist their third ... ...the weakest of the trio.
The Mist works so well because it's classic King, all about building up the principal characters and the mystery quickly and concisely, but not lingering too long before the action and eventual threat reveals its terrifying layers. King, yet again writes a superior version of himself into the narrative here, this time the handsome square-jawed artist in a small town in Maine (Kings home state), so to control ... more
There's no doubt Stephen King is the king of the written horror, although not every book of his makes a good film, Tommy Knockers and Dreamcatcher to name but two. Cr**ing aliens on the toilet makes for a good movie Stephen? But when it does work you know your going to be entertained, IT, Christine and Cujo some early classics. Not a lot of people know that King wrote the Shawshank Redemption, adapted and then directed by Frank Darabont, The Mist their third collaboration, all three rather excellent movies, maybe The Green Mile the weakest of the trio.
The Mist works so well because it's classic King, all about building up the principal characters and the mystery quickly and concisely, but not lingering too long before the action and eventual threat reveals its terrifying layers. King, yet again writes a superior version of himself into the narrative here, this time the handsome square-jawed artist in a small town in Maine (Kings home state), so to control the story that way in his mind, looking at how he would react if faced with the same dangers. It's vain but an effective method that works for him and many others, Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton to name but two. I've always felt King lingers too long on that character development in his books sometimes though and that's why I prefer Dean Koontz. But a good screenplay writer can tighten that up and produce great movies, what Darabont has done here for the third time with Kings stuff.
-The Cast-
Thomas Jane ... David Drayton Marcia Gay Harden ... Mrs. Carmody Laurie Holden ... Amanda Dumfries / Dunfrey Andre Braugher ... Brent Norton Toby Jones ... Ollie Weeks William Sadler ... Jim Jeffrey DeMunn ... Dan Miller Frances Sternhagen ... Irene Reppler Nathan Gamble ... Billy Drayton Alexa Davalos ... Sally Chris Owen ... Norm Sam Witwer ... Private Jessup Robert C. Treveiler ... Bud Brown David Jensen ... Myron
-The Mist-
Although our main protagonists is a rather hackyned cliché in the way these type of horror stories never seem to shy away from, the famous artist that lives by the lake in the big house with his family, seen as aloof to the nearby small town, we are soon into the action. A severe electrical storm has knocked out the phones and a most of the trees to go with it, one going through the artist in question, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) front window, and another on top of the Mercedes sports of his grumpy neighbour (David Jensen), the two making up from previous grievances by sharing a car into town to get supplies and repairs, the Drayton's son (Nathan Gamble) coming along for the ride, leaving David's wife Steff (Kelly Collins-Lintz) at the house.
The local supermarket is busy, the storm worse than they thought - in many ways - telecommunications in this part of the world apparently not stretching to cell phones and internet to find out what's going on, seemingly banned in horror movies because they kill off any tempo and integrity. But soon the whole town is enveloped by a mysterious mist, apparently emanating from the nearby military base where 'Operation Arrowhead' is underway, the flood sirens ominously waling as the emergency vehicles of all description race down the high street suggesting the worse is still to come.
When a local runs into the store, pouring with blood and screaming at them that something came out of the mist and attacked him, the tension is notched up a couple levels more, the ominous flood siren still howling.
So should they risk the mist to get home to their families and business or is there indeed something out there? With a good mix of blue and white-collar locals in the store the debate rages; class, race and religion the early dividing lines in the pecking order for leadership. But when it attacks the loading bay and claims its first victim the extreme threat is realised by a handful in the store, their unbelievable description of what's out there still laughed off as a fairy story by most of them. Some soon venture out but do not return, and as the body count rises and threat becomes unimaginable to the increasingly terrified masses huddled in the store, it comes down to a power-play between David's blossoming heroics and the forked religious tongue of bible basher Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) to decide their fete. She sees their unfolding horror as the 'End of Days', Gods judgment upon this earth, and only the Lord will save them from it if they listen to her words of guidance, which an ever increasing number do as the night darkens, so David's band of followers fewer and fewer...
-The Conclusion-
The Mist is great stuff and an excellent paced and scary tale, essentially The War of the Worlds meets Vin Diesels, Pitch Black. Apocalypse meets the fear of the dark. The cast are pretty unknown and so add authenticity so you are not distracted by which star will last the longest and so 100% into the story and menace of the growing threat, this comfortably well clear of any of that teen slasher nonsense territory where they are whacked in order of cool and looks that we get over run with these days. Like I said though the distinct lack of cell phones in these films is becoming a credibility problem.
The ending is one of the bleakest in cinema history and Darabont told King he wouldn't make the movie if it was removed as it was the whole point of the film. The bit that's tacked on after it suggests the test audiences were not in 100% agreement with Darabont and King. Mike Leigh, on the other hand, would love it!
Keeping within the Romero traditions of caging in a very normal bunch of people into one place and let the unsuspecting hero's evolve from that group, but the superior unseen horror unfolding around them to cut off their escape, this is suitably claustrophobic and entertaining. I was a little concerned with the Islamic requiem playing over that grim ending that suggested something that wasn't in the book but I'm presuming it was picked because it was powerful foreboding music so it does work in context.
