*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

Yikes. And here I thought Pet Sematary was the most evil book I had ever read.

--
H

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

It most definitely is - as one can only be when playing with people's feelings about family.

The Mist is mean too but within a 50s monster movie type of way.


You must - its a classic 'horror' story.

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

I can't look at the specifics of your post Chuck because I have not seen the movie yet. BTW are you a horror fan per se? I don't remember seeing you in too many horror movie threads.

Is your response to the movie solely predicated on the ending? The book version was open ended - would such an ending shift your overall opinion much?

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

I like good horror. I'm a mood-type guy, not gore.

The horror elements in The Mist are exceptional. I don't mind a tough horror film, which this most certainly is. I am genuinely unimpressed with most horror films these days, so I rarely see them in the theater.

Again, this is by no means a bad film. Were the ending more open-ended, I would probably be a much bigger fan (as I really liked and admired 98% of the running time, if not more). I can't really discuss what didn't work for me about the end at all. Any mere hint would spoil the film at some level, which I find highly distasteful. I've had to be quite careful in what I have said already

Once folks have seen it, I can be more specific. But yes, my gripe is ending-specific. The film itself is quite good. The horror aspects are horrific. There are no easy deaths in the film...each is graphic and excruciating and awful. The horror fan in me admired that. It added to the sense of alienation and despair.

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

My thoughts on the ending...in spoilers

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

The best "monster" movie since The Thing.

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OK - I'm out of here until I see the movie.

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Think of it as a cautionary tale to NOT lose hope. See-- Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Darabont is slick because he makes all this hopelessness on David's part look like it's the right course of action. But it's a course of RE-action. Hope doesn't really factor in--and he pays for it.

That might be one interpretation you could look through.

And yeah, my bad, I'd forgotten Pet Sematary. Probably on par with this movie. But I was speaking more about the fact that King never wrote anything as mean as THIS MOVIE feels.

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

RA: Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Maybe No Country (the last film I saw...I need to go see Enchanted ) has me thinking in terms of fatality and "mote of dust". I don't know. I appreciate that thought, RA. But as I said above...it needed to push a little farther at the end for me to buy that.

*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

Yeah, the instant I saw it, I knew that no amount of set-up was going to make this forgivable for some. No matter what, for some, that is going to be an unearned ending. It's not a knock, it's just--people have their thresholds when it comes to entertainment.

I'll say this though, for Darabont:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

I think the lack of wait between the gas running out before they look at each other was made plausible, tonally, by how FAST the movie was running at that point. It only seemed like a hasty decision AFTER the movie ended. At the time, I was totally wrapped up in it.

True though:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

My friend at the screening called this: It's not gonna make any money at the B.O.

But neither did Shawshank.

People will come around. I'm pretty sure of it. And the filmmaking is pretty damned good, regardless. I know he took the crew he used on the Shield, but this felt like Battlestar, to me. It was sorta satisfying to see the tone of those shows realized in a movie theater, and to see that people weren't ready for it.

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I don't know how many screenings this happened at, but there was a lot of boos at the end of the movie when I saw it. Patrons at my theater really seemed to be quite put off by how the film ended. I heard a lot of "that sucked" in the lobby.

What's funny is that the employee screening I went to on Tuesday night earned the same sort of reactions. Its going to be really interesting to see how well this movie does at the box office.

Personally, I thought the movie was decent, it was just so...bleak. Jettisoning the semi-hopeful ending of the book and inserting the new finale didn't lack in the boldness department.

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The screening I went to today was far diffrerent.. at least the rumblings I heard... or lack of them.. During the second to the final scene you could hear a pin drop..... then when the final characters rolled on the screen... you heard a gasp......

My whole thought was like what others have said.. why didn't he wait a little longer... wait till the car was engulfed with "them"... Until that happens... I wouldn't of ended it.......

I really liked the movie.......

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The ending was bleak no doubt. I prefer the book ending where it is left amibigious. If Darabont had made his ending where they all had survived it would have be a cop-out Hollywood ending.

I'm willing to bet there is an alternate version where that happens.

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I really hated the use of the Lisa Gerard arabic wailing music during the end sequence (Enough already! It's been 7 years since Gladiator for christ sakes ). And the CG tentacle took me out of the flick a little.

But the rest was really well done.

I wouldn't say the film was "enjoyable" . Although all the scare set-pieces were very thrilling in a classical way, Darabont's tone was never aiming to be some kind of "enjoyable experience". The basic thrust of the film is too focused on uncomfortably observing the break-down of humanity to be some kind of rousing entertainment. But this approach is totally applicable to an ice cold, bitter pill horror narrative - which this film most certainly is.

