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Title: The Mist (Black & White Version)
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is a substantial amount of hard violence and lanuage in this movie.Recommended for ages 17 and up. |
I can see why Frank Darabont is Stephen King’s “go-to guy” when it comes to adapting his works. There are tons of Stephen King adaptations out there, but Darabont seems to be one of the few directors to “get” why these stories are popular. Take “The Mist,” the subject of our review. It’s a monster movie. A horror monster movie. There you go, I just told you the entire movie right there. This is the same thing you can get in the cheap part of the horror section at Best Buy. Yeah this movie costs more money to make, but does that make it better then everything else out there? No, it does not. What makes it better then everything else out there is that “The Mist” is scary.
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It’s truly scary. The movie opens with a storm that leaves many people’s homes in shambles and needing supplies. Multiple strangers of different personalities are all in the grocery store when a mysterious mist covers the store. They don’t know what it is or where it came from. All they know is that when people leave, they scream. Then they don’t come back. This is a simple movie in premise. There’s no reason to go on describing the story. There is a variety of characters in this film but way too many to get into here. Needless to say few of these people are dumb, just confused. The only dumb person is a religious zealot. And let’s face it: We need characters like these to turn characters against other characters in movies like this.
Yes it’s cliche, but the reason cliches are used in movies like this is because they tend to work. After all, if everyone acted like a sane human being than everyone would come out alive. Defeats the purpose of a horror film doesn’t it? So “The Mist” is cliche ridden. Who cares? The film is scary. The monsters creepy. At two hours your likely to feel very, VERY hopeless before the end of the film! This is what a good horror movie does. Oh, and there’s no “it’s just a cat” scenes here. I hate scenes like those. Oh, there’s one more thing I need to mention about this movie: The bleak ending. Boy oh boy, if the movie wasn’t worth recommending before by the time it was finished it was would be worth recommending then.
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Darabont actually changed the book’s ending from what I hear, but it’s so radical that I’m amazed the studios let him get away with it. It’s haunting and harrowing, leaving an impression on you long after the film is over. It is this ending that largely makes the movie stand out above the rest. So while unoriginal “The Mist” is still great film making that does what you expect a movie like this to do, and then shakes you up so much at the end you have to think long and hard about what it is you just saw. I know Darabont has been accused of leaning on Stephen King’s name for the movies he makes. But you know what, considering his track record on doing these adaptations justice I say let him adapt King’s entire library if he wants. I don’t care.
Now then, I want to take a moment to discuss the black and white version of the movie found on the BluRay because I think the simple fact that there is no color drastically changes the film (hence the separate review). I want to say that I have nothing against color. Color can add lots of depth to films and the world has been blessed with color (particularly Disney animated films). But I feel black and white has it’s own personality that is hard to beat. In color “The Mist” is a terrifying monster movie. It has a 70's retro look to it that is unique. Watch it in black and white though and the film gets much, MUCH scarier! Now it feels like a sixties monster film that Aflred Hitchock would direct.
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Just comparing the screen shots in both reviews will give you an idea of how drastically different taking the color out makes the film look and feel. Is the story or characters any different by being in black and white? No, not at all. But the entire mood of the film feels far more bleak and desperate. Darabont apparently wanted to film it and release this film in black and white in the first place, but try telling a studio that. Thanks to computers though he was able to convert the movie and I feel thankful this was able to happen. The color scheme alone add’s another half a star to the final grade. A good textbook example that aspiring film makers should take note of: How your film looks will greatly affect how people feel about it.
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