The Mist (film)

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The Mist

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Frank Darabont
Produced by Frank Darabont
Martin Shafer
Liz Glotzer
Screenplay by Frank Darabont
Based on The Mist by
Stephen King
Starring Thomas Jane
Marcia Gay Harden
Laurie Holden
Andre Braugher
Toby JonesMelissa McBride
Music by Mark Isham
Cinematography Rohn Schmidt
Editing by Hunter M. Via
Studio Dimension Films
Darkwoods Productions
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Weinstein Company
Release date(s) November 21, 2007 (2007-11-21)
Running time 126 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $18 million[1]
Box office $57,293,715[2]

The Mist (also known as Stephen King's The Mist) is a 2007 American science-fiction horror film based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Stephen King. The film is written and directed by Frank Darabont, who had previously adapted Stephen King's works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Darabont had been interested in adapting The Mist for the big screen since the 1980s. The film features an ensemble cast including Thomas Jane, Jeffrey DeMunn, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Samuel Witwer, Toby Jones, Nathan Gamble,Melissa McBride, Andre Braugher, and Frances Sternhagen.

Darabont began filming The Mist in Shreveport, Louisiana in February 2007. The director revised the ending of the film to be darker than the novella's ending, a change to which Stephen King was amenable. Unique creature designs were also sought to differ from creatures in past films. The Mist was commercially released in the United States and Canada on November 21, 2007. The Mist performed well at the box office and received generally positive reviews.

Although a monster movie, the central theme is what ordinary people will be driven to do under extraordinary circumstances. The plot revolves around members of the small town of Bridgton, Maine, who after a severe thunderstorm that causes the power to go out the night before meet in a supermarket to pick up supplies. While they struggle to survive an unnatural mist which envelops the town and conceals vicious, otherworldly monsters, extreme tensions rise among the survivors.

Contents

[edit] Plot

 This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (October 2011)

The morning after a violent thunderstorm, David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his wife Stephanie (Kelly Collins Lintz) witness an unusual mist outside their lakeside home. Concerned with cleaning up in the aftermath of the storm, David, his neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), and David's eight-year-old son, Billy (Nathan Gamble), go to the local grocery store to buy supplies to fix the storm damage. Like the rest of the community, the store lost its power. With increasing police activity in the streets, Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn) runs into the store with a bloody nose warning of something dangerous in the oncoming mist. The mist rapidly covers the parking lot and the patrons hear the scream of a man who ventured outside and decide to seal themselves in. The building is shaken by violent tremors, visibility reduces to nothing, and the customers grow more and more nervous about the fate of the screaming man with a siege mentality taking hold.

Unstable religious fanatic Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) suspects this is the beginning of Armageddon. A visibly shaken woman, (Melissa McBride), exclaims that she has two young children at home and must get back. She implores others for help, but eventually leaves alone shortly after David and Billy befriend a teacher named Amanda Dumfries (Laurie Holden). Later, mechanics Myron (David Jensen) and Jim (William Sadler), bag-boy Norm (Chris Owen), and assistant manager Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones) investigate the loading bay generator where Norm is killed by a tentacled monster. Once the most of the reluctant shoppers are convinced of the danger outside, everyone works to block the windowed front of the store. Norton and a few other skeptics decide to venture outside to retrieve a shotgun from Cornell's (Buck Taylor) car, but are killed in the process.

With the arrival of nighttime the creatures become emboldened and start a frontal attack on the store; enormous flying insects and pterodactyl-like animals that predate on them, pluck them off the windows and eventually breaking the glass. Sally is stung and slowly suffocates, Tom Smalley is killed by the pterodactyl creature, Joe Eagleton is badly burned. An insect lands on a praying Mrs. Carmody but leaves her unharmed and validating her beliefs. Carmody starts fire and brimstone preaching and quickly gains followers among the distraught survivors. David and a group of volunteers try to retrieve medical supplies for the severely burned Joe from the pharmacy next door, but stumble onto a lair of spider-like monsters that kill Mike Hatlen and Joe's brother, Bobby. They discover an army MP encased in webbing, who rambles about being sorry for whats happening before baby spiders erupt from inside him and the rest flee back to the store.

