"‘The Mist’- well done and enjoyable"
I have to admit, I am one of those sad people that like Stephen King but have never read any of his books. I think in part this might be because I enjoy the on-screen adaptations. Most of the time when I have seen an adaptation of a book it disappoints. So I have purposely avoided Stephen King books.
A few of my favourite Stephen King adaptations/films are The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. So when I learned that Frank Darabont who directed both films had produced another called ‘The Mist’ it had me intrigued. Somehow this film had slipped under my radar; I had probably dismissed it as your average Horror flick when reading the summary.
I have to say this film does not disappoint. You are straight into the story, no real build up at all. It has a good ensemble cast with people like Thomas Jane, Laurie Holden, William Sadler, Toby Jones and Andre Braugher to name just a few. There are many familiar faces in this one and the acting is superb.
To my mind one person stole the film for me and that was Marcia Gay Harden who plays Mrs Carmody. A woman who believes the mist is more of a biblical nature than natural or supernatural. She plays this part well and you do end up despising her. It shows extremes in any religion can be harmful.
The basic premise is nothing new; a mist descends on a small town after a storm. People are trapped in a supermarket and there is more than just mist outside. As the situation worsens, chaos descends inside ignited by Mrs Carmody and her religious preaching. It gets to a point where people of a sound mind decide to face the monsters outside rather than those inside.
The ending to this film I thought was good, obviously I will not give it away. But it is a shocking end.
I enjoyed this film throughout; it is not a Green Mile or Shawshank Redemption. That being said it is a different genre, so it is unfair to make comparisons. What I will say is this could have been a run-of-the-mill horror. Where this differs is the great and believable acting. The close camera work that gives you a real sense of claustrophobia and feeling being hemmed in from all sides. But the real key is as always, with any Stephen King, the story itself.
A great story that is well told, worth watching.
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