Mist (2007)

"What a horror film SHOULD be - dark, tense, and punctuated by just enough gore to keep the viewer's flinch reflex intact.  James Berardinelli's ReelViews
"Good and creepy, "The Mist"...is more the shape, size and quality of the recent "1408"...[than] the "Saw" and "Hostel" franchises.  Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"A masterpiece! One of the most shocking movie endings ever!  Pete Hammond, Maxim
"A wickedly entertaining thrill ride.  Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
"...one of the scariest King films since Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."  Tasha Robinson, The Onion A.V. Club

Editor's Note Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE) serves as director, writer, and producer of THE MIST, an adaptation of Stephen King's classic novella. After a vicious storm wreaks havoc in their small town in Maine, artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) heads out to the town supermarket for some much-needed supplies with his young son, Billy (Nathan Gamble), and his neighbor, Norton (Andre Braugher), in tow. Their trip soon turns to terror when a menacing white mist settles in, leaving this group of locals and out-of-towners fighting for survival against an unknown, bloodthirsty enemy. When the local religious zealot (Marcia Gay Harden) begins to convince the group that the mist is punishment from God, Drayton and his cohorts realize that they may be trapped inside with an enemy just as dangerous as whatever is lurking outside. Tension runs high in this tale as the trapped group faces difficult moral decisions. Should they stay and wait out the terror, or make a break for it and risk suffering a terrible fate? Is the eerie mist the will of God, an experiment from the local military base gone awry, or, maybe, a freak natural disaster? Without modern conveniences and the normal conventions and rules to guide them, the group is easily swayed by the loudest opinion. Will they save themselves at the expense of each other, or work as a team to save everyone? There is a decent amount of blood and gore for horror fans, some deadpan humor and just a hint of politics thrown in for good measure. Thomas Jane is a stoic leading man, but Frances Sternhagen and Toby Jones are more fun as unlikely heroes. Laurie Holden, Alexa Davalos, Bill Sadler and Jeffrey Demunn also star in this creepy tale.

	William Sadler
	Andre Braugher
	Toby Jones
	Thomas Jane
	Marcia Gay Harden
	Laurie Holden
	Stephen King - Source Writer
	Ronn Schmidt - Director of Photography
	Frank Darabont - Screenwriter
	Mark Isham - Composer
	Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer
	Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer
	Frank Darabont - Producer
	Liz Glotzer - Producer
	Richard Saperstein - Executive Producer
	Frank Darabont - Director

Entertainment Weekly
"[N]ifty, unusually spry....It's the good people of classic Kingsville, brought to life by an energized cast...show ought to scare the bejesus out of audiences." -- Grade: B 11/23/2007 p. 60

Sight and Sound
"THE MIST is a rare beast: a mature, genuinely intense horror film that takes its improbable subject matter, and hence its audience, seriously." 07/01/2008 p.64

Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "A tight, tense frightflick with more originality than a thousand SAWs....As with all the best horror movies, THE MIST takes its time setting up its characters and scenario..." 08/01/2008 p.46

Reel.com 9 of 10
If I didn't know better, judging by the title, I'd say a new horror film called The Mist might just be a throwback to the campy slasher flicks of the early 1980s. It sounds suspiciously like a new name for yet another remake of John Carpenter's classic, The Fog. But The Mist, based on a novella by Stephen King, is neither cheesy nor remade. In fact, it's a very simple title for a complex and intriguing tale that's more about humanity than a bunch of monsters...The Mist transcends normal horror movie conventions and becomes an enlightening study of religion, class, and human nature in the face of tragedy...Writer/director Frank Darabont does a tremendous job building and sustaining the suspense both inside and outside the store. The monsters lurk quietly in the mist, never totally visible until Darabont decides to thrust an attack upon us at the most unanticipated moments...For The Mist, the monsters are only a small part of the larger supporting cast...As the hero, Thomas Jane is a believable everyman with whom we can all identify. He's not overly strong or domineering; he just wants to do the right thing for his family and others. The most frightening character of all may be Harden, whose self-righteous cries for atonement are more piercing and menacing than the savage flesh-eating beasts of the mist. - David Levine

Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
The movie was written and directed by Frank Darabont, whose "The Shawshank Redemption" is currently No. 2 on IMDb's all-time best movies list, and who also made "The Green Mile." Both were based on Stephen King's work, but I think he picked the wrong story this time. What helps, however, is that the budget is adequate to supply the cardboard characters with capable actors and to cobble together some gruesome and slimy special effects...Everyone labors away to bring energy to the cliches, including Toby Jones, who proves that a movie Ollie may have unsuspected resources. Thomas Jane is energetic in the thankless role of the sane leader...If you have seen ads or trailers suggesting that horrible things pounce on people, and they make you think you want to see this movie, you will be correct. It is a competently made Horrible Things Pouncing on People Movie. If you think Frank Darabont has equaled the "Shawshank" and "Green Mile" track record, you will be sadly mistaken. If you want an explanation for the insect monsters (and this is not really giving anything away), there is speculation that they arrived through a rift in the space-time continuum. Rifts in s-t continuums are one of the handiest inventions of science fiction, so now you've got your complete formula: threat to town, group of townspeople and rift. - Roger Ebert