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Mist, The
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MPAA RATING: R for violence, terror and gore, and language
Starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones, William Sadler, Frances Sternhagen, and Jeffrey DeMunn
David Drayton and his young son Billy are among a large group of terrified townspeople trapped in a local grocery store by a strange, otherworldly mist. David is the first to realize that there are “things” lurking in the mist…deadly, horrifying things…creatures not of this world. Survival depends on everybody in the store pulling together…but is that possible, given human nature? As reason crumbles in the face of fear and panic, David begins to wonder what terrifies him more: the monsters in the mist—or the ones “inside” the store, the human kind, the people that until now had been his friends and neighbors? (The Weinstein Company)
| GENRE(S): | Horror |
| WRITTEN BY: | Frank Darabont |
| DIRECTED BY: | Frank Darabont |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: March 25, 2008 Theatrical: November 21, 2007 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 127 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 173 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
James A. gave it an8:
Some people will think that this movie does little to set it apart in any commendable way; I think it does just that in remarkable ways. First, let me start off by telling you what you won't see in this movie that you see in so many others nowadays. You won't see wasteful, unrealistic, over the top action thrown in just for over the top action's sake. You won't see recycled plot elements; there's no "Classical Hero's Journey" structure; there's no awkward, misplaced romances that punctuate the plot. You won't see bad acting or cheesy dialogue, nor will you see poor pacing. The movie's pacing is so that it emphasizes suspense, uncertainty, and the characters. The characters themselves are very well delivered, and you'll find yourself relating to them before things even go totally awry. The cast is top notch. The dialogue is believable and not trimmed down to the point where the characters seem less like people, and more like just a role in a plot. The plot itself comes with at least a couple twists, they won't throw you for a loop, but at least one (and I'm not giving anything away here) is so brutal, cruel, and unforgiving that it alone sets the movie apart from the status quo, and had me outright clapping for the guts it took. Now what don't I like about the movie? The central antagonist(s) in this movie is enigmatic and centers around the mist that has swept through the town in question. In this mist are other wordly beasts that are the center for very much terror. For the better part, most of these monsters are bland. They come with a lot of detail and are mostly well rendered, but most of them just don't seem imaginatively done enough to fill the plot role that they were given. That's not really important for the story though. Another negative is the source eventually suggested for these apocalyptic happenings. The source isn't necessarily believable given current scientific theory, but it's delivered in such a way that it's not set in stone, and still leaves the audience for the most part to make their own decision. A closing pitfall that the movie falls into is that it perhaps tries a little too hard to make political and religious commentary on humanity's nature, but without really accomplishing anything in its efforts that hadn't been heard before. Those elements were necessary in moving the story along and providing a powerful secondary conflict within the plot, but it just didn't do as much as it seemed that it was trying to, and it did try hard. I've mulled over this movie for hours, and those are the only three detracting drawbacks that I can really muster that wouldn't be unfair to the film. It's written well; it's acted well; it disregards a lot of stigmas, and it has a remarkably, brutal twist that will wrench your emotions to the core. In the horror department, it's suspenseful, not overly gory, although not entirely scary. It has its startle-moments, which'll play off of your jumping reflex, but it really hinges more on discomfort of the unknown, and on a deeply sorrowful unease.
k s gave it a10:
Excellent monster movie, in which not the monsters are the thread, the ordinary people are. The Ending is one of the best in horror movie history.
Andre M gave it a3:
I thought that it would be some kind of psycologic thriller, what would be a lot more interesting. However, the movie has some really boring alien bugs, just as in any other B class movie. That took a lot of the movie credibility away. Through the movie, there were some interesting parts, some funny and some very intense. But some (most of) the persons were extremely dumb, by taking too long to decide to do something. And finnaly, the end was very, very sad, not bad, really, it was probably the most well thought part of the movie, but very sad. If it was with me, I would wait for the bugs come, not suicide so early.
John M gave it a10:
anyone who didn't like this is a moron... or religious. (or both...?). This was a GREAT MOVIE. It was fun mostly, i thought. Not so much horror as a thriller, even thought there were some parts that make you jump (turn the volume up!). Otherwise it's crap... Joking! Good Movie. Watch it if you can.
Clif C. gave it a5:
Ridiculous acting, Thomas Jane can't act. Only the biggest monster was well done, the others were quite ridiculous. The other bizarre thing was the plot trying to separate minds and opinions with religious, scientifics and rationalists beliefs. I'm not a religious at all and I'm a rationalist, but I was quite shocked by the semi-hidden insults made to both opinions and beliefs. The good points: it was entertaining and despite the hidden insults towards both "camps" it was really interesting to see how human race reacts in front of an event like this. The worst is that it would be very probable.
Tommy G. gave it a10:
Absorbing and scary - This skillful horror film treats the viewer with intelligence. The characters make you belief in the premise. Some of the special effects could be a little better, but the construction, attention to detail and multiple layers of storytelling (not to mention the entirely haunting ending) certainly make of for it. Darabont's really great with the actors too.
Gary S. gave it a10:
Veers close to crass and cheap and jokey but stays the right side of serious, giving that ending a nice sharp stab.

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