The Fog Mini-Review

So slightly delayed but the Edinburgh summer inspired me (I can currently see about 200m at the most).  Anyway as promised after viewing The Mist I gave John Carpenter’s classic ghost story The Fog a viewing.  While the Mist’s failings were mostly acting it had a very interesting character dynamic and interesting conflict.  The Fog’s characters are more traditional, there aren’t any arcs here just chess pieces to positioned in varying degrees of peril.

There are strange goings on in a small town on the California coast.  A malevolent fog has descended and it appears something hiding within is taking its revenge on the townspeople.

Carpenter can shoot a good ghost flick and he skilfully manages his phantoms and manages to keep them scary with just makeup and well placed lights.  The low budget is only occasionally glaring but the film’s supernatural elements obviously make it easier to ridicule than his breakthrough production Halloween.  Still between Carpenter’s talent with the smoke machine this has aged surprisingly well.

The gore by today’s standards is extremely tame but the violence has a certain enthusiasm that still carries bite.  It’s amusing that the film was actually recut by Carpenter before release to insert more gore and to compete with other films of the time.

Its classic status is assured but don’t go expecting anything deeper than a well made ghost story and you’re sure to have an enjoyable evening.
7/10

The Special Edition DVD is available for a mere £7 from Amazon.co.uk with two documentaries.