DVD Review- The Mist

Spectacular review of one of my favorite horror films (hell, one of my favorite films period) from last year. I was excited about picking up the collector's edition disc before reading the review, but now I absolutely cannot wait to grab it.

Stellar work, Alex.

An advantage of living in the big city is it increases your chances of finding a naughty DVD shop that doesn't care about waiting for street dates.

Much agreed on Mr Riviello's review. The 2-disc is a great package with some very satisfying extras. I believe I now prefer the B&W version too. The CGI (particularly with the problematic loading dock scene) looks much better in B&W and the whole film feels just an extra bit more frightening and bleak.

My initial feelings on the posters for The Mist were that I preferred the theatrical poster, hated the dumb-ass modified version with man/woman and exploded city, and felt the Struzan looked creepy but didn't represent the movie properly. Well, I tried Alex's suggestion with sliding the booklet into the front of the DVD case... and he was right. Now it looks like a classy Criterion Collection edition. Sweet.

No hyperbole intended, but I think this is a great DVD of one of the best horror movies ever made. Buy. This. Two. Disc. Set.

Great review Alex. It's one of the best of its kind in the last 10 years, I'd say.

Great review, I can't wait to see it in black and white. I'm just gonna print out my cover with the Struzan art.

Hell, better than that! I'd say it's one of the best DVD reviews in at least 50 years!

Your gore score is great, Alex. It's almost like 12 Days Of Christmas In Hell.

How long you think it'll be before some sick bastard makes an animated avatar version of one of your screen captures? (you know which)

Great movie. My stomach still ties itself in knots when I think about it.

I didn't know about the black and white version but it seems excellent. I can't wait until I get my hands on it.

Fantastic review Alex. One of the things I loved the most about this movie is how with all the havoc and absolute hell going on outside, it had the balls to stay inside and make the creatures secondary. Even though I know that's thanks in large part to the story (which I never read) it's still a helluva ballsy move. Lesser filmmakers (or authors) would have made it all about the monsters and no matter how good a film they could have made it just wouldn't have compared.

Great review ! Now I am really looking forward to seeing this in black and white ! This movie really did throw me back to the Thing, and I have not seen a movie do that in a long time. The only thing that annoys me with the Mist, is all the people who bitch about the ending. Its like they can not realize the balls it took to have that ending. That the unhappiness and dislike for it is part of its beauty. But screw them, I can not wait to see this again !

Yup. I didn't think I could love this film any more than I do, until I saw those B&W screen-grabs.

And Eric Powell created THE GOON.

I was just able to pick up a copy of this at Borders. From what I've read on several message boards, my Borders isn't the only one that broke street date.

Cool review, you've convinced me of buying the set.

Yeah I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I can not wait to kick back with my feet on the coffee table, and watch it in black and white.

A lot of people have been telling me how much this movie fucking sucks, which excites me because they're all people who draw blank faces when I ask them if they've seen THE THING.

Can't wait to see this tomorrow.

My aunt busted out the NO COUNTRY litmus test during dinner yesterday. Didn't go over so well. The topic quickly changed into a zombie movie discussion, which is ironic, it being Easter and everything.

People are just getting stupider and stupider. I still can't believe people were laughing at this movie, I'm lucky I didn't get any of that shit when I saw it. I was fully into this movie when I saw it and to hear some cock splash laughing and making stupid jokes would've taken me out. I probably would have done something stupid.

Ugh. So do I really have to spend $22.99 on top of the combined $20 I was going to spend on GOODFELLAS and HEAT (on sale at Best Buy) on top of the $34.99 I was going to spend on the INFERNAL AFFAIRS boxset on top of the $50 or so I was going to spend on work clothes for my new job? I hate you.

Heh Heh! He said "Cock splash"! heh heh!

I'm watching this movie during the day tomorrow so I don't have to watch it with my roommate when he gets home from work. I don't want to hear his stupid.

Curse you Netflix for being temporarily unavailable! I must see this, and am tempted to buy it blind. The B&W screenshots look amazing.

I think I have blind bought over a dozen movies and the one time I fucked up was VAN WILDER. I feel pretty good about this one.

I fucking love it.

Edited to add: The black and white version pretty much assures me a buy now. I was contemplating it before but I just love the idea of being able to compare the original and black and white versions. And who's not a sucker for a good commentary?

The Netflix site is back up, and The Mist= Short Wait.
Which will turn into VERY LONG WAIT tomorrow.
Goddammit Netflix.

Why I don't have a Netflix membership.

F**kin' DO IT.

I am looking forward to being punched in the soul in the comfort of my own home.

So, the second after reading this review, I ended up going to BestBuy.com to check the ad, and finding the sale Scott's talking about listed right next to The Mist (which also, apparently, comes with a copy the original short story). I still don't own Casino Royale, Heat, or The Departed.

My wallet hates you, Alex. SO fucking much.

Aw hell, I thought this was getting a blu-ray release today. The real torture is deciding whether to hold out or not. Like others have mentioned, those b/w screen shots put this movie from "must buy" to "holy shit!"

If it helps, there's a 3-disc CASINO ROYALE set coming out June 3rd.

I think I may wait on HEAT and GOODFELLAS when I start getting the bigger paychecks. I've seen them enough that it won't hurt me to wait. But THE MIST? Alex (amongst others in this thread) is a damn fine salesman.

I'll be getting this from Netflix two movies from now. I know it's not the DVD set you're talking about, but I still haven't seen it. However, that was a great enough review that I bumped it way up in my queue.

