2007 The Mist

• Directed by: Frank Darabont
• Written by: Frank Darabont
• Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden
• Run Time: 2 Hours, 6 Minutes
• Trailer:

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

In a small Maine town, people are trapped in a supermarket after a strange mist envelopes the town. There just might be creatures in the mist, too. There’s a strong cast with a lot of recognizable faces, a suspenseful story with action, and decent special effects. It’s on the long side, but it moves well. It’s one of the better Stephen King adaptations, and we both thought it was very entertaining.

Spoilery Synopsis

We open on David Drayton, who appears to be Stephen King’s personal artist. There’s a weird storm, and the family heads down to the basement just before a tree falls on the house. In the morning, they assess the damage and notice there’s a strange mist coming down off the mountain.

The next-door neighbor Brent, has a bunch of damage as well. The two, along with little Billy, pass a bunch of military trucks on the way into town. Rumor has it that there’s a crashed alien saucer up the military base on the mountain.

The three head into the local grocery store, which is packed and without power. While there, we meet some of the town’s quirkier characters. They notice a lot of army people in town this morning for some reason.

Suddenly, the tornado siren goes off. Dan Miller runs in, covered in blood, yelling “There’s something in the mist!” The fog rolls into town, and they all hear people screaming out there. Then there’s an earthquake, and everyone in the crowded store knows they’re in big trouble.

Everyone has somewhere else they’d rather be, but one woman left kids home alone and insists on leaving. The mist is so dense that they don’t know what happened to her. Billy goes into shock from the fear. Old Irene introduces Amanda, the new teacher in town. Mr. Carmody says it’s Judgment Day for all the sinners.

David goes into the back room and something outside really wants in through the loading dock door. David immediately comes to the conclusion that there’s a monster outside, but the others are skeptical. Norm crawls out under the door into the mist to unclog the ventilator for the generator, but something with a huge tentacle grabs him, and it’s quite a violent scene.

David, Ollie, Myron, and Jim watch Norm die and wonder how they’re going to keep the monsters out of that giant plate-glass window in the front of the store. They tell Norton about the situation, and he thinks it’s a prank.

David explains the monsters in the mist to the gathered crowd, but it’s a hard sell. Bud the store manager, goes back to see the mess from the attack, and now he’s a believer. Everyone gets to work reinforcing the windows. Mrs. Carmody prays hard, wondering if everyone in the store is a sinner; she’s not very nice.

Norton and Carmody have their own views about what’s going on, and the bring a bunch of dissent to the crowd. Amanda contributes a gun to the cause.

Norton and some of the group decide that enough is enough and leave the store. They tie a rope to big biker dude and he goes out with them; what they pull back in is just a bloody mess. Now, no one is doubting.

Night falls, and the lights inside attracts some bugs. Big bugs. Carmody goes on about locusts. Then come little dragon-looking things to eat the bugs. Soon, the windows break and things start coming in for the lights. Sally gets bitten by a bug and quickly dies, as do many others. There’s quite a battle, and there are more deaths throughout the night.

David points out that it’s just a matter of time until Carmody turns the locals against them and do a human sacrifice or something. It doesn’t take very long until that happens.

A group decides to go next door to the pharmacy to get some painkillers for the wounded. The doors on the pharmacy are wide open, so anything could have gotten in.There’s a spider web and human carcasses in it, including one army guy who’s only mostly dead and says that it’s all their fault. Things escalate very quickly, and we lose a few more characters.

Carmody continues preaching to the crowd all day. David, Ollie, Irene, Amanda, and some of the others still want to leave. David and the last remaining soldier talk about “The Arrowhead Project” up at the army base. He admits he heard stuff about a doorway to other dimensions to see what was on the other side. The creatures probably came from another world.

Goaded by Carmody, the crowd attacks the soldier and throws him outside, where something really big gets him.

David’s group is ready to leave, but now Carmody forbids it— and her followers are ready to enforce what she says. At least until Ollie shoots her, and her followers scatter like rats. The group makes a run for the car, but there are more deaths on the way.

David, Billy, Amanda, Dan, and Irene make it to the car, but the others are killed by things. They start the car and slowly drive out of the store’s lot. They drive and drive, and everyone they pass is dead. David’s house is covered in spider webs, so his wife has to be dead.

They head out of town, and they don’t see anything better. They spot one creature that’s just about mountain-sized; it doesn’t even notice them. Everyone gets more and more depressed, and they eventually run out of gas.

Without any hope of rescue, David offers to kill them all, and the others agree. He uses the gun to kill his four companions, but then he doesn’t have a bullet for himself. He tries, but four bullets is four bullets. He gets out the car, planning to be eaten, but then he hears engines,

Turns out, the army, with tanks and heavy weapons, were right behind them, along with a truckload of survivors. The army is fighting the monsters and winning, and the mist is even breaking up, but it’s too late for David, who just shot all his friends and his son.

Brian’s Commentary

The casting in this is amazing— so many recognizable faces. The pacing is really good, as it’s long but never drags.

It’s got probably the bleakest ending of any movie, but its also really appropriate and works well. Stephen King actually preferred this to his own book’s ending.

The creature effects hold up pretty well, but the characters and rising tension are what really drive this one. It’s a classic!

Kevin’s Commentary

An early draft of the script had a prologue scene of Project Arrowhead running an experiment during the thunderstorm that gets out of control and opens a portal to another dimension through which the mist and critters come through. They decided not to include it.

This was very good, but I actually prefer the novella that it’s based on. And I dislike the ending of the movie versus the novella that was more open ended.