The Mist

The longtime collaboration between horror icon Stephen King and writer-director Frank Darabont—which produced such felicitous results in The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile—is no third-time-charm in this bloated adaptation of the well-known King novella from the book Skeleton Crew. After a fierce storm damages his home, artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) takes his son Billy (Nathan Gamble) and neighbor Brent Norton (Andre Braugher) into town to pick up supplies, where they encounter a thick mist that drifts in from the local army base, carrying fearsome creatures that attack and devour vulnerable citizens, leading embattled shoppers to hunker down inside a grocery store. Darabont obviously wants to make the point that civilization's veneer is quickly stripped away when human beings are confronted with dark forces they can't comprehend, and that some will turn to superstitions (i.e., religious fundamentalism) for comfort. Thus, a zealot played by Marcia Gay Harden is able to persuade a majority of her fellow prisoners that the End of Days has arrived and God's will must be done, even if it means sacrificing a few of their fellow townspeople here and there. Unfortunately, the one-note characterizations and all-too-predictable plot machinations eventually take their toll, and after the first hour most will be impatient to see this Mist dissipate. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: Available in both single-disc and double-disc editions, DVD extras on the former include audio commentary by writer-director Frank Darabont, a 37-minute “When Darkness Came” making-of featurette, “The Horror of It All” featurette on visual effects (16 min.), eight deleted scenes with optional commentary (15 min.), a “Monsters Among Us: A Look at the Creatures” featurette (13 min.), a “Taming the Beast” scene-specific featurette (12 min.), three webisodes (10 min.), a “Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of an Artist” featurette (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a disappointing horror flick.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 14, 2008—Genius, 126 min., R, $34.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2007's The Mist features a good transfer and a 5.1 Dolby True HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras on this disc—which includes both the color and b&w versions—are identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by writer-director Frank Darabont, a 37-minute “When Darkness Came” making-of featurette, “The Horror of It All” featurette on visual effects (16 min.), eight deleted scenes with optional commentary (15 min.), a “Monsters Among Us: A Look at the Creatures” featurette (13 min.), a “Taming the Beast” scene-specific featurette (12 min.), three webisodes (10 min.), a “Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of an Artist” featurette (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid BD presentation of an uneven horror flick.]