Grappling with The Mist
Frank Darabont’s THE MIST was the most widely debated horror movie of 2007. A Stephen King adaptation with a difference (it’s actually good), this monster-packed scare fest inspired an astonishing amount of ire from fans, most of it centered on the far bleaker-than-average ending. Was the controversy justified? Let’s see.
Background
Frank Darabont has over the years proven himself the most talented and dependable screen adaptor of Stephen King’s work. Darabont’s early short “The Woman in the Room” was based on a King piece, as was Darabont’s first major directorial effort THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. So too his second, THE GREEN MILE. (I’ll politely overlook Darabont’s other major film, the downright-pukeable, non-Stephen King related THE MAJESTIC).
For THE MIST Darabont reportedly secured the screen rights early on. King held off other potential offers for over twenty years, until Darabont was able to secure financing through Dimension Films’ Bob Weinstein.
The budget was a limited one, leading to a down-and-dirty shooting style directly opposed to the more classical approach of Darabont’s other features. Darabont claims he prepared by directing an episode of the TV cop drama THE SHIELD, and borrowed the show’s cinematographer and camera operators for the film. They joined an eclectic cast that included Darabont regulars like Laurie Holden and William Sadler, the Stephen King movie veterans Andre Braugher and Frances Sternhagen, and well-respected actors like Toby Jones (last seen playing Truman Capote in INFAMOUS) and Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden. Under Darabont’s smooth, confident direction, all the above did superlative work.
The Source
THE MIST began as a novella originally published in the landmark
1980 collection DARK FORCES. The story’s a good one, reading
like an old time B-movie in ink, though with Stephen King’s
unerring eye for gritty naturalism and solid characterization.
It tells of a strange mist that appears on the horizon of a
small Maine town. A violent storm ripped apart everything the
previous night, including a scientific research lab responsible
for unleashing the mist. In a local supermarket several folks
find themselves trapped when the mist blankets the town and all
manner of freaky critters emerge from it: dog-sized spiders,
mutant mosquitoes, unseen tentacled thingees, pterodactyl-like
flying monstrosities, and dimly glimpsed four-legged giants.
Mrs. Carmody, a religious nut, babbles endlessly about
sacrifice and the apocalypse, and manages to corral a large
portion of the store’s clientele to her way of thinking. The
result is a bloody confrontation, after which a small contingent
of intrepid individuals decide to test their luck by venturing
into the mist.
Like his other King-inspired projects, Darabont’s adaptation
was scrupulously faithful to it source…though with one major
change. King ended on an unresolved note, with his protagonists
driving through the mist pondering their ultimate fate.
Darabont continues from there, leading to one of the absolute
bleakest, most cold-blooded horror movie endings ever.
The Ending
THE MIST was one of the most notable genre films of 2007, but
wasn’t a huge or even minor success at the box office. Aside
from Dimension’s ill-advised Thanksgiving release date, the
film’s major point of contention with audiences was the ending,
which has inspired all manner of commentary, most of it negative
(King, for the record, says he likes Darabont’s capper, and
would have used it himself had it occurred to him.
Here I’ll insert a SPOILER ALERT, as I find
myself with no choice but to describe the conclusion in detail.
Got that? Good.
It goes like this: our heroes are in a car, surrounded by mist
on all sides. After traversing what looks like quite a distance
the vehicle conks out. The protagonist, an upright,
square-jawed type played by Thomas Jane, decides the only way
out is for everyone to die. The problem is the gun in his
possession only has four bullets–and there are five people in
the car. Jane solves the dilemma by fatally shooting each of
his companions (including his own son) and then exits the car to
face down the creatures in the mist. But at that point the mist
clears and Jane is faced with a procession of radiation
suit-wearing soldiers armed with flamethrowers, burning up
everything in their path and leading several shell-shocked
people to apparent safety. The End.
Obviously you can take those events in any number of ways.
You may find Jane’s actions futile in light of the fact that the
humans appear to have gotten the upper hand on the
mist-monsters. One might also argue that he did the right thing
shooting his companions, as the post-mist world looks
considerably more oppressive than it did before (which can in
turn be taken as a comment on our post-9/11 reality). But then
maybe it’s Ms. Carmody who had the right idea, with her earlier
blather about sacrifice being required to make things better.
END SPOILERS. Not too many horror flicks
contain such a complex, thought-provoking finale. It may
admittedly be a bit heavy for a movie featuring giant bugs, but
I’ll have to give Darabont credit for making a film that isn’t
afraid to really go for the throat. Far too many horror movie
makers and viewers appear to have forgotten that these films
exist not to reassure but to scare and provoke, and in
those areas THE MIST definitely succeeds.
Still More Controversy
There are other negatives from an audience standpoint, including
the fact that nearly everyone in the film is over 35 (youngsters
like the twentyish Alexa Davalos and AMERICAN PIE’S Chris Owen
are killed off early on), which seems certain to–and apparently
did–turn off the teenybopper crowd that flocks to most
horror flicks.
And then the film didn’t show enough of its monsters. Or it
showed too much. The protagonists don’t behave intelligently.