At the store two of the soldiers have hung themselves and the remaining soldier, Private Jessup (Samuel Witwer), reveals that the local military base was filled with rumors of about Project Arrowhead - an attempt to look into other dimensions - Carmody's seizes on the notion that this is mankind's tampering with nature and opening a door against God's will and whips the frightened congregation into a human sacrifice of Jessup. He is knifed and expelled to the parking-lot where he is swiftly taken by a massive creature in full view of the onlookers.

The more rational survivors secretly gather supplies and take David's earlier idea to make a run for it. The next morning David and his group are intercepted by Mrs. Carmody, who calls them out on their perceived godlessness and again begins to whip the faithful to a frenzy. Seeing where this is headed Ollie shoots her dead, stunning the crowd and allowing them to leave as planned. They make for David's car but Ollie is killed by a huge mantis-like creature, Myron falls next and Cornell is frightened and picked off by the spiders. Bud Brown makes it back to the store and is welcomed inside. Amanda, David, Billy, Dan and Irene (Frances Sternhagen) make it to the car and David retrieves Ollie's gun. They drive past the store window, not looking at those they leave behind and their fates are left ambiguous.

Driving through the mist, David returns home to find it destroyed and his wife dead. Heartbroken he drives the group south, glimpsing signs of destruction. The group encounters a gigantic tentacled beast, hundreds of feet tall, that casually strides past them. Eventually they run out of gas and pull over, disheartened that they hadn't seen any other survivors. While Billy is sleeping the four adults discuss their fate and decide that there is no point in going on. With four bullets left in the gun and five people in the car, David shoots Amanda, Dan, Irene and his son. Distraught, and determined to die, David exits the vehicle in anguish. He turns towards a loud approaching rumble and out of the mist comes a self-propelled artillery vehicle, followed by a squad of soldiers equipped with NBC suits and flamethrowers. The mist recedes and several trucks of soldiers and survivors pass David. Among them is the woman from the supermarket that no one would help and her two young children. Realizing they were so close to rescue, a distraught David falls to his knees screaming while soldiers look on in confusion.

[edit] Cast

  • Thomas Jane as David Drayton: A commercial painter and movie-poster artist who is trapped in the market with his young son Billy. He, along with the Woman With Kids At Home, is presumably the only survivor of the market.
  • Laurie Holden as Amanda Dumfries: A young, married teacher whose husband is away. She is shot by David to spare her the violent death of the creatures.
  • Nathan Gamble as Billy Drayton: David Drayton's eight-year-old son. David shoots him to spare him the violent death of the creatures, but after realizing David never needed to shoot him, he cries out in anger.
  • Toby Jones as Ollie Weeks: Assistant manager of the supermarket. He is killed by the mantis-like creature during the escape from the market.
  • Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody: A fanatically religious local woman. She is shot and killed by Ollie.
  • Frances Sternhagen as Irene Reppler: A third-grade elementary school teacher. Despite being elderly, she is very tough, competent and is always calm and collected. She is shot by David to spare her the violent death of the creatures.
  • Andre Braugher as Brent Norton: David's neighbor and a successful New York attorney who filed a lawsuit against David in the past year and lost. He leaves the store with a few others. His fate is left unknown.
  • William Sadler as Jim Grondin: A local mechanic.
  • Alexa Davalos as Sally: A cashier at the market who is Billy's babysitter. She is killed by enormous flying insects when she is stung, causing her throat to swell and asphyxiate her.
  • Jeffrey DeMunn as Dan Miller: A normal civilian who is the first to see the signs of danger from the mist. He is shot by David to spare him the violent death of the creatures.
  • Melissa McBride as Woman With Kids at Home. She is picked up by the Army along with her two kids.
  • Buck Taylor as Ambrose Cornell: An elderly man who sides with David's group. He is killed by the spider-like creatures during the escape from the market.
  • Samuel Witwer as Private Wayne Jessup: A local soldier trapped in the market. He is killed by the mantis-like creature after being thrown outside by Carmody's followers.
  • Chris Owen as Norm: A bag-boy. He is eaten alive by fang covered tentacles.
  • Robert Treveiler as Bud Brown: The supermarket manager. He is nearly killed during the escape from the market, but runs back to shelter in fear.
  • David Jensen as Myron LaFleur: A local mechanic. He is killed by the spider-like creatures during the escape from the market.
  • Ron Clinton Smith as Mr. Mackey: The store butcher.
  • Juan Gabriel Pareja as Morales
  • Brian Libby as Biker: A biker who is torn in half by the mantis-like creature while venturing out into the mist.

