The Mist: Post Release (spoilers)

I'm seeing it tomorrow with friends. I've avoided all the spoilers I could possibly avoid, including the ending. I haven't read the short story so that's a plus.

Did they keep the ending where he kills them at the end? YOU KNOW OF WHAT I SPEAK IF IT IS SO

Uh... this thread is marked spoilers, dude.

But... but why start the spoiler thread?

Agree on all counts. Tom Janes nails this shit and the ending SHOULD not be spoiled. I'm tried of all these happy go lucky bullshit endings in movies. This ending gets it right. Life is not a happy ending.

A fucking incredible film, one of the best horror movie of the last twenty-odd years. It isn't afraid to satisfy those B-movie monster-flick urges but at the same time has true emotion, excellent performances, everything is just spot-on. And it's incredibly well-casted, Darabont sure can pick 'em. My favorite characters: Toby Jones, who goes from mild-mannered bagboy to fucking badass, and the Ron Perlman-esque Rambo-knife-wielding trucker dude. I wish that guy stuck around longer.

What I find interesting (and really terrifying) about this film is that, from a certain point of view, Mrs. Carmody is absolutely the protagonist... and she ultimately ends up correct about everything that happens. Not to mention, she dies a martyr's death.

I wonder what pissed off Frank Darabont so much. In any case, it was a really good movie that mainstream audiences are going to hate the shit out of (random selection of conversation from last night's Birmingham screening: "That was the worst movie I've ever seen in my life." But people are obnoxiously hyperbolic).

Her proclamations are so vague that it's hard to be wrong. From one point of view, yeah, she's right, but she's hardly very specific. It's easy to stir up fear and emotion by issuing easily satisfied prophecies.

I have a dillema. I only have time to see ONE movie this weekend. And I can't make up my mind if I need to see this or No Country For Old Men.


I want to see both terribly, but it is just not possible with my holiday schedule.

Distress call going out to all chewers. Please help.

You really can't go wrong either way. Both are incredibly well-made films that will provide you with total assurance that it is impossible for a loving God to exist and that you will probably die alone, unmourned, after witnessing the complete destruction of all you hold dear.

That's true. It's a credit to Marcia Gay Harden and Frank Darabont for turning what could have been a typical "crazy fundamentalist woman" into something truly disturbing. Having read the story so many times, one of my greatest fears going into this movie was that this character would be played too broadly. She wasn't, thankfully, and it ended up completely terrifying -- far more so, in my opinion, than anything in the mist. And a lesser director, of course, would have approached things completely oppositely.

As I write this, SILENT HILL is playing on one of the cable channels, and I find myself more and more thankful that THE MIST ended up as good as it did. I have some problems, but it's probably the best horror movie of the year, or a close second to 1408. In any case, when was the last time the two best horror movies of any year were based on Stephen King works? "Never" comes to mind.

Having only seen THE MIST, I can vouch for its quality and assure you that under no circumstances will this become popular with a general audience. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN at least has a shot at being rereleased in the future for awards consideration. I'd go with THE MIST for now, but as the Coens are my favorite filmmakers and I won't get to see NO COUNTRY until Saturday (due to it not playing anywhere in the state in which my family is celebrating Thanksgiving), I understand your dilemma.

For Hollywood chewers: I checked fandango.com and this isn't playing at The Grove, The Arclight or The Chinese? It's playing at Citywalk, but I fucking hate that ignorant cesspool... what the fuck is going on? Why isn't this being released in Hollywood?

I only saw Carpenter's The Fog about 2 weeks ago on cable. The commericials for this movie make it look exactly like that old movie. I know it's something completely different, but to someone like me who hasn't kept up with this, I thought it was a remake of the fog. (Another) Someone even says in the commericial that "there is something..in..THE.. MIST" just like the line in the fog.

Regular people are going to think that they've seen this movie already.

