August 5, 2018
Written by: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh
Budget: $1,000,000
Quotes: But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death.
Trivia: Although the film cost just over $1 million to make, Avco Embassy spent three times that amount on advertising and promotion. This included TV ads, radio ads, print ads, and the studio even installed fog machines (at a cost of $350 each) in the lobbies of selected cinemas where the film was showing.
I decided to continue my horror sojourn with another John Carpenter film. With Carpenter, you know you are getting something original, unique and fun. This film is no exception. Unlike some of his other films, The Fog is a pretty straight forward ghost story without the twists and turns of some of his other films (having just watched In the Mouth of Madness, that film immediately comes to mind). with all the essential Carpenter elements: John Carpenter score, supernatural elements, Jamie Lee Curtis, great practical effects. Also, the film has the beautiful Adrienne Barbeau thrown in as a bonus!
The Fog is about a small coastal town called Antonio Bay which is about to celebrate their centennial anniversary. However, a dairy discovered by the local priest from a distant relative reveals that the town has a dark past. Upon its founding, members of the town purposely sank a ship carrying a man with leprosy who hoped to create a leper colony nearby. If that wasn't enough the town used the gold they plundered from the ship to bankroll the building of their town. Now, a hundred years later, the ghosts of those drowned men are seeking revenge and carried into town within a strange fog.
During one more suspenseful moment, a ghost chases Adrienne's character on to of a church where another ghosts sneaks up behind her. During another, the town is engaged in a candlelight vigil and totally oblivious to the fact that the town's power has been knocked out by the fog and that its rapid approach means their certain death. The film has almost no gore or blood and instead relies on suspense to make it a solid horror film (to be honest, I could use a bit of blood and gore...).
Jamie Lee Curtis stars as an adorable hitchhiker named Elizabeth who is picked up by Nick Castle (Tom Atkins). She immediately goes home and sleeps with him. I don't know if you remember this guy, but he was the main character in Halloween III (The Halloween which shall not be named). In that movie he ends up banging the daughter of his recently murdered patient after hanging out with her for one day. The guy is twice as old as both the girl from Halloween III and Jamie Lee Curtis. I guess its not a big deal, just weird that they chose such an old guy as the sex symbol of these two movies.
Now, for the real sex symbol, the incredibly beautiful Adrienne Barbeau plays a mother and FM radio DJ who reports on the incoming fog throughout the film. Her character provides the narrative with the needed suspense by placing her child in danger and away from her protective reach. Also, he character behaves as a kind of voice over to let the characters and more importantly the viewer know what is happening in the story without having to resort to elaborate dialogues or other narrative techniques. The trivia said that during the filming, Adrienne was actually married to John Carpenter who wrote the role just for her.
Being a Carpenter film, the special effects are all low budget, practical, and hugely effective. I imagine most of the special effects budget was spent on dried ice in order to create all the fog. There are some costumes for the ghosts which are largely shot in shadows or obscured by fog making tiny details non-necessary. What really is visually stunning, is Carpenter's use of light. Lighting the fog from various angles and light sources really creates a supernatural feel to the fog and makes it a movie character in its own right. Another cheap effect is the lights for eyes of the ghosts at the end. It reminded me of the Demons at the end of Demons where they walk up the stairs through a fog with glowing eyes. It's really effective. The ghosts are also pretty cool. They go around killing the people using old-timey boating hooks. The kinds with the handle and the big hook.
Good movie. Wish there was some gore. At least its got both Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis.
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