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

Director Frank Darabont first read Stephen King's 1980 novella The Mist in the Dark Forces anthology,[3] and originally expressed interest in directing a film adaptation for his directing debut. He instead filmed The Shawshank Redemption, also based on another King novella.[4] In October 1994, after completing The Shawshank Redemption, Darabont reiterated his interest in filming The Mist.[5] Darabont did not immediately follow through, instead directing the 1999 film adaptation of Stephen King's The Green Mile.[6] Darabont eventually set up a first look deal for The Mist with Paramount Pictures, having been entrusted feature film rights by Stephen King.[4] By December 2004, Darabont said that he had begun writing an adapted screenplay for The Mist,[7] and by October 2006, the project moved from Paramount to Dimension Films, with Darabont attached to direct and actor Thomas Jane in negotiations to join the cast.[4]

[edit] Writing

"The story is less about the monsters outside than about the monsters inside, the people you're stuck with, your friends and neighbors breaking under the strain."
— Darabont on The Mist[8]

Director Frank Darabont chose to film The Mist after filming the "straighter dramas" The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile because he "wanted to make a very direct, muscular kind of film." Darabont conceived of a new ending in translating the novella for the big screen. Author Stephen King praised Darabont's new ending, describing it as one that would be unsettling for studios. King said, "The ending is such a jolt—wham! It's frightening. But people who go to see a horror movie don't necessarily want to be sent out with a Pollyanna ending."[9]

Darabont described The Mist as quaint in its elements of monsters and fear of the unknown compared to the contemporary popularity of films with torture porn. The director saw The Mist as a throwback to Paddy Chayefsky and William Shakespeare, explaining, "It's people at each other." He highlighted the element of fear in the film in how it compelled people to behave differently. Darabont said, "How primitive do people get? It's Lord of the Flies that happens to have some cool monsters in it."[3] He also drew parallels to The Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and the 1944 film Lifeboat.[1]

In the novella, the character David Drayton - who is married - has a sexual encounter with Amanda Dumfries, who is also married. Darabont did not want to attempt conveying on screen the protagonist being involved in an extramarital affair. The characters in the film, portrayed by Thomas Jane and Laurie Holden respectively, instead share a more emotional relationship. Jane explained, "We kind of form a little family, sort of surrogate family where my son and I’m a father and she becomes the mother to the son. We become a little unit as we’re trying to get through this nightmare together." Holden compared the nightmare to what refugees experienced at the Louisiana Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.[10]

While the origin of the mist is never explained in great details in the movie, Frank Darabont did write an opening scene in a draft dated 5 August 2005, in which the thunderstorm causes a malfunction at the Arrowhead Project's lab that allows the portal to another dimension to stay open too long. The scene was never filmed.

[edit] Filming

In December 2006, Jane finalized negotiations with the studio to join the cast.[11] In January 2007, actors Andre Braugher and Laurie Holden joined Jane for the cast of The Mist.[12] Production began the following February at StageWorks of Louisiana, a sound stage and movie production facility in Shreveport, Louisiana.[13] Marcia Gay Harden and Toby Jones joined the cast later in the month.[14] William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Brian Libby, each of whom appeared in Darabont's previous Stephen King adaptations The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, were cast in supporting roles. Sadler had previously played Thomas Jane's role, David Drayton, in a 1986 audio book version of The Mist. Darabont wanted to cast King in the supporting role that eventually went to Brian Libby, an offer King turned down.[15]

Darabont sought to pursue "a more fluid, ragged documentary kind of direction" with The Mist,[10] so he contacted the camera crew from the TV series The Shield, after having directed one episode, to use their style in the film.[16] Darabont attempted to film The Mist digitally but found that it "wound up looking too beautiful". The director chose to film with 400 ASA from Fujifilm, which gave footage a grainy effect.[1]

In the opening shot, David is drawing in his room. The drawing is based on Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and the drawing was actually painted by famous movie poster designer Drew Struzan. Darabont also put in re-productions of his posters and illustrations for John Carpenter's The Thing, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile, paying a tribute to him.

