It's not bad for a B-movie, but the tension is mostly built on the characters' collective stupidity. Pretty much the only competent character was the old lady, and this should be pretty worrying considering she's senile.
Based on a novella by Stephen King, The Mist today gives us some strong Cloverfield vibes, and though that franchise's sequels are a patchwork, they still feel like they were partly inspired by this film. There are plenty of monsters, as an ecosystem anathema to our own comes rolling into a small New England town, but the biggest is still Man. Trapped in a supermarket under siege, the large cast is always on the verge of splitting into factions and turning on its itself. Of particular interest is Marcia Gay Harden's religious zealot who, in a horror flick, might be making real points, even if clues point to a science-fiction explanation for what's happening. I really loved it as a tense survival film, filled with characters who are unequipped for these circumstances and keep making mistakes. The wrong decisions lead to tragedy, but something as simple as slipping on something as you try to swat a giant fly might create terrible consequences. Some of the monster effects are on the gooey CG side, but the story is too strong for it to matter much, and besides, the interaction with the live action elements is well done. It's really bleak though, perhaps even too bleak for its own good. But can't deny it packs a punch.
One of the most memorable concluding scenes from any movie was in the mist, where the man shoots his whole family just to have the mist suddenly lift and the military save all the survivors. Damn! If only he had waited just two more minutes, he wouldn't have had to kill his son and wife and two random old people! Right?
Wrong. I think it had to happen. Remember the crazy bitch in the store claiming to be a prophet? She said she needed the boy's blood to appease God. And she was actually telling the truth. Killing the son appeased God or the monsters or whatever and lifted the curse.
I disliked more things about this movie than I liked. Many of the characters failed to act like actual people, most conflicts grew from nothing and most decisions and actions were slow and/or stupid. The ending really got me though.
Despite being a massive downer ending for Thomas Jane's character, it's a happy ending for the general population and the world at large: the mist is going away, the army is here to save everybody, normality is restored and the world is saved. From that sense it's a very pat, conservative ending, with the message that you should stay put and eventually authority will reassert itself.
For me the ending of the Mist fails on three counts: 1. As I mentioned above it's a conservative ending that removes a lot of the sinister and spooky implications of the mist by showing that it can be defeated, 2. it doesn't seem to fit the tone of the rest of the film, 3. it's very poorly executed. The decision to kill his family is made immediately and without any doubts in a way that isn't in any way realistic, and the army arrive immediately after in a forehead-slapping way.
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Cassiodoro
The fanatic woman is one of the most annoying characters i've ever seen...Jonathan_Hutchings
Surprisingly good, if you're able to to recognized that it's a B-horror film. The ending is outstanding.Nii_saakwa
That ending though! Damn!Surskit
It's not bad for a B-movie, but the tension is mostly built on the characters' collective stupidity. Pretty much the only competent character was the old lady, and this should be pretty worrying considering she's senile.Siskoid
Based on a novella by Stephen King, The Mist today gives us some strong Cloverfield vibes, and though that franchise's sequels are a patchwork, they still feel like they were partly inspired by this film. There are plenty of monsters, as an ecosystem anathema to our own comes rolling into a small New England town, but the biggest is still Man. Trapped in a supermarket under siege, the large cast is always on the verge of splitting into factions and turning on its itself. Of particular interest is Marcia Gay Harden's religious zealot who, in a horror flick, might be making real points, even if clues point to a science-fiction explanation for what's happening. I really loved it as a tense survival film, filled with characters who are unequipped for these circumstances and keep making mistakes. The wrong decisions lead to tragedy, but something as simple as slipping on something as you try to swat a giant fly might create terrible consequences. Some of the monster effects are on the gooey CG side, but the story is too strong for it to matter much, and besides, the interaction with the live action elements is well done. It's really bleak though, perhaps even too bleak for its own good. But can't deny it packs a punch.bathkuyp
Great theory about the ending:Wrong. I think it had to happen. Remember the crazy bitch in the store claiming to be a prophet? She said she needed the boy's blood to appease God. And she was actually telling the truth. Killing the son appeased God or the monsters or whatever and lifted the curse.
jhhayes
All I can say is the ending gave me goosebumps. It was like a sucker punch to the gut.JCS
Really good and quite scary!Cynicus Rex
The only good part is Ollie.neonlampaa
I disliked more things about this movie than I liked. Many of the characters failed to act like actual people, most conflicts grew from nothing and most decisions and actions were slow and/or stupid. The ending really got me though.filmclub
Actually quite goodChrisReynolds
Spoilers for the ending:For me the ending of the Mist fails on three counts: 1. As I mentioned above it's a conservative ending that removes a lot of the sinister and spooky implications of the mist by showing that it can be defeated, 2. it doesn't seem to fit the tone of the rest of the film, 3. it's very poorly executed. The decision to kill his family is made immediately and without any doubts in a way that isn't in any way realistic, and the army arrive immediately after in a forehead-slapping way.
Eddyspeeder
"That really wasn't necessary", would be my overall response to the movie.stellaslove
Surprised to see quite a few characters from 'The Walking Dead' in this :)TheBanana
This movie is hilarious.Showing items 1 – 15 of 39