Speculative Fiction Centre
"The soul sets its own horizon..." --Alexander Dumas
Movie Review: "Stephen Kings" THE MIST: Review by Terry Lloyd Vinson
Frank Darabont’s suspenseful creature-feature ‘The Mist’ finally does the ‘King’ Justice… 
CAST: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey DeMunn, William Sadler, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, Frances Sternhagen, Buck Taylor
Directed by Frank Darabont
Rated 'R' for horror violence, gore, and language
Adapted from the Stephen King Novella ‘The Mist’ from his 1985 short-story collection ‘Skeleton Crew’
‘Fear Changes Everything’ is the tagline given to Frank Darabont’s ‘The Mist’, and I cannot recall a more effective and fitting choice of words tied to a specific film in ages.
Taken from Stephen King’s 1985 collection ‘Skeleton Crew’, which I practically devoured while a young Airman stationed in South Korea (my God, has it really been twenty-two years? Gasp…talk about horrors!), ‘The Mist’ has long been rumored for cinematic treatment, only to be pushed aside for less accomplished King works through the years (‘Lawnmower Man’ or ‘Ride the Bullet’ anyone?).
Obviously handing Darabont (‘Shawshank Redemption’, ‘The Green Mile’) the keys to this particular ‘King’-dom was a no-brainer, as the end results are easily the best King Adaptation since the aforementioned Darabont efforts.
The synopsis is as follows: Artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and family awaken to significant damages to their lakefront home following a severe storm. Accompanied by his young son and a cranky neighbor (Andre Braugher) from which he has had less-than-cordial legal dealings in the past, David treks to the local grocery store for supplies, only to find himself trapped with several dozen other locals when a mysterious, foreboding mist envelops the surrounding landscape.
Following the gruesome death of a store employee via a flesh-eating tentacle (the lone less-than-realistic CG shot of the entire film), Drayton tries in vain to explain the inexplicable horror he’d witnessed first-hand while serving only to split the harried group into various factions. While a few unfortunate naysayers wander off into the unknown, departing the relative safety of the grocery’s interior only to pay the ultimate price for such brazen carelessness, local religious zealot and all-around crackpot Miss Carmody (Harden, in a spitfire performance) seizes the opportunity to take control of the weak-minded and cast a spell of biblical doom, going as far as calling for human sacrifice to appease the supernatural forces at play.
As the body count rises and fear, paranoia and desperation become the order of the day, it quickly becomes painfully apparent that the hidden dangers lurking within the whitish vapor aren’t nearly as potentially dangerous as the human factor taking shelter inside.
Other than two distinct scenes, the first set inside the store involving a horde of mutated bugs and the second and easily most chilling taking place in a nearby pharmacy, ‘The Mist’ is less creature-feature than tense, white-knuckle melodrama.
As so brilliantly written in King’s novella, the deranged yet fascinating character that is Miss Carmody leaves much deeper an impression than any and all of the monsters present. The cast as a whole is rock-solid, most notably Toby Jones as mild-mannered store checker slash sharpshooter Ollie Weeks and veteran character actress Frances Sternhagen as a hard-as-nails school teacher, though it is without a doubt Marcia Gay Harden who steals the show as the bile-spewing female equivalent to the Reverend Jim Jones.
Overall, Darabont’s script stays true to King’s apocalyptic vision, with the notable exception being a shocking final scene that is already causing quite the stir, especially among hardcore fans. As a huge advocate of the original story, I’m still not quite sure how to feel about it, though I will admit it packs quite the emotional wallop.
In the end, the best a Stephen King fan of old can wish for is that the filmmakers responsible for bringing the man’s best tales to the screen simply don’t screw it up too badly. In the case of ‘The Mist’, I’d have to state a resounding mission accomplished, as I’d place this effort side by side with such notable adaptations as Carrie, The Dead Zone, and The Shawshank Redemption.
Perhaps it should be set in stone that any and all future King Adaptations be automatically handed to Frank Darabont by proxy just to avoid potential mediocrity. Along those lines, it’s been reported that the next Darabont/King collaboration just might well be ‘The Long Walk’, taken from 1986’s The Bachman books.
