Over the years I've watched many horror films, some of them are total shit, others are excellent and intense horrors that get the heart racing, and I've loved many of them. But rarely does a film scare me, as in bother me on a personal level. And for this spooky season I've gone and watched one of those films, a little old Stephen King film called The Mist, and it was spooky, so let's get stuck into this nightmare of movie.
The Mist actually doesn't start off that strong, instead it starts slow, there are a few neat Easter eggs if you're a film and or Stephen King buff, but the characters are very standard, which since this film is clearly going for representing normal people, isn't a bad thing, David's a happy dad with a happy wife and kid living on the edge of a lake, and he has a not so solid relationship with his neighbour. The film's first 10 minutes does set up a feeling of normalcy quite well, but that doesn't make it tremendously gripping to watch. This film then, quite sharply, takes a turn for the more intense when the sirens go off and the mist roles in, and this film becomes a study into humanity. As the film progresses, David is the most prominent character, though I think protagonist might be a stretch, because the protagonist is a collective, it's the supermarket and everyone in it. David keeps the film's plot going as he tries and fails to maintain order and keep his son safe, while being the audience's every man in this crazy situation, exhibiting traits entirely normal to the vast majority of us, but that are sinfully portrayed in this film's very religious themes. Andrea from The Walking Dead's in this movie, as well as a few other Walking Dead faces, and she, like David, serves more as a perspective for the audience than a character. The closest thing to characters the film has is metaphors, which is something I'll explain later, but from a character standpoint, this film isn't very good. Where this film shines is in a fairly standard sounding plot, a group of people trying to survive the monster attacks, but on a deeper level, really takes a long, hard, very uncomfortable look at our nature, and it is gripping. The film explores a host of possible reactions to this kind of scenario, all represented in the individual people in the store; the reality denying sceptic, the religious fanatic, and all the areas in between, as all the scared people in the store try to make sense of the mist. It only gets more gripping as a cult mentality begins to develop, and the people really start to lose their minds, even resorting to murder to survive. In the middle is people like Toby Jones' Ollie, who does a good job of explaining all of this madness as the film goes on, insightful to the point of breaking the 4th wall, and thankfully the only one with a gun. It's almost like he, the character of Ollie, knows how stupid we are as a species, even calling us fundamentally insane at one point, and seeing this large group of people all from different walks of life find their own way of getting answers is absolutely fascinating, and terrifying. While the film does seem on the surface to be anti religious, it really isn't, instead the film treats religion as just another option, every bit as valid and right as scepticism, survivalism, and nihilism, which is to say not very, because you'll die anyway. Yes, it's bleak, very bleak, but it's this film's greatest strength by far, the Lovecraftian concept that in the larger universe, full of monsters and demons we will never understand, humanity and all its little problems are insignificant, and that when faced with our own insignificance, we lose our minds. The film's ending really hammers this point home in one of the most gut punching final scenes I've ever seen, as David, and by extension the audience, realises the futility of it all, it's actually hard to watch, and I 'love' it, I guess, that really doesn't feel like the right word.
The Mist, being a decade old, has the benefit of being a small film in terms of scale. Most of the film takes place in the store and the surrounding area, which was probably very convenient for the filmmakers, but it also gives the film the benefit of a feeling of confinement, which is perfect. Also beneficial to the film is the Mist itself, giving a good excuse for aging CG, and really adding the feeling of confinement and Lovecraftian otherworldliness of the monsters, which the audience rarely gets a good look at. When the monsters are on the attack, they're the star of the show, done largely with CGI, it's fortunate that the CGI still doesn't look bad, and the monsters themselves look really cool. The film's monsters very effectively perverts earthly concepts, like annoying flies, turned into a giant, winged killing machine, it makes spiders as big as dogs and gives them acidic webs and a really fucking creepy set of human teeth, and brings in reptilian alpha predators that make for one of the film's most exciting moments. This is a smart move, as it makes the monsters simultaneously natural, and yet monstrous, perverted, beautifully complimenting the Lovecraftiness, as it turns the natural hierarchy that man's on the top of on its head. Despite being very reliant on CG for its effects, the film actually doesn't have that much in the way of effects; there are sequences where they're used heavily, as the monsters tear shit up, and it's entertaining and creepy and usually very gory, but they're only the star in those scenes, you leave the film with its philosophical and psychological mindfuckery on your mind, and that is unquestionably the point of the film, and it's greatest strength. That could leave some people disappointed if they don't know what the film's really about though, I personally don't see how someone could be bored by this film, but it's hard to market this film as a creature feature, because it's really not that. One issue that can be gleamed, if I have to find one; films taking place in closed environments over several days generally struggle with conveying the passage of time; and The Mist does, at times, feel rushed. Maybe the breakdown of society really would happen over just a few days, but it's hard to keep up with when these people are in the film's narrative, made even harder by the mist blocking out the sunlight, and that can even be spun into a strength; as the world becomes more alien and less familiar, things we can understand like the passage of time will inevitably start to break down. The issue is the film very often fades to black and then jumps some amount of time, it happens enough to be noticeable, and the passage of time is hard to follow. This doesn't hurt the film's pacing however, once the mist roles in the film always has something going on, whether it's a monster attack, or a scene of societal breakdown, and while it's not exactly a breakneck pace, the film does consistently keep moving, that passage of time problem doesn't actually effect it that much, apart from the aforementioned problem of the film feeling rushed at times, like pieces are missing, events that push the people more to madness that we never saw. There's a TV series based on The Mist, so maybe this kind of story better fits an episodic format, but then again, based on what I've heard about the series, perhaps not.
No film is prefect, because nothing is perfect, but sometimes a film can come pretty close, and in my opinion, The Mist is one of those films. It's weak on the character front, and the monster attacks aren't as numerous as you'd perhaps like, but the monsters are awesome when they do show up, and the film doesn't try to have mind bending characters, it's goal is to tell a story about confinement, about mortality, and about the fragility and desperation of the human mind, and it nails it. It's a well paced, if rushed look at the apocalypse that's fascinating to watch, the horror is good, benefited by decent CG for its age, and while the bleakness might be a bit much for some viewers, and it is uncomfortable at times, I love it. The Mist is a solid little horror film that I'd very highly recommend, and it's very definitely worth watching.
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