I don't know. I don't think The Fog, in either incarnation, made all that much of an impression if you aren't a movie nerd. It's not something immediately recognizable like Halloween or The Journey of Natty Gan.

Since there's the post release thread, I'll just say right now that beyond all the disturbing actions of Mrs. Carmody and her quickly amassed cult, the ending, where David has to shoot his innocent child in the head is just the most disturbing thing I've ever seen in a film. I mean, I can understand doing away with little Damien children, but after the non-stop tension of the previous two hours, the film is about the death of hope, which is so interesting seeing as Darabont's previous films are all very pro-hope.

I thought it was OK. Carmody's such a cartoonish, hell-and-brimstone cliche of a Christian that she's all too easy to dismiss, almost fatally crippling the movie's intent. I doubt anyone in the theater could imagine going along with her, even under the circumstances. The debate effectively over before it's begun, and with the movie already running a bit long (an hour and half really didn't suffice for this material?), a lot of it is just waiting for the next lobster-bat or whatever to cause a ruckus.

And about the ending, I have mixed feelings. It's an easy irony to reach for, in all honesty. "If only he had waited!" It reduces everything to a punchline. The utter bleakness is a nice, you-don't-see-that-very-often kick to the groin, but it wraps it up in a such a nice little package of a "twist" that it's like the mirror image of War of the Worlds. Everyone lives = everyone dies = yawn.

But the building tension "felt" right and I liked some of the town's banter. Not really a disappointment since I wasn't really expecting much to begin with.

You know, I was trying to think of why I was having such a hard time thinking this was a Darabont film. Coupled with that statement and the utter lack of warmth in the colors (almost desaturated) gave me a completely different look at him as a director. Not at all what I was expecting in a very good way.

The film isn't anti-hope at all. It's about what happens when you lose hope.

The woman who leaves the store early on because she has to take care of her kids at home is alive. Her kids are alive. Drayton and the others don't make it because they lose hope.

The best thing about Mrs. Carmody is the fact that even she was initially shocked and horrified when her followers went nuts and violent. She was leading them on but just wasn't ready for that leap.

I didn't say the film was anti-hope. I said it was about the death of hope. I agree it shows what happens when you lose all hope. But rather than leave the film open-ended and leave that question of whether or not there's hope for these characters, it punishes them for losing hope.

Sorry, a paragraph was fucked. Should be correct now.

just read the review....

..and i must say, i am very excited. the review hit the nail on the head that they don't make true horror movies anymore, just gore fests. saw, hostel, even the descent was a little lacking. descent was better than the rest, but still not quite there. i don't think i have actually been scared by a movie since the last ten minutes of silence of the lambs. and i watch just about every horror flick i can.

if this is truly anywhere even remotely close to as good as the thing, i will do backflips. heres one horror fan who is hoping that is the case. and yes, i am going to avoid all the spoilers i can until i see it.

Which is why I wasn't responding to your post, but to Lisa's.

Glad to see Nick getting a review up, too.

Love the closer, Nick. I absolutely feel the same way.

Ebert isn't feeling this

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...IEWS/711200306

And neither is Variety

http://movies.msn.com/movies/Movie.aspx?m=2139488&mp=cr

They're dumb.

Awesome review Nick. It took me from wanting to wait for this on DVD to wondering if I could work getting to the theater for it.

I still plan on seeing this today. I'll take the site's word for it in terms of its quality.

I have to add more love to this thread, the film was awesome. A few observations:

Amazing how Darabont pulls scenes directly out of my head, some looking damn near identical to the way I'd imagined them.

The ending of the film proves for me that if "The Long Walk" is his next King adaptation, it will be as brutal a film as it needs to be.

AWESOME effects work from Nicotero. The use of the "tearing strips of flesh" is directly out of the Savini handbook, and that effect worked with amazing results here.

All the fan nods were great- Struzan's paintings(Dark Tower!), WZON, Drayton snatching the Hellboy comic off the rack at the supermarket, etc...

