Frank Darabont returns to the Stephen King well once again and this one is my personal favorite. I have a soft spot for horror stories, I know The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are both much more subtle artistic masterpieces of modern cinema, I watch those films quite often and they tug at my heart strings each and every time. This film, however, is a fantastic character study with a subtly layered screenplay, powerful performances from it's ensemble of movie stars and "hey it's that guy!" character actors that also just so happens to include expertly directed gut wrenching sequences of horrorific monsters. It's a truly spooky film unlike most modern horror films. Darabont puts you right there in that supermarket, surrounded by panicked townsfolk and religious nutcases. Not only is the film scary, it's painfully tragic. I don't want to spoil the ending because it's so incredibly powerful so I'll say as little as I can but just don't expect every character that you've grown to love to make it out unscathed. This film has immense rewatchability unlike so many horror films that are meant to shock you momentarily with a jump scare then laugh it off with a quip. This is NOT that kind of film. Yes things get shocking but they're earned shocks and not just a series of the filmmakers shouting BOO!
Review of The Mist
