The Fog (2005)

The scenery in The Fog is quite stunning and effective. Actually it made this reviewer want to relocate to some similar tiny coastal town. Sure, there may be vicious supernatural creatures picking off the local populace, but otherwise it looks quite nice and laid back . . .

Review by : James O'Ehley

The Fog never looked this good . . .

The Fog is a mediocre remake of a 1980s horror movie of the same name which wasn’t that good to begin with. The filmmakers of the new version probably felt that they could do it better – but they didn’t really. (Or maybe they just didn’t have any ideas of their own. Or maybe they just did it for the money, which is probably the most the plausible reason.)

In the original you’ll recall a small coastal town was terrorised by unseen figures lurking within a mysterious fog. They were of course vengeful ghosts bringing revenge upon the descendants of those who had done them wrong in the small town’s distant past and thus all kinds of supernatural mayhem ensues.

The remake follows a similar path, but can’t resist the temptation to finally show us the ghosts in all their CGI glory towards the end of the movie. This is a mistake since the ghosts themselves seem like something out of The Frighteners, or worse, Ghostbusters; and aren’t that scary at all. In the first half of the film that is heavy on scary atmospherics the ghosts remain a shadowy yet unseen presence. However, these scenes also don’t quite work either, maybe because the supernatural element in this movie seems so arbitrary. There no ground rules: sometimes the fog causes cars to stall and die, except for those scenes in which the screenplay requires our heroes to make a narrow escape. Early on a character escapes the fog by hiding in a fridge, claiming that the cold saved him. Think this would be a plot point later on? Nope. The plot point is raised once and never mentioned again. Some kind of ground rules like one usually finds in horror movies (example: vampires can’t stand daylight) would have made it easier for the audience, but there are none alas.

The acting is passable and the young cast attractive and good-looking. Some 1980s-style nudity would have helped though (ever notice how there just aren’t that much nudity in modern movies as opposed to those made in the early ‘Eighties?) Special effects are okay and the scenery is quite stunning and effective. Actually it made this reviewer want to relocate to some similar tiny coastal town. Sure, there are vicious supernatural creatures picking off the local populace, but otherwise it looks quite nice and laid back . . .

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