Sobre-Natural

Pop quiz. Tell me, what do you consider to be the most successful Stephen King adaptation, made for film or television? "Carrie"? "The Dead Zone"? "Salem's Lot"? "Stand By Me"? No! Not "Maximum Overdrive"!! (And if that is your choice, may God forgive you, because I won't.)

All of the above, except "Maximium Overdrive" of course, are great pieces of work. But my choice as the benchmark Stephen King adaptation would probably be "The Shawshank Redemption", directed by Frank Darabont.

Stephen King has been very good for Frank Darabont. "The Shawshank Redemption" has become a modern classic and "The Green Mile" was nearly as good. I am glad to say that "The Mist" is nearly as good again.

"The Mist" is a great film, perfectly structured, but a film that requires patience. It is a film of the slow build and of a gradual getting to know the characters, their obsessions, their fears and prejudices. It was nice to see a King horror film where his great talent of touching on the reality of a small town, has been exploited. It makes it all the more horrific when all hell does break loose, because the people who are getting hurt are ones that you know.

Thomas Jane is faintly wooden. Personally I would not have cast him, but all of the other performances are top notch. Marcia Gay Harden's possibly psychotic, fundamental Christian, Toby Jones' short, pudgy, perfectly ordinary hero, Andre Braugher's uptight, big city lawyer and William Sadler's scared, malleable blue collar worker. All excellent.

"The Mist" is not "The Shawshank Redemption" in one crucial way. Whereas "The Shawshank Redemption" was about hope and life, "The Mist" is about hopelessness and death. One thing that they have in common is an astonishing ending. The ending of "The Mist" is wonderful, horrific, twisted and shocking. Not anything that I saw coming.

"The Mist" is marvellous. Must see.

Frank Darabont returns to the Stephen King well once again and this one is my personal favorite. I have a soft spot for horror stories, I know The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both much more subtle artistic masterpieces of modern cinema, I watch those films quite often and they tug at my heart strings each and every time. This film, however, is a fantastic character study with a subtly layered screenplay, powerful performances from it's ensemble of movie stars and "hey it's that guy!" character actors that also just so happens to include expertly directed gut wrenching sequences of horrorific monsters. It's a truly spooky film unlike most modern horror films. Darabont puts you right there in that supermarket, surrounded by panicked townsfolk and religious nutcases. Not only is the film scary, it's painfully tragic. I don't want to spoil the ending because it's so incredibly powerful so I'll say as little as I can but just don't expect every character that you've grown to love to make it out unscathed. This film has immense rewatchability unlike so many horror films that are meant to shock you momentarily with a jump scare then laugh it off with a quip. This is NOT that kind of film. Yes things get shocking but they're earned shocks and not just a series of the filmmakers shouting BOO!

This is one of the most heart breaking and depressing horror movies I have ever witnessed ,I still have trouble stomaching the ending. The characters and acting were great and creatures were creepy. This is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Films based on the writing of Stephen King have a habit of not translating to the screen very well; although director Frank Darabont made what is often considered the best of the Stephen King films in The Shawshank Redemption - and now with The Mist he's directed what is surely one of the major contenders for the title of best horror film to be based on a Stephen King story! When I first heard the plot description, I was expecting the film to be a cross between John Carpenter's The Fog and modern horror disappointment Feast; and while it does have elements of both those movies, it is thankfully much better than both. The film starts with a violent storm that leaves the Drayton family home in tatters. David Drayton sets off to the local store along with his son and a neighbour; but the town is soon plummeted into trouble when it is surrounded by a malicious mist. It soon transpires that there are otherworldly creatures within the mist and the townsfolk in the local store find themselves battling against the creatures as well as themselves...

The film takes on a real classic style horror feel and never tries to be exceedingly clever or overly gory and that is one of its main strengths. Frank Darabont puts his focus mainly on the tension between the characters and the atmosphere and this benefits the film as there's always enough to keep things interesting - and that is particularly impressive when you consider the thin plot and the fact that it's over two hours long. Thomas Jane takes the lead role and gives a great performance which is nicely pitched between family man and action hero. The rest of the ensemble perform well alongside the lead actor, with Marcia Gay Harden as a fanatical Christian and Toby Jones as the quiet shopkeeper stand out most. The special effects are used sparingly but are very well done and show some great imagination. The creatures that come out of the mist are varied and interesting. There is a lot of talk about the ending of this film and I have to say I'm not really surprised; you'll either love it or hate but personally I found it to be a refreshing end to a commercial modern horror film. Overall, The Mist is an excellent horror film and can be considered a must see for anyone who is a fan of the genre!

I won't go into details as I don't want to ruin this film for everyone, but I will highly recommend it! One warning: Do not watch this film expecting a cheesy/entertaining horror, or even a high-quality entertaining slasher as this film is -all- about the characters and how extreme circumstances can bring out the extreme sides of human nature.

By the end of the film I was literally on the edge of my seat - cider forgotten - with my hand over my mouth.

Masterfully written screenplay (from the original short story by Stephen King) and masterfully directed, anyone who is generally sceptical about adaptations of Stephen King "horrors" will be rewarded by watching this, Frank Darabont has done a typically marvelous job (see Shawshank and Green Mile) and well and truly delivered.