The monsters are cheesy. Or they’re too slick. There’s too
much gore. Not enough gore. Too much Ms. Carmody. Not enough
Andre Braugher.
Virtually any complaint one can think of this movie has had
thrown at it. You can say that about nearly any movie ever
made, certainly, but not too many of them, in recent years at
least, seem to rile people up like THE MIST.
Why? My theory is that, quite simply, audiences have become
so conditioned to PG-rated snoozers like the recent PROM NIGHT
remake (a big hit, sadly) or pandering torture fests of the
SAW/HOSTEL variety that they can no longer handle a real
horror movie–and THE MIST is indeed that rare animal (as are
other hotly contested genre films from ‘07 like
BUG and
THE GIRL
NEXT DOOR, but those were smaller, less commercial projects).
Old-fashioned in the best sense, THE MIST favorably recalls
classics like FREAKS and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. As those
films were in their time, it’s unabashedly shocking and
audacious. What it’s not is a parody, remake, rip-off,
post-modern critique or what have you. That puts THE MIST at
odds with nearly every other scare picture currently in release,
which if you ask me is strictly for the better!
The Black-and-White Version
I should take this opportunity to mention another feature of
MIST that has been attracting attention, albeit of a more
positive sort: the black-and-white version available on the
DVD. Darabont claims he always intended to shoot in
black-and-white, and this version showcases the film in an
entirely different form–not necessarily better, but
worth viewing for those wanting a new and interesting take on
the film.
In black-and-white THE MIST feels like a recovered B-movie from
the fifties, with a heightened and deeply atmospheric sense of
unreality. In this way the B&W serves to enhance the CGI
effects, making them harmonize eerily well with the flesh and
blood actors. It makes me wonder why more special effects
movies aren’t shot in B&W.
But I’m not in agreement with those critics who’ve been (over)praising
this version of the film. What Darabont so painstakingly evoked
in the full color release print, with its documentary-like
handheld camerawork, is a sense of realism totally expunged in
black-and-white. So while I think the latter version represents
a worthy take on the film, it should not be considered
the definitive one.
Other Interpretations
While on the subject of alternate versions of THE MIST, I feel
duty-bound to mention two other incarnations of Stephen King’s
tale, if only because they make for fascinating companion-pieces
to Darabont’s film.
First is an early-eighties screenplay adaptation by the famed
horror scribe Dennis Etchison (whose books include THE DARK
COUNTRY and DARKSIDE), intended (rumor has it) for John
Carpenter to direct.
Although quite faithful to the novella, Etchison’s script is far
different from the Darabont movie, and in my view not nearly as
potent.
For starters, Darabont wisely got the action underway
quickly, with the protagonist leaving his house and heading to
the supermarket within the first ten minutes. Etchison on the
other hand takes 22 pages to get on the road, complete with an
overdramatic husband-wife farewell scene.
This brings up the script’s chief flaw--it’s talky and
drawn-out, with too much expositional dialogue. Example: during
a climactic sojourn in a neighboring pharmacy Etchison wastes
nearly a full page having his characters explain why it is that
they’re still alive but all the pharmacy’s customers have died
(in essence, one building was ventilated and the other
wasn’t--is that really something we absolutely needed to
know?). The characterizations are also a bit perfunctory,
particularly Amanda the love interest, a strong and resourceful
gal in Darabont’s version who exists in this script solely for
an office make-out session, otherwise remaining largely
off-screen.
Then there’s the ending. In contrast to King’s open-ended
fade-out and Darabont’s ultra-grim one, Etchison opts for a
neither-here-nor-there approach, having the protagonist and his
companions take refuge in a motel just as they did in the
supermarket. Thus we’re left with a coda that can seem
optimistic or not depending on your point of view.
Etchison’s script never made it to the screen, but was
adapted for a 1984 radio dramatization later released as a
bestselling audio tape. Utilizing a much-publicized “Kunstopf”
3-D recording system (with sounds piped into an artificial head
that receives them exactly as a real one would), it’s an
elaborate and painstaking piece of work that recalls everything
great about the old-time radio serials.
The vocal actors, led by William Sadler (who also appeared in
the film), are quite good, though the severely congested kid who
voices the protagonist’s child is damned obnoxious--I kept
wishing he’d blow his nose once in a while. Excellent sound
effects, too, particularly in the pharmacy sequence, with eerie
moaning filling in for the monsters. The excess verbiage of
Etchison’s script has been pared down (at least in the abridged
version I listened to), making for a lean and fast-moving
narrative (this is one of the few instances where the
abridgement is actually preferable to the full version).
But the ending has been changed yet again, to an overly
abrupt sign-out in which David thinks he hears a voice on his
staticy car radio. A good, solid production, but of the four
MIST codas outlined herein--King’s, Darabont’s, Etchison’s and
now this one--it’s easily the least satisfying.
Conclusion
It’s rare to find a modern genre picture as fine as THE MIST, or
as controversial. I’m certain its reputation will grow in the
coming years, as the shock factor lessens and audiences are able
to view the film for what it is: a horror movie that’s actually
horrific. If you’ve been put off seeing it because of all the
furor then now’s the time to rectify that mistake. View the
film in black-and-white if you prefer, but by all means view it!