Topic: Frank Darabont

Stephen King: Monsters in ‘The Mist’

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 24, 2007 |

Stephen King’s The Mist not just a pretty darned good “creature feature,” its monsters erupt on several levels around us, within us and within the people around us.

Now let me say that I am not the greatest Stephen King fan; I like about half of the books he writes and little more than half the films made from said books. And no, I did not read the 1980 novella (from Skeleton Crew) upon which this latest film is based. I tend to like my horror to unfold in my mind, offstage, behind the curtain. Alfred Hitchcock mastered that in films like The Birds. That said, as thriller/horror/monster movies goes, this was a good one, even if I did have to look away in mere anticipation of those bloodier parts.

Set in Maine, the story, directed by Frank Darabont, unfolds innocuously enough with a fairly violent but seemingly natural storm that fells tree, cuts power and sends an old tree through the picture window of our protagonist’s home. Assessing the damage, the family sees the beginning of a mist rolling down from the mountains where a military base is secluded. Artist/husband David Drayton (Thomas Jane) leaves his wife at home and takes his young son Billy (Nathan Gamble) to town for groceries and supplies in the aftermath of the storm. As he heads out to the store, truckloads of soldiers go speeding past in the opposite direction, a hint of things to come.

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