*** Official THE MIST Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Andres Munoz]

I saw this movie this past weekend and the timing couldn't have more right (righter?). I say that because my wife gave birth to our first child 2 weeks ago so I went into that theater a father. A new father but a father nonetheless and as a father, that ending grabs you by the balls, squeezes HARD and does not let go!

True, the ending is so mind numbing that you don't have to be a father to feel its shocking effect but if you are one, it just affects you that much more. You just put yourself in Drayton's place and you really feel his pain.

The Mist is not only one of my favorite Stephen King stories but one of my favorite horror stories, period, so I was really looking forward to this. And I must say, this movie delivers on every aspect. The acting is great and believable, the mood is creepy as hell, the creatures are scary, everything just worked for me.

A special mention goes to Toby Jones as Ollie. What a great, likeable character and he played it just right. Just the way I imagined it when I read the story some years ago.

This is one of those few movies that still has me thinking about it a few days after I've seen it.

That's an interesting point Andy.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

And who do think started that trend? Don't forget the story is 30 years old.

 

[Dion C]

For what it's worth, I was around thirty years ago, and it was a stereotyped cliche then. Thirty years later makes it that much more tired. And to reiterate, IMO, the Carmody character would have been more effective had Harden not been so over-the-top with it.

 

[Andres Munoz]

I think Harden actually did a great job with that part. A more subdued role would have made the Carmody character rational and I don't think that was the intent.

 

[Ruz-El]

Hardens character was also labelled the town crazy before she went bat sh*t. I think it's a case of where she was so compeletly annoying, it would of been nice if she toned it down. But I think the point was that she was supposed to be that annoying. Speaks more to how such a situation can effect the rational people (her eventual followers).

 

[Dion C]

For me, if she came across as "rational," it would have helped me appreciate the fact that so many chose to follow her up to and (presumably) beyond the point of wanting to sacrifice a child.

As an example, Edward Norton's performance in "American History X" was that much more compelling and believable due to his coming across -- on the surface -- as intelligent, sober, and rational.

That great scene with Elliott Gould at the dinner table was so effective because Norton came across both confident and rational in his argument -- in spite of the fact that his position was irrational, incorrect, and overtly repugnant.

Again, just my take on it. I appreciate others having a different impression than I had.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

King has said the inspiration for this story was an episode of the original The Twilight Zone called "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." Weird stuff starts happening in a neighborhood - lights going on and off randomly, and people start turning on each other and going crazy. The story ends with a group of aliens watching the chaos and basically saying, "That's all you have to do to let these creatures self-destruct and become easy to conquer."

It was a tight little morality tale about fear, which resonates to this day as irrational "boogie man" fear is still used quite effectively to control us (or keep us off balance and in conflict with one another). Personally, I'm more worried about the stressed mom with the cell phone behind the wheel of a big SUV than terrorists (and risk assessment statistics would back me up on this), but fear does shut down the rational part of the brain.

As for the ending of "The Mist," as a parent, there could be no more horrifying ending, and isn't that the point? It's a parent's worse nightmare choice. And as casual moviegoers it's easy to say we would never make that particular choice, but Darabont did carefully lead the character down that previously unimaginable path. Who could possibly be thinking rationally at that point? And if what happens next is ironic, it just makes it that much more horrifying. It was a perfect and unforgettable horror story ending. Anyone who's a horror story aficionado would appreciate it, but I can understand everyone else hating it.

 

[Dion C]

Back to that, IMO, amazing ending... I'm a person who, if you're gonna give me a horror story, really GIVE it to me. I am not interested in Friday the 13th hokem, Freddy K., or tongue-in-cheek "Scream" shenanigans. I want to walk out of that theater messed up, my legs a little shaky, my breath taken away.

Nor do I consider explicit gore or nasty F/X "hardcore," in and of itself.

For me, what would have made that ending even better: having the testicallies to NOT move the camera outside of the vehicle. They're in there; I wanna be in there. I want to see his son looking in his eyes with that love and trust that children have. I want to hear what -- if anything -- is last said. I want to see the occupants' eyes.

As is, the ending kicked me in the guts. As it could be, that ending would have ripped my guts out and stomped them flat. Give it to me!

Of course, I recognize that I am most likely in an extremely small minority. I can't imagine the studio even allowing such a depiction.

I'm going to go take a shower now, then call my therapist. ;-)

 

[Darcy Hunter]

I finally got the chance to see this over the weekend. I had been anticipating it for so long that I was worried that I would be let down, especially when I read the new ending that Darabont came up with (yes I peeked. I couldn't resist). As I watched the film, my fears of being disappointed quickly dissipated as i was essentially watching what I had envisioned in my head all these years. It was like Darabont just reached in and pulled the film from my imagination.
I thought the casting was mostly spot on. Thomas Jane did a good job as David, although he was a little too muscular for such an everyman/poster artist. Laurie Holden was great as Amanda, and I'm glad the romantic sub-plot was excised form the film as I felt that even in the book it seemed unnecessary and somewhat unbelievable, even given the circumstances. The real standout was Toby Jones as Ollie. I felt his character was the true voice of reason, and he pulled this off perfectly. His dispatching of Mrs. Carmody drew some earned applause from the crowd I saw this with. Speaking of Mrs. Carmody, I thought the casting of Marcia Gay Harden was a bit odd when I first heard it. I always envisioned her as much older, much closer to Frances Sternhagen's age, however she did a fairly good job conveying an absolutely unlikable character. She did come off as somewhat shrill in a few scenes (the "shit one out" line just seemed too excessive, especially that early in the crisis), however she provided the film with a worthy villain. I loved that shot of her with the milk in one hand and the knife casually hanging over her head as she guarded the exit.
The effects were a bit spotty, but given the budget and time, I can forgive them somewhat. The tentacle scene was probably the weakest, but it was far from horrible. I loved the shot of the one tentacle grabbing the bag of dog food and squeezing it until it exploded. The other bugs were as horrible as King had described. The spiders with the creepy faces were real standouts.