I thought this was funny: The cashier told me a story about how earlier in the day someone from the local video store came and picked up a dozen or so copies. Her change rang up as $6.66 and while it's not uncommon for that to happen, given the nature of the movie it scared the video clerk so much that she bought something else just to get rid of that 666. Only in the bible belt.

Not even risking looking at any of the posts in this thread as I haven't seen the movie yet, but just looking at the score for the dvd review convinced me enough that on the way home I'm stopping to buy the 2 disc special edition.

I can't wait!

That does help, actually. Thanks!

Blame the Weinstein Company. They have some bullshit exclusive deal with Blockbuster, which forces other video stores to purchase any Weinstein movies the day it comes out.

Thank you, Alex.

Blind buy this evening, and holy shit...what a great fucking movie. I was a bit worried seeing a Hammond quote on the front, and the tentacle attack f/x felt a bit wrong...but damn was this a fine movie. The religious commentary was absolutely chilling...and the ending, well the ending speaks for itself.

Just watched the B&W cut. Yeah, this is definitely my preferred version of the film now. It was a damn good film before. The black and white just lends this added dosage of dread that elevates it to great. Definitely worth every penny.

Jesus mother fucking holy son of a fucking bitch tit mother puss bucket cock balls SHIT!

This.. this movie.. this beautiful.. fucking, movie.

Anyone who ever said anything good about this while I was around (and didn't drop spoilers).. I could kiss you. This movie is fucking love, and I fucking love it. I can't remember the last time a movie hit me on such an emotional level in so many ways.. I just.. I just..

fuck me. I can't believe I didn't get to see this in theatres.

I need to go watch the black and white version now.

Dug it very much. I posted my thoughts on it on my blog (plug, plug!), which, as I was writing it, realized that I never felt so strongly about a film immediately after seeing it in quite some time.

Just watched the black and white version--watching it in color now will only seem like a disservice. The whole thing now has this amazing late 60s/early 70s vibe that elevates the film into uncharted levels of greatness, which is saying something, since I loved the piss out of it in theatres. To give everyone an idea of how it plays in black and white: imagine the best, most chilling episode of the original Twilight Zone. Now make it feature length. Now multiply how chilling and effective it is by 100 and you have The Mist in its true form.

Oh, and the Struzen art for the insert is a work of beauty. Following others' lead, I've replaced it as the front cover to my copy. Why didn't this get the full poster treatment? I'd kill to have it on my wall.

I have not watched the black and white version yet. I wanted to, but I was watching it with this girl and she said she hated black and white. So I gave in. She seemed a bit upset by the ending. After the big act, and the reveal hit, she actually got pissed at me for not telling her about it before it happened. She thought this was too much of a gut punch. She also thought the ending to No Country For Old Men was too bleak also. Blah to her. Great movie, and now I can not wait to watch the black and white version. Maybe I should call off work and watch it.

In my world, that's called that a red flag.

To be fair, my girlfriend, who is a notorious horror movie wuss, just peeked in and out at the film from behind a laptop. She got and actually loved most of the subtext, and the store's back and forth with Mrs. Carmody. But even she wasn't able to look away from the last 10 minutes (even after I told her "this thing does NOT have a happy ending").

Her jaw kinda dropped at the behemoth shot (which I still hold up as one of the most horrifyingly beautiful moments in a film this decade), and the first words out of her mouth at the ending were "Can we watch something cute and funny?" I popped in an Eddie Izzard DVD, we cuddled up, she cried a little. I couldn't blame her.

Great review Alex. I'll be picking this up before the weekend and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to try to get my wife to watch it with me too. I haven't been buying too many dvds lately, but this one was a must buy from day one. The set sounds great!

Okay, got to sleep on it and collect my thoughts in a way that isn't just a pure string of excited expletives. Be warned, people who read posts in the dvd release thread without having seen the movie: I'm going into vague spoiler territory here. I know this isn't the post-release thread, but this is where all the current discussion is, so neener neener

Wow. I loved the (as they put it) docu-style filmmaking on this one. We followed Jane around, but could catch glimpses of the other "groups" within the store starting to form together and do their own thing in the background, just the perfect hint of something going on before it came to the forefront in the story. Beautiful.

And holy smokes did this movie build up perfectly with Mrs. Crazy Religious Nut. The final dawn scene in the store terrified me in ways alien spiders will never compare to. That scene was just deeply unsettling to me, it's not very often I react so strongly that way but this movie just worked in aces for me. Same with the scene the day before and the solider. Incredible work there. Gave me the willies something fierce.

Also - and this one is obvious. The last scene in the vehicle. I thought this movie was kicking my ass with the religious zealots, but this part of the movie just absolutely devastated me. Again, I'm not sure why I reacted so strongly.. but something about how this movie played out just hit me emotionally in ways very few movies have. Completely drained me. And here I was expecting a movie about scary tentacles.

A lot of that love for the above goes to Thomas Jane, who I've always thought was a under-rated actor but the work here was just so stellar, I can't say enough good things about him. I can't imagine anyone else in the role. This movie actually has great casting all over the map; the religious lady, the neighbor, the dead-shot bagman (love his hero moment), the asshole mechanic (?).. I can't think of one weak link in this movie.

Somehow, this movie gets EVEN BETTER in black and white.

I shall preach the virtues of this movie to everyone I know, regardless if they want to hear about it or not.. like a certain crazy lady I know.