The Fog

The Fog
$2.25
Most film novelizations are simply the script put into narrative form and offer little of interest outside of a few scenes either cut from the movie or presented in a slightly different context. Dennis Etchison avoided that trap and created a fully realized adaptation of John Carpenter's The Fog. While the trouble plagued movie had its weak points, it is quite obvious Etchison worked hard to fix them, developing much needed back story and expansion of Carpenter's concepts and multiple plots. The result is a wonderful companion piece to the film that enriches the viewing experience after reading, much like Orson Scott Card's work on The Abyss. Recommended for both Carpenter fans and ghost story addicts.

The Fog
$17.95
Just about every way to die imaginable is in this book, just as you get to know a character, they are executed in some gruesome fashion...but i did like it. Good ending, something good to read but J A Konraths books are better.

The Fog (Widescreen Unrated Edition)
$14.94
This film got 2 stars because I loved how beautiful most the scenes were. Foggy, coastal, damp and beautiful.... It was a wonderful setting for a horror movie. Someone got pieces of this film correct. Then it just went all wrong. The ending was so silly and funny. It was really ridiculous. It made no sense at all. Just sort of thrown in.

The main character, Elizabeth, comes back to the island where she is born, after having fled to NYC for 6 months, leaving her {cheating} boyfriend and coldhearted mother behind. She comes back, coincidentally, during the same weekend that the island is celebrating it's 100th anniversary. Elizabeth reunites with her {cheating} boyfriend who is unfortunately played by Tom Welling. Welling has the expression of a wooden stick and his character is highly unlikable. He carries himself smugly and with arrogance and it makes no sense at all that a beautiful, smart woman like Elizabeth would even waste her time on him.

Anyway, the anniversary of the island is celebrating the founding fathers who, it seems, carried a very dark secret with them to the grave for the sake of their families. Their descendants are these young twenty-somethings about to be terrorized for their great-great-grandfather's sins.

The concept is not entirely bad. In fact, it was interesting to watch the dark secret unfold and Elizabeth play detective to unravel the story. I really enjoyed that. Also, I enjoyed a lot of the scene shots. The dining table eerily "washed up" on the beach was very creepy, beautiful and creative. The fog chasing the little boy was awesome. There really were some haunting and creepy shots and ideas.

However. There was plenty that made no sense at all. In the beginning of the movie, Spooner, the friend of the male lead, hides in a freezer on their boat to avoid being killed by the ghosts. That made no sense whatsoever. How did he figure that out? How did he survive a whole night and day in a freezer? If he knew this secret was a way to save lives, why doesn't he share it with other people? When he comes back to life he even says something like "they can't get you in the freezer" but then it's never mentioned again. How silly!

The attacks by the ghosts are also very random and illogical. At one point they fry grandma to a crispy skeleton through her sink water as she's washing dishes. If they have this sort of power, they could have taken out the entire island's population in about 5 mins. But then I guess we wouldn't have a movie, now would we?

I was annoyed that the back story never revealed itself. So Tom Welling just gets all the girls and he never even tells Elizabeth he's been carrying on with the Selma Blair character. Why even have a subplot like that and then just ignore it?

Then there was the ending. What happened?!! It made no sense at all. I can't reveal it because I would be a spoiler but really.... it really, really made no sense. It was the silliest, lamest ending ever ever ever.

So OK entertainment piece.

Good points:
1. Selma Blair is fun and sexy as always- very entertaining. She's such a scene stealer.
2. The atmosphere. Creepy, damp, foggy, coastal remoteness.
3. The unfolding secret is well-done and interesting.

Bad points:
1. The ending.
2. The plot holes.
3. Tom Welling's acting.

The Fog
$16.98
I really enjoyed the CD of "The Fog (1980)" Soundtrack. It compliments the movie "The Fog (1980)".