The special effects are digital but work well as they are used sparingly to build the terror rather than saturate the movie with it to please gore freaks. Guys I genuinely think this is the best American horror movie I have seen for a very long time and it will hopefully set the trend for more like this. It's not so much scary but the craft and intelligence of the piece that grabs you, a rare feat indeed in this genre in America. With the Spanish film 'Rec' recently out things are looking up in a tired genre.
Mystic River
-Special Features-
-Audio Commentary-
Frank Darabont rattles on about his movie.
-Deleted Scenes-
Commentary option if you need it.
-A Conversation with King and Darabont-
The two sit down and chat about stuff...
-Drew Struzan: An appreciation of an artist's work-
The director gushes about some bloke who draws those iconic film posters.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Imdb.com scores it 7.4 out of 10 (58, 810 votes) RuN-TiMe 126 minutes Any 5 films for 5 nights for £5 deal at Blockbusters. . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Advantages: Actually really gripping, great performances Disadvantages: Just that it's sci-fi, which isn't really my thing
...a tree crashing in through the window of his house, David Drayton takes his son to a local supermarket to buy provisions. While there, there is an earthquake and someone comes flying in through the doors, bleeding and claiming that something in the mist was trying to get him. Before they know it, the shoppers are locked in the supermarket watching the swirling mist come down. Even worse, when someone does escape, planning to go home, he is very quickly ... ...is obvious that the mist has brought strange creatures with it, and they are determined to kill off all human life. Can David and the other shoppers survive? I have heard good things about this film, and, liking most Stephen King adaptations, I knew that I had to see it. I clearly hadn't read the reviews properly though; if I had, I would have known that this story has a science fiction angle and probably wouldn't have watched it - I watch practically ...
sunmeilan 22.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist (DVD)
Advantages: Good old creature feature, some great acting. Disadvantages: Very morbid throughout. Dodgy CGI
...Mist descends. When one of the townspeople runs in bloody and claiming there is "something in the mist" people start to panic. Unfortunately, things are about to get a lot worse as the shops inhabitants start to get picked off one by one. Can they survive whatever is out there and each other? "The Mist" is possibly my favourite Stephen King short story. It is a brilliant slice of fear and paranoia as characters form factions and start to fight amongst ... ...King collaborator Frank Darabont co-wrote the screenplay with King and this has resulted in easily the best King horror since "Carrie". This is no big budget Hollywood blockbuster and views more like a well made TV special than a movie but it is none the worse for it. Okay the dodgy CGI is all a bit daft but this is a films that seems to revel in it's modest budget and is not scared of throwing one ridiculous B-movie monster after the other at you. ...
Shortsharpshock 14.08.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist (DVD)
Advantages: Fantastic ending Disadvantages: Not very scary and character's who lack depth.
...to see this film at the cinema recently with relatively low expectations but was pleasantly surprised enough to feel it deserved a review.
The Mist is an adaptation of a Steven King novel and was released back in November 2007 in the US with a mixed response. The director is 3 times Academy-Award Nominee Frank Darabont. Frank Darabont was the director of both The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Darabont deserves a lot of credit for sticking ... ...his ending of the film despite being offered twice the budget, I believe the film is certainly the better for this.
The plot is relatively simple. A 'Mist' descends from the mountains above the unnamed town trapping many shoppers into a local supermarket. The 'Mist' is blamed upon a military experiemt by the army called "The Arrowhead Project." Various creatures are seen and suspected to be at large within the thick mist keeping the occupance of ...
ollie19 18.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist (DVD)
Advantages: Quality Ending, Gripping Disadvantages: Poor Special Effects
The Mist is a film based on a short novella by Stephen King of the same name. When Frank Darabont wrote and directed the film it was the fourth time he had adapted King's work for the big screen, previously bringing us the excellent Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile as well as an early short film called Dollar Baby based on Stephen King's The Woman In The Room. Like most of King's work the setting is in a small, rural town in a community where ... ...witness a mysterious mist crossing the lake after a storm hit the previous night. David, Billy and next door neighbour Brent Norton (Andre Braugher) go into town to find supplies to repair the damages from the storm. They notice an increased police presence and suddenly a man runs into the store with blood pouring out of his nose, he pleads with everyone not go outside and suddenly the mist surrounds them. They soon realise that there is something ...
oo2bea 15.02.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist (DVD)
Advantages: the ending Disadvantages: the special effects
The first thing that struck me whilst watching "the mist" is that for a horror film, I was expecting a scary scene or a death, not a tree falling on a little boys tree house as a introduction. That pretty much sums up the special effect and horror writing of this film. So if you're expecting a terrifying film full of the normal high tech special effects that make a gruesome horror film then this is not the film for you. However if you are looking ... ...look no further. The film seems to revolve around some sort of mist that came down from the mountains. All the characters immediate reaction is to not go in to the mist and you soon see why. It's when you first see what's hiding in the mist you realise that this must have been a really low budget film to create something that looks so unrealistic. To be fair, there is the deaths and fake blood that every horror film has to have and this film has ...
