SPOOKINESS OOZES OUT OF 'THE MIST'.Byline: GLENN WHIPP WHIPP WhiteWater Head Impact Protection Project >FILM CRITIC Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "The Green Mile") returns to his B-movie roots with the lean (by Darabont's standards, anyway) and mean horror movie "The Mist," a film whose view of mankind is dimmer dim·mer n. 1. A rheostat or other device used to vary the intensity of an electric light. 2. a. A parking light on a motor vehicle. b. A low beam. than its alien-induced weather conditions. "The Mist" marks the third time Darabont has adapted Stephen King <noinclude></noinclude>
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror and for the screen, but it's the first occasion he has dived headfirst head·first also head·fore·most adv. 1. With the head leading; headlong: went headfirst down the stairs. 2. Impetuously; brashly. into one of the author's trippy nightmares. The only thing Darabont changes from King's 1980 extended short story is the ending, tamping tamp tr.v. tamped, tamp·ing, tamps 1. To pack down tightly by a succession of blows or taps. 2. To pack clay, sand, or dirt into (a drill hole) above an explosive. down the source material's ambiguity in favor of a somewhat contrived "Twilight Zone" twist. If the film's finale proves more gutsy in theory than it does in practice, it doesn't completely erase the fine, fatalistic fa·tal·ism n. 1. The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable. 2. Acceptance of the belief that all events are predetermined and inevitable. freak show that Darabont delivers early on. "The Mist" is a twist on the old adage that the monster within us is far worse than the one lying in wait. And all it takes is a little fear to unleash the beast. The day after an electrical storm electrical storm Cardiology A cardiac event defined as multiple recurrent episodes of ventricular fibrillation, or hemodynamically destabilizing ventricular tachycardia, with a very poor prognosis; ES is most common in older men with CAD, often in a background of knocks out power, the residents of a Maine town head to the local market to stock up on groceries and swap stories. But slow checkout lines are the least of locals' problems when an old-timer comes barreling into the Food House screaming, "The mist took John Leeves! The mist took John Leeves!" Up till then, folks figured "the mist" to be some kind of quirky weather front passing through town. Then a tentacle ten·ta·cle n. An elongated, flexible, unsegmented extension, as one of those surrounding the mouth or oral cavity of the squid, used for feeling, grasping, or locomotion. appears and soon there's a bug problem that can't be eradicated by the store's stock of pest strips. The town's designated nutjob offers her forecast: "It's death. It's judgment day." Thanks to Marcia Gay Harden's fearless performance, that character, the Bible-packing zealot Mrs. Carmody, becomes the movie's best conceit. What if the crazy lady isn't so crazy? As one character puts it: "Scare people badly enough, you'll get them to do anything. They'll turn to whatever promises a solution." And dear Mrs. Carmody has plenty of ideas. Lest you think Darabont is pushing some political hot buttons here, remember he's working from a screenplay he wrote a good 10 years ago based upon source material more than a quarter century old. No, "The Mist," with its mix of old-school B-movie horror (hand-held cameras instills the events with an alarming immediacy) and psychological warfare, posits that we've always been closer to the societal disintegration of "Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies showing man’s consciousness and fear of dying. [Br. Lit.: Lord of the Flies] See : Death " than we'd like to believe. "You don't have much faith in humanity, do you?" one woman asks as things are turning from bad to worse. "None whatsoever," comes the reply. That's the spirit of "The Mist," and Darabont nails the vibe completely. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp@dailynews.com THE MIST - Three stars >R: horror gore, violence, disturbing images, language. >Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. Biography Early life Harden, one of five children, was born in La Jolla, California, daughter of Beverly (née Bushfield), a housewife, and Thaddeus Harold Harden, a Texas . >Director: Frank Darabont. >Running time: 2 hr. 7 min. >Playing: Area wide. >In a nutshell: Solid B-movie horror. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Thomas Jane, left, and Nathan Gamble play father and son in Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's creep fest "The Mist." |
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