Stephen King’s The Mist….a bit foggy
What the hell is it about Stephen King adaptations? Apart from the odd one or two they all turn out as major stinkers. My hopes were high for The Mist. At last a recognized name in the film industry was involved; Frank Darabont. This dude is behind one of my favourite flicks, The Shawshank Redemption. The Mist seems like a strange choice for old Frank, but I was hoping he would give the story the justice it deserves.
It is the kind of story that gets me all jumpy and excited. Sci-fi/horror at its best. A strange mist has engulfed a small town. Within the mist is, what else but blood thirsty creatures from another world. Love it! I remember reading the Stephen King book as a kid and getting majorly creeped out.
The film has a strange sense of fun to it. A bunch of the town residents are trapped in the local supermarket and have to choose leaders, concoct plans and decide which aisle the chips and chocolates are kept. All the while, the mist creeps around outside.
If you can ignore the cheesey feel to the movie and the fact that it has a distinct “tv movie” quality to it, you might just get something out of it. Thomas Jane is always fun to watch as the action hero and he plays the part well enough, only he has that air of the 80’s to him. He feels a tad outdated in every role he plays. God bless him but I just think he’s a little hard to take seriously at times.
At the end of the day, if you are a horror/sci fi nut you will put up with the many flaws in The Mist, but it is really yet another of the growing list of Stephen King adaptations that fails as a film.
I’m not going to give up on King. I still think other books of his will make awesome flicks. I’m waiting right here until that happens.
June 13, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Buddy, I liked this film….Yeah, it was cheesy, and yes it did feel at times like a Midday Movie, but as a film adaptation of a King story, I thought it succeeded quite well. It felt like King. It unfolded like a King story. And that is why Darabont has had so much success with King – he adapts short stories, which are easily converted into a film without losing any of the necessary King story elements. You can’t adapt one of King’s epics into a film without the flick being a good five hours. I mean, I love Kubrick’s The Shining, but it is nowhere near as complex as the novel. And if anyone else but Stan made that film, it would have been re-named The Sucking. So, kudos to Darabont – I thought this film actually felt like an old 50’s sc-fi, to be honest.
June 14, 2008 at 8:27 am
Yep, well said Wad.
I hear ya, the premise alone made this worth watching and it did have a cheesy 50’s sci-fi feel to it. I just think it is an ok flick that could have been a real killer.
October 29, 2008 at 12:17 am
Like yourself I was slightly disappointed in the screen version of ‘The Mist’. Loved the short story though.
Have recently just set up a blog where I hope to review books etc and as Stephen King is my fav author I’m sure I’ll get round to writing my own review.
Shawshank Redemption is another fav of mine.