Creature Features in Review: The Mist (2007)

When I first heard of the film “The Mist” I knew nothing about it other than – a mist descends on a town and, hidden within the murkiness, there are… Things. Nasty things that kill people. I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head. Just what the film industry needed, another knock-off film. I mean, we’ve seen this back in the eighties with John Carpenter’s “The Fog”. Not entirely sure we needed another film with a similar concept. But, then, I heard more about the film. Directed by Frank Darabont, he who made “The Green Mile”, “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Walking Dead”. I’m a fan. Then I saw it was based on the work of Stephen King. Now, I’m not a fan of King because – for me – I find the books a bit too wordy to read (I have a short attention… oh look, a penny). That being said, I do like the ideas he has. Then, of course, there was the cast list: Thomas Jane (in my eyes an under-rated actor) and several folk from “The Walking Dead” (Carol, Dale, Andrea… Was Frank doing a test run with the actors before hiring them for The WD?). What the hell, there was enough there for me to give it a go and – you know what – I’m glad I did.

“The Mist” is not an original story (as mentioned). Now I don’t know what came first between King’s short and the novel of “The Fog” and I do not really care. It’s a story that has been told time and time again in various ways but this… This worked well because of the minimal locations and the chemistry between the varied characters even though said characters are also the type of people you see in these films. You have the small minded locals, you have the God-Worshipping woman who tries turn everyone else into believers (“We are being punished for our sins”), you have the father trying to save his kid, the military folk with something to hide… Seriously – no originality but they work – which is just as well as we don’t really see any of the features until about an hour into the film. The rest is them talking, panicking, planning. blah blah.

When the creatures do come, you can’t help but get pulled out of the film a little – and the story it is trying to tell. The reason being because – whilst they don’t look bad – they don’t look great. Or rather, they don’t look great in colour. You see, there are two’s versions of this film. You have the aforementioned colour version with it’s rubbish CGI and then you have the same film but done in black and white. Frank’s original vision of the film, to have it in black and white. Personally, this is the definitive version of the film. It’s moody and atmospheric and even reminds me of those old sci-fi serials I used to watch when growing up. But, more than that – and more importantly, because it’s black and white the effects of the creatures don’t look so obviously fake. In colour, the CGI looks cheap and nasty – in particular, there’s one scene that features a dire looking tentacle. In black and white, it blends well into the scene and doesn’t look like a seven year old has drawn it with a BIC biro.

Other creatures include flying things, big arse legs of monsters unseen and – of course – spiders. After all, what horror film (about creatures at least) would be complete without some big arse, mutated eight-legged little bastard fucks?! Before we get to the spiders though, a quick mention to the flying creatures. There are a couple of “breeds” on display here – one is large and almost dinosaur looking and the other (better) type is around the size of an arm and more gnat-like in their appearance. And, like a gnat, these things bite and when they do… Well, just watch the film. Anyway, I hinted towards some arachnids…

The spiders in this being particularly nasty for those with a fear of spiders. I personally don’t fear them. I’m THE Matt Shaw. I don’t fear anything. I do, however, go out of my way to kill them if they’re in my house. Because they’re cunts. What’s good about these particular spiders is that – whilst they’re obviously big – they don’t look too different to what we already fear. The only difference is that they spit acid webs and put their eggs inside of you (yes, there is a scene in which the spiders come from a person). In colour, this doesn’t look too shabby to be fair but – again – in black and white, it’s seamless.

So to sum up the film isn’t original, the characters are paint-by-numbers and the plot straight from something out of the sixties but – yeah – it works. Even in colour, the first time I saw it, I came away loving it but that was mainly to do with the ending. And this is where I shut up, other than to say – the ending, for a true horror lover, is nigh on perfect. It’s a great big fuck you to the Hollywood system that usually dictates films should end a certain way to please the majority of the audience (in their eyes). Whilst the ending doesn’t really make a blind bit of difference as to whether it is colour or black and white (it’s great as an over all) the whole film as a complete package just works better without colour.

If you haven’t seen this film, you need to give it a go. Do suspend your disbelief, do switch off and just enjoy it. For me personally, this film went straight into my top twenty when I watched it. When I saw the black and white version: It went into my top 10.

MATT SHAW is the published author of over 120 stories. Although known as being a horror author, he also enjoys spending time in other genres too – something he had always planned to do in order to have at least one book, in a wide collection, which would appeal to people from all walks of life. Shaw was first published in 2004 with his horror novel Happy Ever After – the first of his books to reach the number one slot on Amazon and the first of his books to use his trademark style of narrating the stories through the first person perspective. An extremely prolific writer, Matt Shaw is continually writing as well as keeping up to date with his readers via his (some might say) crazy Facebook page.