The Mist: 2 stars

There are a few types of horror films; ones that know want they’re supposed to be and follow the formula, ones that break the boundaries, and ones that teeter on the fence between the first two. I don’t think I can ever fault a horror movie for being cliché, because they should be. That is what makes them so fun. Successful horror movies will play with those clichés and formulas and find new ways to scare us. There is a reason why people like horror films and straying from the formula can be problematic in some cases. ‘The Mist’ has no shame in throwing in plenty of the same old stuff, but that’s not the problem with this film. The problem with ‘The Mist’ is that it fails at being the third type of horror film noted above and ends up being ugly. Not visually ugly, the film is actually quite beautiful in some places, but ugly in its implication.

A massive thunderstorm brings a mysterious mist to a small town. While shopping for supplies to repair their damaged home, a father and young son become trapped by the mist in a supermarket with plenty of stereotypical townspeople. They are left there to fight for their lives against the wrath that the mist brings upon them. A study of human nature commences. There are the uneducated mechanics, hard-headed “educated” guys, the high school bagboy, the cute girl, the biker dude, religious extremists, armed force members, and of course the hunky everyday man (Thomas Jane) as the main character. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.

This film does do a handful of things well. I was definitely rooting for Thomas Jane’s character. He’s very good at being the brave loving dad who wants to protect his son. I completely bought it. The visuals were also great. The mist was effectively creepy and the film contains many lovely frames. The problem is that the film does as many things poorly as it does well. My main issue right from the start was that the filmmakers exposed what was causing havoc in the mist too early. I’m of the opinion that what you can’t see but know is there, is much scarier than seeing what the thing actually is. The mind’s imagination generates visuals scarier then CGI can ever create. I feel that the tension and eerie tone is lost once what is inside the mist is exposed. While there were plenty of squirms and icky moments, once the tension is broken the edge I was sitting on turned into a valley.

Then of course there is the ending and the overall message I gathered from the film. As I noted before, most of the film is a basic study in human nature. What happens when normal people are faced with unthinkable challenges? To directly state my problems with the filmmakers answer to that question would give too much away about the film itself. I’ll put it this way; throughout the story, especially in the last twenty minutes, I was thinking about how I would react in the same situation. It seems to me that the writers contend there are three possibilities, and I couldn’t find myself in any of those groups. I guess I felt unrepresented, therefore I couldn’t believe how the story unravels. You may read other reviews that call the ending awesome, or thought provoking, or maybe even horrific. You may agree with them, so I’m not saying not to give this one a chance, but I found the resolution repellent, and not in an ooey gooey horror movie sort of way.