The Mist

Last movie of the month!

10/31: Finishing this year's binge is Frank Darabont's The Mist, an adaptation of a Stephen King novella. An appropriate ending to the binge on Halloween, The Mist centers around a group of small-town folks who become holed up in supermarket after a mysterious mist rolls in. Within this mist are creatures of unexplainable horror; insectoid, tentacled, and otherwise menacing, they seem to wish only to kill humans. 

Lovecraftian horror is a difficult thing to adapt to the screen but Darabont largely does a good job here. The huge, hulking beasts, insectoid creatures, and flying monstrosities reek of Lovecraft's creatures and Old Gods. One of the things I wished for more is more of the mystery that a mysterious mist can produce; Darabont instead opts to reveal the creatures early and instead utilize the mist as added covering for the monsters. I think that's a taste decision more than anything, but I felt it was a little bit of a wasted opportunity. The movie is a little cookie cutter in it's plot line too (father and son, mother is left out in the chaos, etc), but that's a minor complaint. The ending totally makes up for it as it's dark, depressing, and empty of hope; in other words, the best endings. The world isn't rosy and neatly wrapped up; why should your ending of a monster movie be either?

Overall The Mist is a great monster movie and totally caters to my sweet spot for Lovecraft (and King too). Other than a few flaws it's pretty damn good. 

8/10