I have very fond memories of the first time I played SILENT HILL, on Playstation. My friends and I rented it out of the blue, on a fateful night of boredom. Nothing guided our choice, except that it seemed like the kind of story I would like. We invaded my friend's basement at about 7 PM and didn't come out until the sun was up. Everything about that game was to involving: the heavy silence in the mist, the mystery, the night sequences where the city literally go to hell, the intricate, intellectual plotting. I've never quite had a such intense relationship to horror fiction after SILENT HILL, but I've always sought one out *. I've been clued in that Stephen King's THE MIST and the subsequent movie adaptation by Frank Darabont might just be what I was looking for. Truth is, it would've been too easy.
In good Stephen King tradition, THE MIST is about a recluse artist living in Maine, named David Drayton (Thomas Jane). When a tree rams through his living room window during a storm, David is forced to drive to town for hardware supplies and does so with his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) and his troublesome, self-righetous neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher). A thick mist suddenly falls upon the small town and whoever ventures into it suffers a painful end to horrifying creatures. So David, Billy, Brent and two dozens of townsfolk are trapped in the general store, looking to figure out what's going on and where to go from here. Some take that affirmation on a very practical level and try to figure their way out of the mist and others take it more philosophically and announce the end of the world.
THE MIST is a good psychological horror movie. People are afraid of the unknown and will become monsters themselves rather than to face it for what it is. It's how humans have always been and still are today and THE MIST is a pretty good reflection of that. Now, in the horror department, I thought the movie could've used a little more restraint. A psychological movie with limited means for CGI should've been a little more subtle about it, even if it meant to tweak some scenes from the novella. The garage door scene with the tentacles in the beginning was so low-fi, that it broke the mood that the movie was earnestly trying to set up. I've got nothing against tentacles **, but a little restraint and suggestion would've been nice since THE MIST cannot afford to show a decent one.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of THE MIST is that it keeps shifting focus between the microcosm inside the store and the strange netherworld full of giant creepy crawlies that it doesn't bother to explain. I've never read the novella and I'm aware that Stephen King is a setting freak that is difficult to adapt, but I would've loved a greater progression in the story arc. I know that the mist had a symbolic value, that it represents human ignorance in a Lovecraftian way, but I believe that one doesn't prevent the other if only one character (i.e David Drayton) gets to know the truth. Unfortunately, it is explained in a single sentence in THE MIST. I kind of liked the storyline overall, but I didn't love it. By the time the credits rolled, it was still pulsing with untapped potential ***.
THE MIST is more of an inspiration to video games like SILENT HILL and HALF-LIFE than it is inspired by it. It's not as subtle and layered as these two well-written, legendary video games are, but both have borrowed elements from THE MIST. Overall, it's a decent movie. It's not a great one and it's a strange feeling watching it after playing these two video games about fifteen years ago, but it would get the job done for someone who doesn't have the extensive history I have with well-written video games. It's a strange thing to say, but I feel like THE MIST was adapted way too late. It could've become a cult horror movie if it came out in the 1980s and went a little easier on corny special effects. Hardcore fans of horror will not bat an eyelash at THE MIST, but it's still a great story and the movie adaptation is kind of wondefully Lovecraftian in its own way.
* I was so much into SILENT HILL at one point, I've spent like 6 hours reading a plot analysis of the first 4 games in .txt format, one night.
** Well, maybe I have. What's with horror and tentacles anyway? Maybe humanity should make peace with squids leave them be at the bottom of the sea. Most people have never seen a fucking squid in real life.
*** My fellow arachnophobic people will appreciate this: MEGA, TERRIFYING SPIDER ALERT. Expect just about the most nightmarish spiders south of that movie your sister wanted you to watch to get over your arachnophobia when you were young.
In good Stephen King tradition, THE MIST is about a recluse artist living in Maine, named David Drayton (Thomas Jane). When a tree rams through his living room window during a storm, David is forced to drive to town for hardware supplies and does so with his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) and his troublesome, self-righetous neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher). A thick mist suddenly falls upon the small town and whoever ventures into it suffers a painful end to horrifying creatures. So David, Billy, Brent and two dozens of townsfolk are trapped in the general store, looking to figure out what's going on and where to go from here. Some take that affirmation on a very practical level and try to figure their way out of the mist and others take it more philosophically and announce the end of the world.
THE MIST is a good psychological horror movie. People are afraid of the unknown and will become monsters themselves rather than to face it for what it is. It's how humans have always been and still are today and THE MIST is a pretty good reflection of that. Now, in the horror department, I thought the movie could've used a little more restraint. A psychological movie with limited means for CGI should've been a little more subtle about it, even if it meant to tweak some scenes from the novella. The garage door scene with the tentacles in the beginning was so low-fi, that it broke the mood that the movie was earnestly trying to set up. I've got nothing against tentacles **, but a little restraint and suggestion would've been nice since THE MIST cannot afford to show a decent one.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of THE MIST is that it keeps shifting focus between the microcosm inside the store and the strange netherworld full of giant creepy crawlies that it doesn't bother to explain. I've never read the novella and I'm aware that Stephen King is a setting freak that is difficult to adapt, but I would've loved a greater progression in the story arc. I know that the mist had a symbolic value, that it represents human ignorance in a Lovecraftian way, but I believe that one doesn't prevent the other if only one character (i.e David Drayton) gets to know the truth. Unfortunately, it is explained in a single sentence in THE MIST. I kind of liked the storyline overall, but I didn't love it. By the time the credits rolled, it was still pulsing with untapped potential ***.
THE MIST is more of an inspiration to video games like SILENT HILL and HALF-LIFE than it is inspired by it. It's not as subtle and layered as these two well-written, legendary video games are, but both have borrowed elements from THE MIST. Overall, it's a decent movie. It's not a great one and it's a strange feeling watching it after playing these two video games about fifteen years ago, but it would get the job done for someone who doesn't have the extensive history I have with well-written video games. It's a strange thing to say, but I feel like THE MIST was adapted way too late. It could've become a cult horror movie if it came out in the 1980s and went a little easier on corny special effects. Hardcore fans of horror will not bat an eyelash at THE MIST, but it's still a great story and the movie adaptation is kind of wondefully Lovecraftian in its own way.
* I was so much into SILENT HILL at one point, I've spent like 6 hours reading a plot analysis of the first 4 games in .txt format, one night.
** Well, maybe I have. What's with horror and tentacles anyway? Maybe humanity should make peace with squids leave them be at the bottom of the sea. Most people have never seen a fucking squid in real life.
*** My fellow arachnophobic people will appreciate this: MEGA, TERRIFYING SPIDER ALERT. Expect just about the most nightmarish spiders south of that movie your sister wanted you to watch to get over your arachnophobia when you were young.