The Mist

Now, I am far from a movie critic but I have my ideas of a good movie and this is not my idea of a good movie.



I bought this movie from Blockbuster south. They are having a closeout on some of their movies marking them down to five for ten dollars. So, I looked through their display and found my five. Most of them were PG or PG13 but this particular movie caught my eye. Based on a Stephen King novel, I kind of enjoy a good scary movie from time to time. I don't particularly like the gore but the scare. Stephen King liked Alfred Hitchcock and got allot of inspiration from him.



I watched the movie last night for the first....and last time. Trinity agreed that it was a one time watch. If you haven't watched it and want to without any give aways, you might not want to read anymore of this post.



The movie is based upon a large group of people who are trapped in a local grocery store when an evil fog moves into the town. They know the mist is evil when a man runs into the store with blood on him telling how a friend had been taken by something in the mist. One man runs from the store to his car only to be swallowed up by the mist and all you hear are screams. This is what initially keeps the people where they are.



Some of them began to realize the gravity of the situation when a young bus boy is attacked and killed by something in the fog through the loading dock doors. While the people in the store attempt to blockade themselves in the front with bags of dog food, the various factions in the store began to develop. There are the obvious good guys, the military people who remain silent and to themselves, the incredibly outrageous radical (so called) Christian woman who claims that it is punishment for our sins, and the originals 'good guy' man's neighbor who happens to be black and doesn't believe that their is a problem.



This leads me to the first disturbing part of the movie. The black lawyer neighbor talks all of the other blacks in the store along with a small amount of other races to leave the store with him. He claims that 'his people' are not going to be mocked by them. Why in the world the race card is needed in this picture is beyond me. The lawyer leads his people into the mist and obvious doom. I scratched my head wondering what value that part added to the mix and what underlying bias was being revealed by the producers.



They then cut to a shot of the local religious fanatic praying in the bathroom. The 'good woman' in the movie comes into the room to use it disturbing the fanatic who becomes quite angry. The woman tries to befriend the fanatic and the fanatic quickly tells her that she does not need her as a friend because she has God. The fanatic then spews out all sorts of foul language and attacks the woman verbally. I cringed as I could see what direction the producers were taking this one.



A love affair begins to bloom between two of the people who had grown up together but that is quickly snuffed out when the girl is killed violently with the first real attack on the store by what looks like flying scorpions. Now, what are they trying to say here? I know, I am probably trying to tear the movie apart to much but the biases seemed so obvious to me.



As the attacks continue, the fanatic gains more and more weak minds to her side gaining a huge advantage in numbers in the store. The good guys see what is coming especially when the fanatic calls for a sacrifice of the lone left soldier in the store since it is revealed that the mist is a portal to other worlds that the government had carelessly opened up in the local military base. They kill and sacrifice the young man. The fanatic then claims that as is written in the Bible, God is appeased for the time being.



The small group began to plot their escape. They place food in a check out to be grabbed as they run out the door. The plan is to try and get to the good guys car and attempt to drive to safety. The plan is thwarted by the fanatic who then calls for the sacrifice of the child.



I turned to Trin and said, "I think I have had enough.". "Maybe it will get better.", she returned. Knowing of all of King's good vs evil type novels, good always seems to come out in the end so I agreed and kept watching.



One of the good guys kills the fanatic with two shots from his gun. While the others are stunned, they make their escape. Five people survive and end up in the car. They drive off slowly past the sea of faces looking at them from the store. Somber music plays as they drive off.



The five are an older man and woman, the good woman, the good man, and his son. You began to wonder if they will be starting off together once they find safety. They drive by the good guys house only to witness that his wife is dead.



They drive and drive encountering one huge creature along the way and all sorts of weird sounds. "Why is no one trying to listen to the radio?", I asked out loud. They drove until they ran out of gas. Sitting their in the car in the dark shrouded by the mist, they try and figure out what to do next. The good guy looks at the woman and then to his gun. He checks the bullets and finds their are only four. I jumped up and screamed, "No, this can't be!". But it was. I kicked the chair in anger and frustration as four shots were fired. The man in obvious agony (he had just killed four friends, one of them being his own son) tries in vain to get the gun to fire once more while in his mouth. He then steps out of the car and begins to scream for one of the creatures to take him too. While he screams, you began to hear another sound and through the mist behind him comes an army tank followed by trucks full of civilians as the mist begins to lift and the creatures are exterminated by the military. The man drops to his knees in agony as the screen fades to black.


After the movie, I got on the computer and looked up what others had thought of the movie and found that most either really loved it or really hated it. To me, it was open and shut. I enjoy movies but for the most part, I want to feel good after watching one. I don't know how anyone can feel good about the way this one ended and any mind that comes up with this type of ending has problems; serious problems. Let's see, maybe he is an unhappy man who hates his wife, dislikes all blacks and other minorities, can't deal with relationships, has problems with Christians, and has suicidal thoughts. Oh yeah and he doesn't trust the military either.

Or maybe he just thinks that it is good art. I don't know, but I do know that I am glad that I only paid a couple of bucks for it.