Rating – A-
The Fright Flicks of Stephen King’: One Fan’s Overview
Personal note from the author: As with most suspense/horror writers, I owe a large chunk of my original inspiration to put pen to paper (or better yet fingers to keyboard) to the modern master. Though I do fancy his earlier works, most notably the era of the ‘80’s that spawned ‘Christine’, ‘The Dead Zone’, ‘Cujo’, ‘The Stand’, and the short story collections ‘Night Shift’ and ‘Skeleton Crew’, I still consider Stephen King the one true Zen master of the supernatural thriller.
That said, there have only been a scant handful of Hollywood adaptations that have escaped my intrusive glare over the years. Below are my opinions on said projects. You can read my review of his latest, ‘The Mist’ in a separate article.
Carrie (1976) – The prototype of all King-based films to come. Supplemented by a great cast (particularly Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie), Director Brian DePalma (Scarface, Sisters) does the novel primo justice. The final ten minutes are worth the price of admission alone, and it still holds up today amongst the countless ‘teen angst revenge’ horror flicks that followed in its wake.
Rating – A
The Shining (1980) – Stanley Kubrick’s bone-chilling, if not somewhat flawed masterpiece; a lingering snapshot of a man’s gradual descent into madness. Nobody, but nobody can play the dementia card with more zestful glee than Sir Jack.
Rating – B+
Creepshow (1982)- A team-up forged in horror hall-of-fame infamy; George ‘Night of the Living Dead’ Romero directs five separate vignettes taken from King shorts. Always considered ‘The Crate’ my personal favorite (‘Just call me Billie…everybody does!”). Fantastic genre cast (Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielson, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall, Fritz Weaver, and with King himself featured in the ‘Lonesome Death of Jody Verrill’ segment).
Rating – B+
Christine (1983)-Helmed by horror-maven John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing), King’s tragic tale of a teenage boy’s love for his car, this particular model having rolled off an assembly line located somewhere in the vicinity of Hell’s deepest, darkest pit, boast solid thrills and decent-enough production values all around, though for some reason I always considered it a mild disappointment for all the talent involved.
Rating – B-
The Dead Zone (1983) – Christopher Walken steals the show as a telepathically-cursed everyman in David Cronenberg’s most commercial film to date (his ‘Fly’ remake notwithstanding). Personally, I considered this King’s most thought-provoking novel, and this gripping cinematic feast did little to alter my perspective.
Rating – A
Cujo (1983) – Despite its outwardly simplistic plot, that being the oft-used ‘when good pets go horribly awry’ scenario, it mostly works. Dee Wallace Stone shines in pretty-much a one-woman show, while the rabies-challenged canine in question delivers as menacing a performance as any human baddie in recent memory.
Rating - B
Firestarter (1984) – One of the few (lone?) King works that the film actually improves on. Solid performances abound; from David Keith’s tormented father to George C. Scott’s one-eyed maniac, while the weakest link is that of little Drew Barrymore, whose incessant pouting and brooding grows increasingly annoying; essentially your typical spoiled-brat slash human flamethrower with pigtails. On the plus side, Martin Sheen (last seen as a similar baddie in The Dead Zone) exudes a reptilian sliminess as a crooked bureaucrat.
Rating – C+
Cat’s Eye (1985) – Lewis Teague directs four more King shorts, the most entertaining of which stars James Wood as a man desperate to curb his cigarette smoking ways in ‘Quitters, Inc’. Passable for the most part, though a bit toothless when compared to the similar-in-theme ‘Creepshow’.
Rating – C+
Stand By Me (1986) – Based on the short ‘The Body’ from the novel ‘Different Seasons’, I considered this surprise hit a bit of a fraud in terms of the dialogue used by its teenage cast (including then up-and-comers River Phoenix and Kiefer Sutherland). Enjoyable in parts, though a bit sappy and overly sentimental as a whole, it simply hasn’t held up well over time.
Rating – C
Maximum Overdrive (1986) – King attempts (for hopefully the last time) his hand at directing a script based on his short ‘Trucks’. Not the least bit scary and at several intervals unintentionally hilarious, perhaps this lame efforts worst sin is the painstaking dullness that sits in from practically the initial reel.
Rating – D
The Running Man (1987) – This Arnold Schwarzenegger action pic hardly resembles the King novella of the same title, though its futuristic ‘tournament of death’ plotline is given a definite boost by the presence of Richard ‘Family Fued’ Dawson as a corrupt, conscience-less MC.
