The Mist (2007)★★★★☆

Here’s another Stephen King work that I’ve read and liked. I originally read this one before seeing the movie and was expecting to be disappointed by the adaptation. That wasn’t the case, though! While I probably would have done some things differently, for the most part I really liked the choices that the filmmaker (and screenwriter!) made here.

There are a few points that drag on a bit but for the most part this movie is well paced and wonderfully suspenseful. The creatures are terrifying and the humans often even more so. And I love how well the background music works, especially during the climactic scenes.

I thought the cast was fine for the most part. Thomas Jane probably wouldn’t have been my first choice to play David Drayton but he pulled it off. I had forgotten that Andre Braugher (as Norton) and Alexa Davalos (as Sally) were in this, so I was pleasantly almost surprised seeing them on screen. Marcia Gay Harden, though. She was absolutely the right choice for Mrs. Carmody. She pulls off that crazy religious zealot so believably that I almost wish I had her in mind when I read this the first time.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about the change to the ending. Without spoiling too much, I’ll say that I’ve seen very few movie adaptations that portray a darker ending than the original work, and I’m not entirely clear why it was done here. I suppose it brings more closure than the Stephen King story, but in my opinion it paints a much bleaker picture of humanity than the original and doesn’t necessarily add much to my enjoyment of the film.

That said, I did enjoy it, and most monster movie fans will probably enjoy it as well.