Monday, October 11, 2010

The Fog (1980)



Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, John Houseman, Hal Holbrook, George 'Buck' Flower

More info: IMDb

Tagline: What you can't see won't hurt you... it'll kill you!

Plot: A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, is the target for revenge by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths.


My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Probably not. Once was fine. I'll watch the extras on the disc and give it away.

#13 of 31 Days of Horror 2010.
#179 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 2 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)


Here's something funny. Carpenter's score sounds very familiar to the Mike Oldfield tune, Tubular Bells, used prominently in the film we watched just before this one, THE EXORCIST (1973). I loved Houseman's storytelling during the opening. His voice is perfect. The rest of the cast is a blast, too. The fog effects were surprisingly good and spookily lit. I loved the tapping on the door by the baddies with the giant hooks and the absolute last scene is fucking awesome!


Leigh was a hair over the top, Curtis was scrummy as ever, atkins kicks ass, Holbrook plays a good drunk. What's not to like? Not much, really. There's something about having a radio jockey ramble on throughout a film that I generally don't like but Barbeau wasn't that bad, actually. I liked the movie enough but it seemed to be missing that little extra something in the way of tension that would have pushed me over edge to loving it. I'm a fan of Carpenter's so I knew it was probably going to look good with some quality shots and a good story. I hear the remake is shit and worth avoiding. No problem doing that. I'm just glad this wasn't a Stephen King adaptation.

2 comments:

  1. Bo, this is Rob. I know you have a love hate thing for John Carpenter but come on man! This is a rockin' movie plus you get to fantasize about Adriene Barboe (sic) and her lucious ta-tas. Now I will give you that the remake is crap but the original?!?!?!? Classic great movie and just like all classic flicks once is never enough.

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  2. I gave it a 6.5. I liked it...I just didn't love it. When you're down here we'll watch the UNCUT version of SWAMP THING (never seen it) which has plenty of AB's cans on display (so I'm told). I don't plan on seeing the remake of THE FOG. I heard it's horrible.

    Does this mean you don't want my DVD of THE FOG when I'm done with it?

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