So having waited about 12 years after I first heard that Darabont and King were planning on bringing The Mist to the big screen, to call me psyched to the see the movie would have been an understatement. One of my favorite short stories by King directed by the guy who did Shawshank Redemption? I'm sooo there.

And now after seeing the movie, I can say that it is easily one of the best book-to-screen adaptations I've ever seen. Having re-read the short story just the day before, all the dialog and scenes were fresh in my mind going in, and Darabont nailed it. He creates a good old-fashioned monster movie; one that is in all actuality very akin to the zombie genre, another favorite of mine. A small group of people are isolated by an exterior threat and must rely on themselves for support. It relies just as much on psychological horror and man's inhumanity toward man as it does that which goes bump in the night. Very well done.



(spoilers ahead - italics)




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All except the ending. I can tell you, O friends of the Sift, that I was PISSED when I walked out of that theatre. Why would you spend all the time and effort staying that true to the source material and then screw it up at the end? Yes, the books ending is ambiguous...so what? And you know what? I totally agree that were I in that situation, that would have probably been the more acceptable solution than dying a protracted death of dehydration and/or being made a meal of. But having that ending felt like a cop-out. Something that gave the mindless masses of the movie-going public their happy ending and appease the others who think that suicide is cowardly. I could have even forgiven the director had the four of them been shot, the Army rolls up, the father is shown breaking down...BUT THE MIST IS STILL THERE. Leave it through to the end of the story; don't give me some "oh look, it finally burned off! We're gonna be OK!" ending. Hollywood, it's OK to have a fucked up ending. That what made Se7en so great. Or Fargo, The River's Edge, etc, etc. Keep the sunshine and rainbows for Mr. Magoriam's Wonder Emporium. This movie (and it's fans) didn't deserve this bastardized ending.

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So with all that said, the movie gets a solid 7/10, rather than the 9/10 I was going to give it. I still would highly recommend it to anyone who loves their horror stories with some psychology added in.

Now, bring on the fan-edit!