The Mist
The Mist started with an opening that has been used in almost all horror movies to date. This movie, however, leaves behind all cliche elements at the opening credits and quickly distinguishes itself among a plethora of poorly made horror movies. It takes the audience on an emotional and horrific ride and leaves one to ponder the ending for days.
The Mist begins with a storm while David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is in a room painting several posters. He is interrupted when the power turns off and is forced to go to the basement with his family until the storm passes. In the morning it's discovered that power lines have been knocked down along with trees and various other buildings. David, along with his son and next door neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher) head out to buy food and supplies from the local market. While there a mist surrounds the building. Writer and director Frank Darabont uses these visuals throughout the film to show proper way horror should be done.
According to IMDB.com, Frank Darabont directed several other adaptations of various Stephen King novels, which included The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. He uses his past experience to perfect his skill in creating a tense atmosphere throughout the film. Though a storm has been overdone, the director uses it at the beginning to immediately make the audience uneasy. He takes it a step further and introduces a loud siren, just as the market is surrounded by the mysterious mist while the locals watch in fright.
The director uses visual imagery and common fears to prey on his audience. The mist itself provides one of the most common, the fear of the unknown. This fear is reinforced with echoing screams emanating from the mysterious thick cloud. It is taken a step further when several panicked pedestrians run into the grocery store screaming that something is out there. Despite the setting being a large market filled with several dozen people, it is used to create a tense atmosphere and make the moviegoers feel uncomfortable.
Images are commonly used to put moviegoers into fear. Several scenes in the film give a good example of what can be done on a modest budget. As a man is dragged off into the mist by an unknown creature, he screams for help. Another scene shows a bus full of dead schoolchildren covered in cob webs, There is also a scene in which its discovered that several people have committed suicide because their situation seemed hopeless followed by yet another scene where a man discovers his wife has been mangled by creatures.
All the visual images in the world would have fallen flat if it were not for the terrific actors the director cast for the film. They offered a deep sense of realism, despite the fact that the film includes not of this world creatures that roam around in the mist. Although the film includes a large cast of characters, the director manages to get the audience to care about each of the individuals safety. The cast acts in a way that most viewers can emotionally relate to, such as a mother who leaves the grocery store in a desperate bid to find her children. Another example is David Drayton's next door neighbor Brent Norton who refuses to believe that something is out in the mist despite obvious proof. Some characters in the film will frustrate moviegoers such as Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden), who has been branded as the town religious fanatic. She begins to convince people that the mist is the “end of days” and that it requires the unbelievers to be sacrificed to it.
Director Frank Darabont recruited the crew responsible for filming the drama series “The Shield” according to Imdb.com. Their expertise in dramatic camera angles help further the atmosphere in the movie, showing the characters' sanity slowly dissipate as the film progresses. Audiences will notice the obvious differences from the beginning of the film where the characters were well rested and towards the end of the film where the characters look haggard.
Throughout the film the audience is taken to mainly two locations, the market and a drug store. The director satisfies moviegoers' curiosity of the outside world by giving a brief but powerful look at the destruction that has befallen the small town.
The Mist offers audiences a sobering outlook at the frailty of humanity and mankind. Just like his previous films, director Frank Darabont manages to make every scene intense and captivating. When the end credits roll, he leaves the audience speechless and in shock. This is a movie highly recommended.