"The Mist" is a Must

It has been a while since I have been excited about a Stephen King movie. Thankfully the executives at Dimension Films and MGM decided to hire Frank Darabont as the director. His previous films have been studies of the human psyche and the relationships developed and threatened by our own insecurities. With this film, he seems to have captured everything that is truly scary about us.

As I said, this film comes from the mind of the modern master of horror stories, Stephen King. Although not all movies based on his books turn out to be great. Most of them still capture the essence of the true horror; us. If you think back on every movie or book from Mr. King, you will realize that their is a beast or presence of some kind that is causing havoc. Then there are the people who are living through it and the extent they will go to survive.

A great example of this would be The Stand. The Devil was the main evil in the story but it was the people left to deal with the aftermath that was truly horrifying. Then there was The Shawshank Redemption. The prison staff is supposed to be the "good guys" and the prisoners are the "bad guys", but the roles are reversed. This modern movie classic shows how people in power can overstep there bounds and not even realize that they have become the very thing they once tried to help remove from society.

From the preview on the movie's website, "The Mist" seems to be a combination of these two stories. A group of people, trapped in a supermarket by an army of creatures, form into fractions that then fight against each other. One side is led by a religious zealot who believes there must be a sacrifice and the other is searching for a more rational solution. The fighting continues even as they are being attacked by the creatures who may be from another dimension.

The film stars Thomas Jane who shot to stardom with his role in The Punisher. While the movie was critically panned, he managed to bring a strong emotional tie to the movie. His portrayal of Frank Castle was fantastic. He had to try to keep his emotion in check while dishing out the punishment so justly deserved by those who murdered his family. In The Mist, he plays a father whose son is caught in the middle of the battle between the two factions trapped by the beasts.

Marcia Gay Harden also stars as a religious leader in the town who believes that the end of the world is upon them. She is always excellent in the roles she chooses and I expect her to be at the top of her game in this film.

I think this film has a chance at being great thanks to the cast of A-list actors and the talent of Frank Darabont behind the camera.

Click on the link below to go to the movie's website and check out the preview for yourself. Also browse the other sections and learn about the cast and crew or get cool downloads.


The Mist by Stephen King

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