I'm positive the film wouldn't have been so affecting had Darabont made it as his follow-up to Shawshank (as he originally planned). The low budget/guerilla style/back-against-the-wall filmmaking (and his obvious seething anger at America post-911) seeems to have kept him extremely focused to the task at hand.

I agree with Robert Anthony that it will age well. And Thomas Jane gives good Kurt Russell.

Re: *** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

I loved this one. As far as the ending, I've been complaining to friends for years that a bunch of films would be dramtically improved with this type of an ending, leaving the main character emotionally shattered. Nice to see that it actually works. One of the best horror offerings I've seen in a while. I also like how the more standard monster moments are as graphic as any other genre film, yet never feel exploitative.

Another thing that I noticed is Frank Darabont just seems to understand how to adapt a Stephen King book to the movies. I haven't read the Mist, but I wa expecting a way more subtle film based on his track record. the other Stephen King guy for making movies is Mick Garris who did the TV versions of The Stand and The Shining, and those in comparision just didn't work for me, budgets fully considered.

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Darabont is like the anti-Mick Garris.

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Man, I hate it when threads get split up - it really makes it difficult to follow the discussion.

Saw this on Saturday...bleak, yes...awesome horror movie that will ultimately be considered a classic, most definitely.

I go back and forth on the ending...I walked out feeling empty, sad, and completely disoriented. So that's pretty cool...

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I actually thought that added to the bleakness of the situation.. I really like the music..

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Found that piece of music on You Tube. It's The Host of Seraphim by Dead Can Dance:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tluogv9EGTQ

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It's really interesting reading about how the ending made all of you feel, you seem almost pleased that it made you feel sad and upset, I wish I could feel that way but I don't, in fact the ending disgusted me.

Even worse it didn't feel right, the Jane character up to that point showed no evidence of being such a weak man where Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) would be an option for him, it felt shocking for the sake of being shocking.

It's not even really that act that disturbed me, it's when the Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) that really pissed me off at Darabont...that was just plain f**ked up and uncalled for IMO. I would rather it had ended with Jane's act as messed up as that was in and of itself.

Yes, to answer Rhett's question to me from the review thread, the ending did ruin the entire film for me, if the ending weren't so damned sadistic I would be prepared to say that it was one of the best sci-fi/horror films in recent years but Darabont let the air out of everything that came before with his conclusion.

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Your logic is flawed. The Jane character made a promise to his son. He kept it. End of story.

It disgusted you? Good. It was supposed to. I'm a father of two and I felt like I got punched in the brain. The film blew me away -- kept me on the edge of my seat and I was in awe of the guts Darabont shows as a writer/director. No "Hollywood ending" here -- good for him. Even Stephen King said if he had thought of that ending, he would have used it.

Jane and the others lost hope -- call it a weakness if you must. Every bad thing that happens in the film is due to loss of hope.

I'm sorry that the end ruined it for you.

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Sorry, I still feel that Jane gave up too easy.

Like I said it wasn't even his act that disturbed me it was Darabont having the rescuers show up 5 minutes later. They should have ended it where he Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show) but don't have him do something that aweful and then have it be for nothing.

It came across as an extremely bad practical joke on the audience.

People don't seem to understand that simply because an ending to a film is bold and different it doesn't automatically make it great or acceptable, Darabont could have made it different in others ways, he picked the wrong way IMO and as a result he immediately lost a majority of the audience.

I've always been of the opinion that a film is only as great as it's beginning, middle and ending and IMO this one had a great beginning, intense middle and a shitty ending.

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I think the ending worked fine. Not to get this thread banned and open a can of worms, but am I the only one who saw the heavey handed allegory in the store being a snap shot of America today in the face of terrorism? Theres the religious fantatic, the ra ra conservatives who don't see the threat for what it is and Jane being the everyman (call him a liberal if you want, he didn't come off all that liberal to me) who is going to lose cause no one wins in a situation like that.

note this is how I saw it, I'm not judging anyone, and I'm not an American. It just seemed really base and over done. not enough to ruin the movie though. I loved it and have it up there with the best of what I've seen in the theaters this year. I was loving the movie up to the ending. The fact that the ending wasn't a cop out made it all the better.

The thing too is, no one was acting rationally right? Jane was trying to, but that ending shows that even the most logical and rational people can slip too and lose hope. That's why I liked it as it made sense. And if you did see the terrorism angle, it works even better cause none of us are winning.

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Darabont has flat out admitted that's part of what he was doing. It is an homage to B-movies in the horror genre from the 50's and 60's, after all, and those were chock full of simplistic, sledgehammer subtle allegory. The Ants are the Reds, the Body Snatchers are the commies, that sort of stuff. Although I don't think it really breaks down along political lines that cleanly, right/left/moderate isn't the point I think he's driving at, I think its lead (in a hastily thought out direction)/follow/get run over by either of the first two. The only person inside the store at the beginning shown to have SUCCEEDED in the face of the mist is the woman who left the store, who figured those three choices were bunk and chose none of the above, and decided to get her kids.

