‘The Mist’ is Still an Emotional Gut Punch After 15 Years

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Dimension Films, and The Weinstein Company

Adapting a Stephen King story for the big screen doesn’t always work out… unless your name is Frank Darabont. The prolific horror screenwriter has kept busy over the last decade, creating, developing and writing one of the most popular modern TV series with The Walking Dead. But before that, Darabont had some serious heavy hitters in the horror movie genre, including writing the screenplays for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which is widely considered the best in the franchise; one of the best horror remakes of all time with 1988’s The Blob, and the follow-up to David Cronenberg’s classic, with The Fly II.

After those beloved horror hits, Darabont teamed up with the literary Master of Horror, Stephen King. The two worked together on a lesser-known adaptation of King’s called Nightshift Collection, a two-part anthology that included King’s stories titled The Woman in the Room and The Boogeyman.

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The partnership between the two flourished thereafter, as Darabont would go on to write the screenplays and direct two of most well-received King adaptations of all time. The first being The Shawshank Redemption, a seven-time Oscar nominee starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman in 1994, and The Green Mile in 1999, which was nominated for four Oscars. Darabont was nominated for Best Writing on both films.

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Dimension Films, and The Weinstein Company

Almost a decade later, the two reunited to adapt a short story from King’s book of novellas titled Skeleton Crew. Believe it or not, the story was inspired by a trip that King and his son took to a grocery store to get hot dog buns the day after a storm, in which he imagined the market being filled with flying, prehistoric reptiles. The film adaptation of that story premiered 15 years ago, and very few retellings of King’s work hit as hard as The Mist.

For those unfamiliar with the film, or at least need a refresher, The Mist follows a father-and-son duo, David and Billy, who go to a grocery store after a large storm, and become trapped with other members of the community when a swirling mist brings creatures from another dimension to this world. While stuck in the store, David and Billy must not only survive the monsters, but the rising tension being brought forth by the town’s religious nut, Mrs. Carmody.

The cast of The Mist was an absolute banger. Not only was Thomas Jane, who is usually great in his own right, surrounded by a plethora of fantastic character actors like Ande Brauger, Toby Jones, and William Sadler, but also Darabont regulars, like Jeffrey DeMunn (The Green Mile), Melissa McBride and Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead).

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, Dimension Films, and The Weinstein Company

Most notably, Marcia Gay Harden gave an absolutely riveting performance as Mrs. Carmody, creating one of the most hated villains in horror movie history, even to this day. I’m serious, there were a few years where it was hard to see Harden in any other role, without thinking about how much I hated her as Mrs. Carmody. A true testament to a great villain performance.

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Though some of the CG effects were a little iffy, even for the time, the creature design was phenomenal, and there was an excellent mixture of practical effects throughout, creating real-looking, disgusting, and dangerous insectoids and raging reptilians that thirsted after our protagonists’ blood. There’s a particular scene where otherworldly spiders hatch out of the skin of webbed-up military police officers that still gives me the heebie jeebies.

Frank Darabont created a perfect blend of a classic sci-fi creature feature and a siege movie. The Mist was a constant back-and-forth between man and beast, with both sides losing important members along the way. I’ve found that the best way to enjoy the movie is to grab a bucket of popcorn and watch the black-and-white Blu-ray version. It completely changes the film into a 1940s-50s-inspired drive-in monster movie. The film’s somewhat lackluster CG effects also benefit from the more shaded tone of this version. It somehow makes the movie scarier, yet cheesier and more fun… which helps the final scene deliver an even deadlier blow.

Easily, the most memorable thing about The Mist is the ending. Spoiler Alert for those that haven’t seen it or read the story. In King’s novella, David, Billy, and the a few survivors make their way through the mist, without finding much success of human survival. However, at the very end, the crew hears voices through the car’s radio, and the story ends with our heroes feeling one thing… hope.

In Darabont’s version, hope is completely sucked out of the room, and we’re left with one of the bleakest endings in all of horror. In a massive switch from King’s story, and with his blessing, Darabont had David, Billy, and a couple of survivors run out of gas in the middle of the mist. Upon realizing there was nowhere left to go, and rather than be eaten by interdimensional monsters, David uses the last three bullets in his gun to shoot his son and the remaining survivors in the head, leaving himself alive to face what comes next.

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After letting out a primal, and torturous scream of grief, mere moments later, a military convoy drives past David, with several survivors from the town, showing the audience that if they’d only waited a few more minutes, they would have all been saved.

The film ends with one of the most gut-wrenching, heart-ripping conclusions ever. It makes us angry and it hurts us, but it also reveals a sense of desperation and realism from our characters that comes with hopelessness and fear. I can’t for sure say that had I needed to protect my loved ones from nightmarish, ravenous creatures, I wouldn’t have done the same.

Bravo, Frank Darabont. It’s been 15 years, and we’re still not over it.


 

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