I'm rambling. Anyone that has wanted a real horror film for a while, go see this movie.

Great review, Nick. Thanks for getting me so ridiculously amped for the genuine article days before I can see it. You're a real pal. Thanks...jerk...

Ah. My apologies.

All of David's art is actually by Drew Struzan, correct? I wish that picture he was doing of The Man With No Name was a real poster. I'd buy it in a second.

Ghastly Terminus? Fucking Ghastly Terminus. Holy fucking Ghastly Terminus.

I'm curious how a second viewing will hold up. So much of my reaction was out of shock and surprise.

Yes, I too would buy that Dark Tower poster without a second thought.

Darabont for The Shining remake!



Seriously.

This was slow getting off the ground, but once those bugs broke through the front window that's when the movie really took off. I had a blast from that part until the kick-ass ending. Once the group leaves the store, I was tense until the fade to black. Terrific work by Darabont to just keep building and building it up.

Really liked Tom Jane's performance as well.

Didn't think it was slow at the start at all. You had maybe two minutes of normalcy before the storm hits and David's world meets chaos. From the very start things are fucked up, albeit in a common way, but it just gets worse and worse. Even the quiet moments aren't really calm, you're just waiting for something else bad to happen, whether from the mist or the growing insanity inside the market.

I liked the framing of the shots, tight closeups with a hint of shaky-cam, really helped make you feel like you were stuck in there with them.

Some excellent performances. Andre Braugher was typically great. The two greatest chances for problems - Carmody and the kid - were handled well. Harden did a terrific job, not overblown at all (which was a fear going into this.) The kid did a decent enough job.

Jeremy was right in that the initial tentacle attack looked the worst, but in light of everything else it was forgiveable. I'd read of the spiders having human-like mouths, but it was pretty disturbing (in a very good way) to actually see it. The reveal of the six-legged behemoth was very well done. The creature designers did a bang-up job.

The ending hurt me emotionally (which is extraordinarily rare) for two reasons: the kid waking up and the look on his face (all I kept thinking was "Please don't be looking down the barrel of the gun.") and the revelation that the woman who left to find her kids was alive, as were her children. Seeing the tanks themselves was manageable, and I was actually half-expecting it. But to see that woman just broke me inside.

Awesome. It's an amazing feeling to be so wounded and yet so happy with the wounding.

I wasn't feeling Ebert's review. Not just because I love the shit out of this movie, but I wonder if he was even paying attention. I like the guy, but this just isn't his year.

How did Darabont get away with that ending without the studio stepping in? I'm genuinely surprised and pleased it turned out the way it did.

I just got back from seeing it, and that ending was a real kick to the gut.

How to put this? I hate the way it ended, but couldn't imagine a more fitting conclusion. And ultimately that's the highest compliment I can give. Darabont could have gone for a pandering happy-ending (or something ambiguous) and I'm sure the studio would have prefered it that way. But instead he created an emotionally wrenching tragedy to underscore one of the film's central themes. (In retrospect, the ending makes Drayton's promise to his son all the more devestating.)

Great, engaging storytelling that actually carries cultural perpective. Man, it feels like a long time since a horror film conveyed such depth without sacrificing entertainment.

Aside from the ending, the scene that shook me the most was probably the spiderlair inside the pharmacy. But, then again, I hate spiders so there you go. That shot of the body bursting open to reveal a swarm of tick-like creatures - just insane.

I did question how quickly Harden's character gains converts. Particularly after the solidier's murder, I wondered if some of her new followers might be revolted by the consequences of her fervor. But considering the madness of their situation, I guess it's not unbelievable that otherwise rationale people would turn so loony so rapidly.

Most crowd pleasing moment? Harden's character takes one to the gut and one to the head. Actual cheers erupted in the theater.

Yeah, we had that too. I heard a "Fuck yeah!" followed up some applause.

I'm wondering, how different was the novellas ending?