Also, a touch that people aren't noticing--there was no discussion when the car ran out of gas. It was just ca-chunk, sputter, and then NOTHING but knowing looks. They'd discussed that before. I'm guessing they'd discussed it while they were driving. And what little hope was left in that car drained out into The Mist. Everyone was resigned the instant the car stalled out, no worried looks, no question of even trying to stretch it out. It was just "well, if we go outside, the monsters will get us. And if we stay in here, we'll slowly starve to death. We could just take the easy route, the hopeless route."

Maybe when he left the store, he was more hopeful than my first consideration. But after seeing his wife, after seeing nothing else, after seeing that giant beastie, what hope he had drained. Those people said, wordlessly, they were ready to die at the hands of that gun long before the gas ran out. They gave up hope. Drayton paid for it. If you don't see him paying for it, the point of the movie is neutered. Even if he IS the protagonist, the most decent of the main characters and the one Darabont has pretty much manipulated you into identifying with the most, he has to lose hope, and then be hollowed out for it, in order for the point of the movie to actually stab home. The fact that it WAS for nothing is the point. Because those are the kinds of false choices that hopelessness provides. Even desperate, irrational, stubborn hope is better than no hope.

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There was a line about the bullets being saved for that. Also, I think the hope ran out with the gas, they never did see the end of the Mist, they were heading into it, that hopelessness. Fits to with the allegory where following dogma of any type isn't saving anyone, being human (like the woman who left early for her children) is whats going to "bring us out of the fog".

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I can't agree with that human part. The very same part of humanity that drove the mother into the fog drove others into Carmody's arms. There isn't a cure for being human. The weakness comes with the divine courage. Of course we can save ourselves, just as we damn ourselves. As a race, we do both every single day. And we'll continue to do so. If Darabont is selling me otherwise, he's a fool.

And my fundamental flaw, long hinted at, is that the film ends with no closure for Drayton. It's the exact opposite of ending a porn film a split second before the money shot. It put him in the worst imaginable emotional state (whcih I accepted, even as it ripped my heart out), and then ended before he could act upon it. He doesn't sit there and cry forever. He will act on that shame and rage, probably finishing the job, and the film doesn't allow that. I didn't think it earned that level of audience spite. I'm a parent, I need to see Drayton finish it. No parent like David could live with that.

And I don't buy faceless soldiers coming out of the Mist "hope". I call it reality, which are two different things, even in this movie.

As an allegory, it's poorly formed. As an act of rage towards human weakness in the face of the unknown, sure. If he is targeting America, so to speak, then again, he's an idiot. Those flaws of human nature are prevalent in *every* society. I know he's lashing out at post 9/11...but not very cogently. As a horror film, it's nearly peerless. It establishes and maintains a brilliant, bleak, oppressing tone...without pity or peace. I applaud that. If he is trying to tell me something about society he thinks I don't know, then the film is a complete failure.

Re: *** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

Who says he's trying to tell you something you DON'T know? Most of the best stories simply reinforce what we already know. it's HOW ARTFULLY they reinforce it that gives it worth.

To me, the fact that Drayton gets no closure is the flipside of the "end it ambiguously" coin. Maybe he kills himself. Maybe he actually makes peace. It's doubtful (just as doubtful in the original short story that driving to Hartford is gonna do him any good) but there's a possibility. Hope, as it were.

I don't see how faceless soldiers coming out of the mist are "reality" either. In the face of all the unreality they saw, and the days of driving and seeing nothing but monsters that want to eat them, and the remains of people eaten, after just 2 days inside that supermarket, how was "the military is coming" any sort of reality?

I also think the loss of hope, completely, comes WHEN he grabs the gun. Maybe that's practicality, but if he doesn't grab the gun, then they're FORCED to wait in that car. And they are rescued. But he grabs that gun because he knows he's probably going to be committing mercy killings with it. Even as he's escaping, he's thinking about losing everything and making plans to see it to fruition.

Re: *** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

Sorry the ending made you not like the movie... to me it was great.. it wasn't your happy ending.. lets kiss and fade to black... this is possible what some might do...... the fact that the on coming tanks etc..... makes it that much better.. I equate this to a Shakespearean type play.. a tragedy....... with a huge dose of irony...

Re: *** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread

Not artfully enough for me

I didn't mean reality the way you think. I mean reality in terms of human artifice. I mean the same people who toyed with dimensional rifts are there. Does that make more sense. They aren't rescuers. They are doing damage control.