rosie997 20.07.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist (DVD)
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Advantages: Its a wonderful true story Disadvantages: It might make you cry
, Italian
Hearing Impaired = English, Italian
Subtitles = English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian
Bad Language = Mostly mild, but once or twice quite strong
Sex/Nudity = None
Violence = Some (DVD states "moderate horror"
Other = DVD states "true story, heroism"
Actors
~~~~~
Sigourney Weaver = Dian Fossey
Bryan Brown = Bob Campbell
Julie Harris = Rosa Carr
Overview
~~~~~~~
"A life ended too soon. A life's work that endures. The inspiring, true story of Dian Fossey"
This is what the DVD says on the back of the cover. And it is certainly true. Gorillas in the Mist is the true story of Dian Fossey, the first female primatologist to study the Mountain Gorilla in the mountains of the Congo and then Rwanda. The film is an adaptation of Fossey's book titled Gorillas in the Mist ...
Advantages: Excellent horror tale thats focuses on two types of horror Disadvantages: Awful special effects
too many films for my own good, most of them from less conventional movie studios. The ending of this movie is tragic, final, heartbreaking, and ultimately something that will outweigh all the other strengths this movie offers.
The Mist will offer a variety of emotions, from joy to anger and sadness; this is undoubtedly the best modern horror movie I have seen made in this century.
The Mist is currently under review with the British Board Of Film Classification, where they are deciding on a suitable certificate, so at this point I'm unable to give you a cinema release date. For those eager to see the movie however it's available on DVD freely from the United States, UK viewers will need a multi-region DVD player. playusa.com are currently offering the lowest prices.
Spencer Hawken 03/08 ...
sghawken 16.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist DVD
Advantages: Psycholigical perfection with edge-of-seat suspense. Disadvantages: The ending...
Director: Frank Darabont
Screenplay: Frank Darabont
Novel: Stephen King
Genre: Horror - Sci-Fi - Thriller
Country: USA
Certification: 15+
Language: English
Released: 10th November, 2008 (DVD)
MAIN CAST:
Thomas Jane (David Drayton)
Nathan Gamble (Billy Drayton)
Marcia Gay Harden (Mrs. Carmody)
Laurie Holden (Amanda Dumfries)
Andre Braugher (Brent Norton)
Toby Jones (Ollie Weeks)
William Sadler (Jim)
David, along with his son and his annoying neighbour, lawyer Brent Norton, are on their way to the supermarket to pick up supplies after a particularly fierce storm, when they spy a military convoy heading in the opposite direction. Arriving at the supermarket, their attention is again caught when ambulances and fire engines screech past. Curious, but also concerned, the trio continue shopping and slowly ...
GoFigure 13.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Mist (DVD)
After a vicious storm wreaks havoc in their small town in Maine, artist David Drayton heads out to the town supermarket for some much-needed supplies with his young son, Billy, and his neighbour, Norton, in tow. Their trip soon turns to terror when a menacing white mist settles in, leaving this group of locals and out-of-towners fighting for survival against an unknown, bloodthirsty enemy. When the local religious zealot begins to convince the group that the mist is punishment from God, Drayton and his cohorts realize that they may be trapped inside with an enemy just as dangerous as whatever is lurking outside.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
MOMENTUM PICTURES; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital
Professional reviews
Review
Tight, tense frightflick that has more intelligence and originality than a thousand SAWs (Empire, 13/10/2008)
[N]ifty, unusually spry....It's the good people of classic Kingsville, brought to life by an energized cast...show ought to scare the bejesus out of audiences (Entetainment Weekly, 09/05/2008)
DVD Description
Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE) serves as director, writer, and producer of THE MIST, an adaptation of Stephen King's classic novella. After a vicious storm wreaks havoc in their small town in Maine, artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) heads out to the town supermarket for some much-needed supplies with his young son, Billy (Nathan Gamble), and his neighbour, Norton (Andre Braugher), in tow. Their trip soon turns to terror when a menacing white mist settles in, leaving this group of locals and out-of-towners fighting for survival against an unknown, bloodthirsty enemy. When the local religious zealot (Marcia Gay Harden) begins to convince the group that the mist is punishment from God, Drayton and his cohorts realize that they may be trapped inside with an enemy just as dangerous as whatever is lurking outside.
Tension runs high in this tale as the trapped group faces difficult moral decisions. Should they stay and wait out the terror, or make a break for it and risk suffering a terrible fate? Is the eerie mist the will of God, an experiment from the local military base gone awry, or, maybe, a freak natural disaster? Without modern conveniences and the normal conventions and rules to guide them, the group is easily swayed by the loudest opinion. Will they save themselves at the expense of each other, or work as a team to save everyone? There is a decent amount of blood and gore for horror fans, some deadpan humour and just a hint of politics thrown in for good measure. Thomas Jane is a stoic leading man, but Frances Sternhagen and Toby Jones are more fun as unlikely heroes. Laurie Holden, Alexa Davalos, Bill Sadler and Jeffrey Demunn also star in this creepy tale.
