MovieChat Forums > The Fog (1980) Discussion > Terrific film, sad that Carpenter doesn'...

Terrific film, sad that Carpenter doesn't care for it much.

posted 9 years ago by jinx_malone
30 replies | jump to latest

It's such a great blend of ghost story and slasher, all the concurrent narratives come together in the end in a very well done way, there's some scary and amazing crosscutting in there that is--well, not quite Hitchcock worthy but pretty damned good at ratcheting up the suspense and fear--those leprous ghosts with rotted, dripping clothes and their glowing eyes are scary looking, getting John Houseman in there at the beginning sets he perfect tone, and it's got Tom Atkins as a romantic lead. I love it and I've loved it since I was a kid. The initial kills on the Sea Grass are scary. And gory!

Oh, to have HBO in the late seventies and early eighties when they showed different movies all month long and not the same crap every day; and to watch things that you were way, way too little to be watching.

I know Carpenter had to reshoot, I know that Jamie Lee Curtis wasn't totally thrilled with the atmosphere on set because of the split between Carpenter and Debra Hill, it seems like everyone, even good old Tom in the commentary on the Shout!Factory release had an okay time but maybe not a great one. A stressful set atmosphere can have a real impact, but in the case of this film, I think it probably added to the tension on screen, so it works.

My only real complaint with the film, and it's not even a complaint so much as it is a plot device that I don't care for, is the kid. I know he's important for both Stevie's, Nick's, and Elizabeth's stories--Stevie's because he's her kid, and Nick and Elizabeth because that sequence of them saving him is one of those moments in the film where the editing is really ramping up your fear, especially when they're all back in the truck and then the damn thing is stuck, and that's where the crosscutting gets intense as hell!--but I'm not a fan of this particular kid in this particular horror film.

Stevie's being alone at the radio station and watching all this play out below her and then getting attacked as well is scary enough on its own, or at least it was for me. Even though I don't care for the kid, he's kind of got to be there, because that scene of Nick and Elizabeth saving him is probably the most tense and frightening in the entire film, and it works so well.

I wish more people liked this film. It seems as though some people see it as lesser Carpenter but nothing was as bad as Ghosts of Mars.

Right?

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

[–] comeonnoles 9 years ago

Watched it last week still very creepy and scary!

[–] painter101 8 years ago

I love The fog. Very atmospheric and edgy. The scenery is gorgeous.

[–] foxmulder1993 9 years ago

It's funny about 'The Fog' because for years I considered the top tier of Carpenter's work to be 'Halloween', 'Escape From New York', 'The Thing' and 'They Live' and kind of thought of 'The Fog' as an afterthought, but after purchasing the Scream Factory release I've watched it about 5 times and love it. Maybe it grew on me, but there is so much to appreciate about this film. The atmosphere and creepy synth score is top notch. The casting is terrific. The cinematography is awesome at times with great shots of the lighthouse and open sea behind it. The scares are inventive and perfectly placed. I've easily moved 'The Fog' into my list of Carpenter faves now.

[–] ElectricWarlock 8 years ago

I think this a great, creepy, atmospheric supernatural film. I love scary ghost stories to begin with so it had that on its side, but also interesting, likable characters, a great cast, and a very good musical score. The use of fog was genius as it has an eerie, mysterious quality about it to begin with. This is my second favorite John Carpenter film only after Halloween. It is much better than The Thing which gets twice the amount of praise this gets.

[–] bdhrentertainment 8 years ago

Going off the MGM DVD and the insert.....

It comes across as though this was a difficult shoot, not only personally, but professionally. The difficulty of working w/ the fog (understandable), having to get film equipment up a 600+ stair lighthouse, etc.

Carpenter states in the insert (paraphrasing) that he didn't really know how to handle the movie from a tone POV, which caused him to go back and have to re-shoot 1/3rd of the movie, re-score, re-edit, etc.

Carpenter states he did the best he could back then.

PS: Gotta think. The Fog was backed b/c of Halloween. That means from concept, to finishing a script, to the movie being financed, to getting all the paperwork in place, to finding locations & permits, to production design, to hiring an entire cast & crew, to filming, to post production, then going back to re-shoot, re-score & re-edit, the entire movie was done in less then a year. That's one helluva quick turnaround time. No wonder things were stressful!

Gotta think Embassy was already gearing up publicity on this movie during that time, novelization, press, magazine articles, ads, radio spots, etc. The people involved w/ this production had to be feeling the pressure, b/c of Embassy banking on this movie, but also b/c of how rushed it was.

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I don't know how the movie was viewed in the 80's, but I saw it in the early 90's when I was in 4th grade for the first time. Back then, The Fog was already considered a cult classic. That's what made me want to rent it initially.

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As for the final movie, The Fog is very good, but it's not a masterpiece like Halloween, which is by far & away the best Carpenter movie.

Everyone has pretty much stated the strengths of The Fog, that it's a very effective ghost story. 110% agree.

On the other hand, The Fog lacks the depth of the original Halloween. There's not one single wasted scene in the original Halloween as it explores this idea of evil manifesting itself on Halloween, how evil can be anywhere & everywhere and how evil can present itself in the form of a seemingly normal kid, in a seemingly normal suburban neighborhood.

That's why the Halloween sequels are garbage, b/c they reduced Myers' to a run of the mill psycho.

After Halloween, I would rank Assault on Precinct 13 as 2nd.

[–] vilafire (658) 2 years ago

I actually thought during this movie: that’s how they should handle kids in horror movies. He was barely there. And mostly in the background when he was there.

I usually hate kids in scary movies. Ruins the fun. Like in Friday the 13th, I don’t even like Feldman. The campers in VI don’t count to me bc they’re just glorified extras.