The ending. Ahhh... the ending that I had feared would ruin an otherwise solid film actually worked really well for me. I felt that it was "earned" so to speak. By the time they came to that horrible conclusion, they had gone through so much and seen so many unspeakable things, that the wordless glances between them was all I needed. That was not an easy decision, but with the close shots of each passengers faces, coupled with the constant moaning and roaring of the creatures outside to reenforce the hopelessness of the situation, it felt like a strong option. Having that awesome shot of the giant creature crossing the road was a nice way of showing the extent of the situation. David had promised his son that the monsters would not get him, and he was not going to watch him be ripped apart like the rest. It was heartbreaking watching David's desperate breakdown following the deed. Wrenching stuff. The book ending with the passengers making their way to a Howard Johnson's and finding that sliver of hope worked fine on the page, but it wouldn't quite work on film.

I had heard that Darabont wanted to remake The Thing before he finally tackled this. It feels like this was his version of that story. It would make a nice double-ill with the Mist some day.

 

[Darcy Hunter]

Where did you here this? That is really cool. I'd love to see some of those production drawings.

 

[Don Solosan]

"Where did you here this?"

It's in the end credits.

 

[Rhett_Y]

I thought it was ironic that the Mrs. Carmody was spot on in what she wanted to do... You kill the boy and the wench... you will survive...

He kills the wench and the boy and lives to tell about it. I was wondering if the people in the super market lived.

Makes one wonder.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I saw this with my son this weekend and we are still sorting out our emotions. It has certainly led to some interesting and provocative discussions.

I just loved Jeffrey DeMunn's work in this film. Always a solid performance. Should have figured he'd be present after his appearances in Green Mile & Shawshank. For anyone who can't place him, that's him with the hammer:

 

[Dennis Castro]

Saw the Mist again the other night. A friend of mine had bootleg copy. Now I'm not I repeat NOT a bootleg person. I have never purchased one nor do I ever intend to. I have never seen one and have always been curious about how they viewed.

The sound was horrible. The resolution was horrible. It was wide screen and the sound was off. Meaning the picture was a couple of seconds behind the dialogue.

It gave a cheesy"B" movie quality to it. For lack of a better term it gave it a "grind house effect" and I have to say it really kind of worked that way.

I almost liked it better that way.

And oh it also had it's own missing reel effect. Part of the beginning leading up to the group being trapped in the store was missing.

 

[Ruz-El]

it's funny you mention that. I saw it on the first night of a new theater that opened. They had the wrong lens on the projector for the first 10 minutes, so it was huge and playing way beyond the matts on the screen. Then during the drug store spider thingies attack, it looked like the projector tipped up until there was no picture. They didn't get that fixed until they were back in the main store.

The movie still totally worked.

 

[DavidPla]

The ending was great in my opinion. As Frank Darabont said.. you're going to see a horror film so why be shocked at a horror ending? Acting was great, music was great, scene was just perfect. And if nothing else, it sticks with you which is more than I can say for 99% of the horror films released or any endings for that matter.

 

[Oswald Pascual]

Great Ending, Horrible Ending, sounds like nothing down the middle. How come this DVD is exclusive to Blockbuster only.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

I just watched the Mist last night for the first time; it was the black and white version.

This post contains spoilers, don’t read it if you have not seen the movie.

I loved the ending and it just elevated the movie a whole lot. Not because it’s dark and “everyone” dies, but because of a greater message. The idea of how ignorant we are and how we have no right to decide for other people (worst, to decide for other people’s lives). They were just completely convinced that they were at the end!

The movie suffers greatly from occasional bad acting (or maybe it’s bad dialog), to a point that I would have given it 6/10 :star: :star: :star: stars if it didn’t have the current ending. But with the current ending and the so many meanings that the movie passes through in overall, I give it 8/10 :star: :star: :star: :star: .

I would have enjoyed it even more if it had better acting. Some parts were real bad.

 

[Brett_M]

I watched the black and white version yesterday. Having seen it previously in the color theatrical version, I was pleasantly surprised at how different it felt as a movie. It definitely looks and feels like a mid-60s flick, that is until the shrieking voices on the score at the end. On my OPPO with cross color suppression tuned off, it looked phenomenal. The CGI benefits the most in b & w. The script holds up as a nice bit of writing, too. Dark humor and some over the top stuff. It's a B(+) movie, if you catch my drift.

 

[Ray H]

Did they tame down the swearing in the B&W version? Because I find it hard to think of the film with as an older horror flick with its language (not that it was particularly bad - I just remember towards the beginning when Thomas Jane's character threw out the f-bomb, I knew we were out of our comfort zone).