Darabont collaborated with the production designer to create a mix of eras to avoid appearing as a period piece but also not looking so contemporary. Cell phones were used by characters in The Mist, but the military police in the film did not dress in modern attire. While an MP also drove an old Jeep instead of a Humvee, other cars seen in the film are modern models.[1] The city police cars in the beginning of the movie are a 1987 Chevrolet Caprice and a 1988 Ford LTD Crown Victoria, cars that were standard police vehicles in the late 1980s but have not been used in force since the late 1990s.

Over a hundred extras from Shreveport, Louisiana were included in The Mist. Unlike conventional application of extras in the background of a film, sixty of the hundred extras were interwoven with the film's ensemble cast.[17] Additional elements giving the film a local flavor include the prominence of local Louisiana brands such as Zapp's potato chips. Exterior shots of the house at the beginning were in Shreveport. Exterior shots of the supermarket were in Vivian, Louisiana. Also, if looked closely at, the shields on the side of the passing firetrucks early in the movie identify them as part of the Caddo Parish fire department. This is possibly a mistake as the film is allegedly set in Maine.

[edit] Music

Darabont chose to use music to minimal effect in The Mist in order to capture the "heavier feel" of the darker ending that he had written to replace the one from the novella. The director explained, "Sometimes movie music feels false. I’ve always felt that silent can be scarier than loud, a whisper more frightening than a bang, and we wanted to create a balance. We kept music to a minimum to keep that vérité, documentary feel." Darabont chose to overlay the song "The Host of Seraphim" by the band Dead Can Dance, a spiritual piece characterized by wailing and chanting. As a fan of Dead Can Dance, Darabont thought that the song played "as a requiem mass for the human race."[18] The original score was composed by Academy Award-nominated composer Mark Isham.

[edit] Effects

Frank Darabont hired artists Jordu Schell[19] and Bernie Wrightson to assist in designing the creatures for the film.[16] Greg Nicotero worked on the film's creature design and make-up effects, while Everett Burrell served as the visual effects supervisor. Nicotero initially sketched out ideas for creature design when Darabont originally expressed interest in filming The Mist in the 1980s. When the project was greenlit, Nicotero, Burrell, and Darabont collaborated about the creature design at roundtable meetings at CaféFX.[10] The studio for visual effects had been recommended to Darabont by Guillermo del Toro after Darabont asked the director who created the visual effects for Pan's Labyrinth. Due to the creatures being described in only a few sentences in the novella, Darabont sought to conceive of new designs. The challenge was to try and create the designs in such a way that they felt unique. Nicotero, who was versed in film history and genre history, reviewed past creature designs to avoid having similar designs.[1] When the designs were completed, Nicotero and Burrell educated the cast on the appearance of the creatures by showing puppets and the function of their eyes and mouths. The presentation of the puppets served as reference points for the cast, who had to respond to motion capture dots during filming.[10]

[edit] Release

The Mist was screened at the film festival ShowEast on October 18, 2007, at which director Frank Darabont received the Kodak Award for Excellence in Filmmaking for his previous works The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.[20]

[edit] Critical reception

On the film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, The Mist received a 73% approval rating, based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.[21] It received a 59% approval rating from the 29 "Cream of the Crop" reviews.[22] On the website Metacritic, the film has received a metascore of 58 out of 100 based on 29 reviews.[23]

James Berardinelli wrote of the film, "The Mist is what a horror film should be - dark, tense, and punctuated by just enough gore to keep the viewer's flinch reflex intact. ... Finally, after a long list of failures, someone has done justice in bringing one of King's horror stories to the screen. Though definitely not the feel-good movie of the season, this is a must-see for anyone who loves the genre and doesn't demand "torture porn" from horror."[24] Roger Ebert was less positive, however, writing: "If you have seen ads or trailers suggesting that horrible things pounce on people, and they make you think you want to see this movie, you will be correct. It is a competently made Horrible Things Pouncing on People Movie. If you think Frank Darabont has equaled the Shawshank and Green Mile track record, you will be sadly mistaken."[25]

Bloody Disgusting ranked the film #4 on their list of the 'Top 20 Horror Films of the Decade', with the article saying "The scary stuff works extremely well, but what really drives this one home is Darabont’s focus on the divide that forms between two factions of the townspeople – the paranoid, Bible-thumping types and the more rational-minded, decidedly left-wing members of the populace. This allegorical microcosm of Bush Jr.-era America is spot on, and elevates an already-excellent film to even greater heights."[26]

[edit] Box office

The film was commercially released in the United States and Canada on November 21, 2007.[27] Over the opening weekend in the United States and Canada, The Mist grossed $8,931,973. As of August 9, 2009, the film has grossed $25,593,755 in the United States and Canada and $27,560,960 in other territories for a worldwide total of $57,289,103.[2]

[edit] Home release

The Mist was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 25, 2008. The single-disc includes an audio commentary by writer/director Frank Darabont, eight deleted scenes with optional commentary, and "A Conversation With Stephen King and Frank Darabont" featurette.

