"THE MIST"
Starring Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, Marcia Gay Harden
Released: Nov. 21, 2007

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THE FILM DIRECTOR Frank Darabont is well known for taking Stephen King stories and turning them into first-rate movies (both "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile" were nominated for best-picture Oscars).

He does it again with his latest film, "The Mist," based on a King novella.

The plot is full of complicated twists, intriguing tales, and horrifying surprises. The story takes place in a small, sleepy rural town where everyone seems to know each other. As a large and unusually violent storm hits overnight, the townspeople gather in a convenience store to stock up on supplies.

Among the variety of locals and mistrusted out-of-town visitors are artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane ), his young boy, Billy (Nathan Gamble), the artist’s imperious neighbor, Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), and the resident prophet, Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden).

Trouble begins when a bloodied man appears yelling murder while a fast-creeping mist sucks and swallows a man, quickly shrouding the town with unknown possibilities.

The ominous mist is a thick, mean, wet blinding fog in light gray color rolling in the town without a notice. In early scenes, the mist quietly surges and moves around at its own will, flowing like water and creeping like long figures. David and a few men make an attempt to determine if it is safe for the people in the store to go into the mist.

However, David and his fellow locals soon find out that the mist contains vicious monsters that dismember anyone who goes outside. As the monsters and the true meaning behind the mist start to emerge, David and the others become trapped in the store. The mist’s riddles, insect-like whirring, and periodic elephantine trumpet blasts demonstrate its true identity as an evil strong enough to tear people apart and keep the shoppers under siege.

While David tries to find a way out of the shop, Mrs. Carmody, an evangelical Christian and gospel-preaching crazy lady, makes her own observations about the mist as the Apocalypse. She attracts a crowd of frightened people and is able to gather them into a bloodthirsty, evangelical vigilante mob bent on sacrificing the nonbelievers (David’s friends) to ward off the stalking creatures outside. As a result, the emerging human violence becomes as much a threat as the mist.

When the townspeople realize how dangerous their situation is, they become panicked, confused, and quickly turn on one another. David tries with little success to calm the crowd and figure out a solution.

With more and more people dying and the situation worsening, David wonders what is more dangerous: the monsters in the mist, or the frightened people in the store who he once thought were his friends and neighbors.

As the movie progresses, David determines the true enemy. All David has to fear is human fear itself. Director Darabont makes human fear visible through the battle between evil monsters and the horrors that lurk within human minds. Instead of just making a neat horror movie, Darabont says something deep about human beings: how fear is the most treacherous of all dangers, capable of turning calm people into wild savages.

“The Mist” proves to be far better than most recent horror movies, focusing more on suspense and how humans react under fear rather than excess gore and scariness. The amount of gore is nothing compared to the nasty and bloody stuff found in the “Saw” or “Hostel” movies. The most extreme scene is when David sees a police officer’s body exploding into larva. The suspense is mind racking once the mist envelops the whole town. Will the monsters break into the store? Who’s going to die next? How are they going to escape?

The ending is bleak, unpredictable, and surprising, which differs from King’s original story. Director Darabont seems to know that nothing scares the audience more than their own overactive imaginations. By showing the audience next to nothing, he also knows how to make them jump in their seats and allow them eagerly to fill in the blanks.

More than 50 movies have been based on King’s writings, some superb, some good, and some truly bad. “The Mist” turns out to be a good movie, and is a serious horror/thriller that should appeal to those who like the horror genre in general.

"The Mist" is currently playing at the Goodrich Savoy 16 Theatres, 232 W. Burwash, Savoy, and the GKC Beverly 18, 910 Meijers Drive, Champaign.

"The Mist" AT A GLANCE

• Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher, Nathan Gamble, William Sadler, Toby Jones
• Directed by: Frank Darabont
• Written by: Frank Darabont (screenplay), based on the novella by Stephen King
• Genre: Horror
• Rated: R for violence, gore, and language
• Runtime: 125 minutes
• Release date: Nov. 21, 2007
• Summary: Among a group of terrified locals, artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his young boy, Billy (Nathan Gamble), become trapped in a local convenient store by a strange mist. Panic and fear penetrate the humans when they find that vicious monsters lurk within the mist and will dismember anyone who goes outside. Human reason begins to collapse from fear and panic, and David begins to wonder what is more dangerous: the monsters in the mist, or the people he thought he once knew.
• Now showing: GKC Beverly 18, Goodrich Savoy 16
• Showtimes: Click here
• External sites: IMDb entry, official site
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