OOooh bad things happen in The Fog!
The Fog (1980)
Directed By: John Carpenter (Halloween)
The Prologue
Well look what we have here today! It’s John Carpenter’s 1980s film, The Fog! The follow up to everyone’s favorite holiday movie, Halloween. And once again we have John using the lovely for her time, Jamie Lee Curtis in one of his films. I kinda dig Jamie Lee Curtis as long as it’s an 80s or before film. I think she kinda lost some of her magic in the 90s, but lucky for us this isn’t about her, it’s about the very creepy story that The Fog brings us in this movie. I think it’s safe to say I smell what John Carpenter was cooking with The Fog, and if you’ve seen it I do believe you will agree.
The Movie
The Fog brings with it the souls of the dammed. Fog is nothing new to the quaint seaside village of Antonio Bay. But on the night of its 100th anniversary, a fogbank rolls in unlike any other. Eerie lights, dark figures, and the masts of an ancient schooner appear in the swirling mists, and soon the specters of long-murdered sailors descend upon the town. Using knife, hook and sword, they exact revenge for sins committed by the town’s founding fathers, leaving horrified survivors struggling to solve a hundred-year crime. And they must solve it – or die.
Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Houseman, Janet Leigh, and one of my personal favorites, Tom Atkins, all have big roles in this old school horror classic. Now being a film by John Carpenter means instead of a lot of gore and rapid paced action, we get a slower and more methodical style of storytelling. A style that I normally am not too keen on, but when it’s done my Carpenter I tend to take the style over substance and enjoy things a whole heck of a lot more for some reason or another. I mean, don’t ask me to try to explain why anymore than I already have. It IS John f’n Carpenter in his prime ya know? Need one say anymore than that??
When this movie was first made there had to be a few re-shoots and they added some stuff in due to the fact that some thought it simply wasn’t scary enough. I happen to think at times this film’s setting looks majorly creepy. I don’t know if it’s due to those re-shoots or not, but when it’s nighttime in the film, it looks the part superbly. If I had a real complaint about it, it would be that I wish the whole thing took place during one night so that way we never had to deal with any of the stuff that happens in the daylight. This movie just works way better in the dark, in my own personal opinion.
Now I also do wish the film had more of a body count, but can see why it doesn’t. I mean that IS sorta the point right? But I’d have liked more of a slaughter. That being said however, they simply don’t make films like this anymore. And from what I hear, Carpenter isn’t even making good films like this anymore. It looks creepy, it seems creepy, we got a kick-ass romeo in Tom Atkins’ character and we have the awkwardly cute 1980′s Jamie Lee Curtis along for the ride to tie everything together. I know Adrienne Barbeau is a noteworthy name, but her character doesn’t do much for me. Still, a very solid movie and I think the ending is pretty cool as well.
The Conclusion
If you’d like to see a GOOD slower paced horror film, then look for The Fog. And just make sure it’s the original Fog and not that awful remake that came out sometime ago. Films like this really makes me miss the way movies use to be made, and I know we can always go back and just watch them. But, there’s just not enough movies that are made like this anymore today. If you haven’t seen The Fog yet, you should consider checking it out.
The Rating (7/10)
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