The two-disc edition includes an exclusive black-and-white presentation of the film (as well as the color version), and five featurettes ("When Darkness Came: The Making of The Mist", "Taming the Beast: Shooting Scene 35", "Monsters Among Us: A Look at the Creature FX", "The Horror of It All: The Visual FX of The Mist", and "Drew Struzan: Appreciation of an Artist").

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Edward Douglas (2007-11-16). "An Exclusive Interview with Mr. Frank Darabont!". ShockTillYouDrop.com. http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=3609. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
  2. ^ a b "The Mist (2007)". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mist.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-05. 
  3. ^ a b Stax (2007-07-28). "SDCC 07: Chatting in The Mist". IGN. http://movies.ign.com/articles/808/808923p1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-19. 
  4. ^ a b c Michael Fleming (2006-10-18). "'Mist' envelops Dimension". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952204.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  5. ^ Patrick Z. McGavin (1994-10-04). "LONG LIVE THE KING". Chicago Tribune. 
  6. ^ "The Green Mile (1999)". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120689/. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  7. ^ "Frank Darabont on Adapting The Mist". ComingSoon.net. 2004-05-15. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=7617. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  8. ^ Alexandyr Kent (2007-03-23). "'A bad day at the market'". The Times. 
  9. ^ Anthony Breznican (2007-06-20). "Stephen King adapts to Hollywood". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-06-20-stephen-king-movies_N.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-19. 
  10. ^ a b c d Rebecca Murray (2007-08-15). "Behind the Scenes of The Mist Based on a Stephen King Story". About.com. http://movies.about.com/od/themist/a/themist081507.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-19. 
  11. ^ "The Punisher Enters The Mist". IGN. 2006-12-06. http://movies.ign.com/articles/749/749742p1.html. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  12. ^ Borys Kit (2007-01-26). "Braugher, Holden float to 'Mist'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20070217054105/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003538158. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  13. ^ Alexandyr Kent (2007-01-19). "'The Mist' creeping into Shreveport". The Times. 
  14. ^ Michael Fleming (2007-02-21). "Actors will emerge from King's 'Mist'". Variety. http://www.ev.variety.com/article/VR1117959912.html?categoryid=2431&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-05-17. 
  15. ^ [1]
  16. ^ a b Edward Douglas (2007-07-27). "Comic-Con '07: Two Clips From The Mist!". ShockTillYouDrop.com. http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/comicconnews.php?id=903. Retrieved 2007-07-30. 
  17. ^ Alexandyr Kent (2007-11-18). "The core of a horror flick: 'The Mist' features dozens of local extras". The Times. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/LIVING/711150360/1004/LIVING. Retrieved 2007-11-20. [dead link]
  18. ^ David Frese (2007-11-17). "Frank Darabont dares to alter a Stephen King classic: ‘The Mist’". Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on 2007-11-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20071121023627/http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/362931.html. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
  19. ^ "Jordu Schell: Avatar Lead Characters Designer". Avatar Movie Zone. http://www.surrealaward.com/avatar/bioschellj.shtml. Retrieved 2010-04-20. [dead link]
  20. ^ Carl DiOrio (2007-10-16). "ShowEast to close high on Darabont". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2007-10-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20071018025813/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i0c86abe9c72f2e6ecf7edcca50e3a30e. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 
  21. ^ "Stephen King's The Mist". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mist/. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  22. ^ "Stephen King's The Mist (Cream of the Crop)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mist/?critic=creamcrop. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  23. ^ "Mist, The (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/mist2007. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  24. ^ Mist, The - A Film Review by James Berardinelli
  25. ^ The Mist :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews
  26. ^ "00's Retrospect: Bloody Disgusting's Top 20 Films of the Decade...Part 4". Bloody Disgusting. http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/18447. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
  27. ^ "The Mist (2007)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mist.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-20. 

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