Rating – B-
Pet Sematary (1989)– Despite a mostly no-name cast (the exception being the iconic presence of Fred Gwynne) and director (Mary Lambert, who also directed the rancid sequel three years later), I still consider this one of the better King adaptations. I dare anyone to watch the final ten minutes and not wince at least once. One of King’s darkest novels, the overt creepiness will settle on you like a second skin.
Rating – A-
Misery (1990)- Rob Reiner was never better behind the camera, nor was James Caan any better standing before it. As the hopelessly psychotic Anne Wilkes, Kathy Bates is absolute perfection.
Rating - A
The Dark Half (1991) – George Romero returns to King territory one more time with not quite the same level of success, though Timothy Hutton is fine playing twin roles, especially when he morphs into the evil-is-as-evil does George Stark persona.
Rating – B
Needful Things (1993) – Great cast (headed by Max Von Sydow and Ed Harris) and top-notch production values, but a bit overlong and dare I say it…even grows a bit tedious and predictable after a rip-roaring start.
Rating – C+
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – An enduring classic, one of the finer prison films of the modern era. If possible, it actually exceeds the novella in terms of dramatic thrust. Simply a magical testament of the human spirit lovingly transferred to film.
Rating – A+
Dolores Claiborne (1995) – As in ‘Misery’, Kathy Bates is perfectly cast in Taylor Hackford’s mesmerizing character study of one woman’s undying devotion to her only daughter. Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Christopher Plummer and David Strathairn round out a fine cast.
Rating – B+
Thinner (1996) – Infamous as the ‘Bachman’ book that was eventually uncloaked as a King novel, the film version suffers from a glaring lack of cohesion and woeful lack of suspense, despite the novel’s intriguing premise. Even the make-up effects lack the necessary realism to make the premise believable.
Rating – C
The Green Mile (1999) – Darabont’s follow-up to the classic ‘Redemption’ doesn’t quite reach the same mile-high pinnacle, though it is undoubtedly one of Tom Hanks’ finer moments. Also boasts fine ensemble performances from David Morse, Michael Jeter, Barry Pepper, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
Rating – B+
Dreamcatcher (2003) – It only goes to show that a solid cast and proven director do not always a quality flick make. Then again, I always considered this (along with the dreary, dull-as-a-butter knife ‘Insomnia’) one of King’s weakest recent novels. I would have never thought it possible to make any character portrayed by the great Morgan Freeman so clichéd and one-dimensional.
Rating - C
Secret Garden (2004) – Easily my favorite short taken from King’s collection ‘Four Past Midnight’, it’s given an extra surge of adrenalin by the slightly off-kilter lead performance by Johnny Depp, as well as Jon Turturro’s mysterious goggle-eyed lunatic. Its only weakness is perhaps in tipping its hand a bit too quickly. Overall, a solid effort.
Rating – B
1408 (2007) – Call it ‘The Shining’-lite, it does contain several edge-of-your-seat moments, and is centered by Jon Cusack’s intense portrayal of a cynical ghost-hunter who gets his comeuppance. Again, its weakness is perhaps its ending, a bit too pat and safe for what had come before it.
Rating – B-
‘Quick-hit’ ratings of additional films:
Children of The Corn (1984) – C
Silver Bullet (1986) – C+
Hearts in Atlantis (2001) – C (Note: another effort that veered so far from the source material it was almost unrecognizable)
Ride the Bullet (2005) – C-
The Mangler (1995) – D (Note: in a word: rancid)
The Night Flier (1997) – B-(Note: A guilty, grisly pleasure)
Graveyard Shift (1990) – C+
TV mini-series:
Salem’s Lot (1979) – A (NOTE: The first and still the best; screen legend James Mason is malevolence personified)
IT (1990) – B-
The Tommyknockers (1993) – C+
The Stand (1994) – B+
The Langoliers (1995) – C+
Storm of the Century (1997) – C+
Rose Red (2002) – B-
Desperation (2006) – C-
NOTE: Its been reported on the noted genre website ‘DREAD CENTRAL’ that Frank Darabont (The Mist) will next direct King’s ‘The Long Walk’, a novella taken from The Bachman Books. Talk about stoked! This is one of my favorite all-time King tales, and who better to adapt?
