The Mist (2007)

Starring Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, Marcia Gay Harden, and William Sadler.  Cinematography by Ronn Schmidt.  Edited by Hunter M. Via.  Produced by Liz Glotzer and Frank Darabont.  Written and directed by Frank Darabont.

Though their house and surrounding property has sustained considerable damage, David Drayton (played by Thomas Jane) and his little family have survived the most violent storm that his small town in western Maine can remember.  The morning after he, his son Billy (played by Nathan Gamble), and his hard-headed neighbor Brent Norton (played by Andre Braugher) pile into his Land Cruiser and head for the local market to stock up on supplies.  While waiting to check his groceries out, a thick mist envelops the store.

Those brave (or foolish) enough to venture out into the mist are never seen again, but their muffled screams can often be heard through the store’s glass front as they are torn apart by the monsters that have come with it. The source of the mist is never revealed, but rumors begin to circulate within the store of the local military lab’s “Arrowhead Project” which may or may not have been involved in intra-dimensional experimentation. These fears are solidified by the anxious and mysterious activities of the soldiers who are held captive among the survivors. 

Meanwhile Mrs. Carmody (played by Marcia Gay Harden), the town’s resident religious zealot, has taken it upon herself to preach the “end of times” and lead others towards what she considers salvation.  It quickly becomes just as dangerous inside the store and David struggles to keep his boy safe from the monsters on both sides of the glass.

Frank Darabont may have established a reputation as a dramatic filmmaker with his recent choices in material, but his heart has always been with horror. His career began with script writing assignments for films like The Fly II, the third Nightmare on Elm Street movie, and the remake of The Blob, but when it came down to choosing a pet project for his directorial debut, he made a decision to go with Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption; a remarkable, but decidedly un-scary project.  Since then he has continued that trend with films like The Green Mile and The Majestic, but his love for darker material has never wavered.

Darabont has held the option to King’s novella “The Mist” for upwards of twenty years. Other filmmakers have tried to romance it away from King over that time, but he has always held on to it for Darabont knowing that it was an important pet project for him.  One of the major obstacles facing Darabont in his adaptation was that King’s story ends on very ambiguous note; one which not likely would translate well into film. 

Darabont eventually came up with a very creative (and disturbing) way to overcome that, but could not find a studio with the guts to produce it.  He eventually ended up on the doorstep of the Weinsteins, who would arrange to fund the film only if it were done quickly and cheaply. Darabont agreed and fulfilled his obligation by staying under the eighteen million dollar budget and within the six week shooting schedule.

One last note on Darabont’s approach to the story and its climax.  Choosing a story like The Mist and deciding to shoot it as a mature study of humanity certainly could not have been easy decision.  In fact, while it was by no means a box office failure, one could imagine that if reformatted into the in the currently popular “torture porn” genre it could have done considerably better financially.

You’ve got to respect the hell out of a guy who marinates a project for nearly two decades and then, when presented with the opportunity to do it, turns down offers of bigger budgets and additional resources to stick with what he feels is most appropriate for the story.  As for Darabont’s ending, it would say a lot about your skills as a writer if you can adapt a highly talented author’s work and be complimented with “I wish I would have thought of that” by that very author. The Mist, as difficult as it may be to watch at times, is a beautiful and ballsy film that should not be overlooked just because it is in a lower-brow genre.

Budget: $18,000,000

Total US Gross: $25,593,755

Genre: Horror

Runtime: 126 Minutes

US Release Date: 11/21/07

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Awards: none

Tagline: Fear Changes Everything.

Quote: “The end of times has come!  Not in flames… but in mist.”