The Mist

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The Mist ★★★ 2007 (R)

Writer director Frank Derabant adapts Stephen King's short story into what on the surface appears to be a typical horror film, replete with fantastic creatures hell-bent on annihilating anyone or anything in their path. There's also tense drama, which unfolds in the grocery store of a typical Maine town, where locals and tourists are trapped by a thick, malevolent fog that follows after a freak storm. Local commercial artist David Drayton (Jane) and Mrs. Carmody (Harden), a bible-thumping kook, both try to lead the others through the crisis as people begin to crack under the pressure and turn on each other. Andre Braugher is a big-city lawyer, a thoroughly rational outsider who refuses to accept the small town mentality of the citizenry. Ultimately the inhumanity they direct at each other proves to be as great a threat as whatever is in the mist. The ending may be mildly disappointing but the movie is otherwise well done. 125m/C DVD . US Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Nathan Gamble, Toby Jones, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, Alexa Davalos; D: Frank Darabont; W: Frank Darabont; C: Ronn Schmidt; M: Mark Isham.