Happy Halloween week horror pals! It’s the time of the season to ratchet up the fear to 11. I’ve been taking a look at some of the best (and a few of the worst) Stephen King adaptations this month. And in this review, I’ll be going over Stephen King’s take on cosmic horror in The Mist directed by none other than Frank Darabont. There will be some spoilers but I will try to keep them minimal in this review. If you know too much about it going in, the movie is not nearly as strong. Still, if you hate spoilers of the minimal kind, run out to the grocery store before the mist sets in, grab your supplies, run on home and watch the movie while all the chaos happens, then come on back here to read the review!

The Mist background

Frank Darabont, a notable film director who has adapted his share of Stephen King projects, and was integral to the launch of The Walking Dead read The Mist in 1980 and wanted to make it into a film. But he wisely chose to direct The Shawshank Redemption first. After the hugely successful reception of that film, Darabont decided to go with The Green Mile. But eventually, in 2007 we finally got to see Darabont’s take on a true horror story of King’s when The Mist debuted.

While this film was not the critical darling of Darabont’s first two projects, it was still generally well received and did gross over $57 million at the box office.

In recent years, people have gained more appreciation for this project and the basic premise of the film still resonates to this day. Not all of the effects hold up well, but the story is still stunningly impactful, and the ending is outright devastating.

An intense storm and a run to the store

In the beginning of the film, a tree crashes through the home of David Drayton (played by Thomas Jane), and the car of Brent Norton. These two men have a history of litigation against one another but the situation is such that they need to get into town for supplies. David takes his son, Billy and Brent into the local grocery store. What they don’t know is a menacing mist is right behind them.

Things are normal enough inside the store, with a few people arguing or joking but most of them just doing their shopping like any other day. But then, Dan Miller, a local resident bursts through the doors, blood dripping down his face. He starts screaming about there being something in the mist.

Threats from outside and in

A theme you will see in both this film and The Walking Dead is a varied group of people forced to survive together. As a result, sometimes the threats from people are just as bad as those from any monster. If not worse.

Soon, David has first hand experience that the threats in the mist are incredibly real. From this point on, it’s survive or die. Factions are made. People turn to religion while others remain pragmatic. The threats from outside become more apparent. The way out of the situation is anything but clear.

The whole time David is making what he sees as the best choice. But as the film progresses, what is the right choice becomes murkier until he is faced with a horrendous decision.

The Mist has one of the most memorable endings of any Stephen King story

I said I would keep spoilers light so I am not going to give away the ending here. If you’ve seen the film, there is no doubt in my mind you remember it. Whether it is a good ending or a bad one is entirely subjective. I will say, it is an ending that fits in perfectly well with cosmic horror. Let’s just say, no matter what David did right before the end, he was in an intense moral quandary.

And out of all of the main characters in all of the Stephen King stories, David may have actually had to make the toughest decision. And that’s saying something.

The Mist in Conclusion

I hadn’t seen this one in a while. The effects feel pretty outdated in some of the scenes. The gore is still generally as good as it was but some of the CGI is a little rough by today’s standards. But the story is as strong as ever. It’s one of those films where upon re-watch, the themes still resonate more than a decade later. In some ways, it makes for better viewing now than it did then.

And this film stars a bunch of people who ended up cast in The Walking Dead which I find interesting.

If you want some great scares this is a good film to watch during Halloween week. Just be prepared for an ending that will punch you in the gut like a wrecking ball.

Want More?

Want to see some of my other King reviews? Take a look here!

Looking for a good King read? Check out this one!

Did you love the ending of this one or hate it? Let me know in the comments!