I remember that I was looking forward to this movie when it was announced, but finally I never made it to the theatre and that not just because I loathe paying for the neighbouring disgusting smell of popcorn, can invite my neighbours to come over and kick my in the back of the chair or can make just as much of noise crunching crisps on my home. The real reason I never went or hadn’t purchased the movie on DVD yet was that for me The Mist the strongest story by Stephen King was I’ve ever read¹ . And who wants to ruin that kind of sensation?

But then, some day, browsing through the limited BD offer at the local HMV² and saw that the UK release had a 2 discs, the second one with a black and white version of the movie. That concept intrigued me and little later the second disc was in my player.

Movie – Plot

The plot is simple, but full of Kingsian suspense:

The story mainly follows lead character David and his young son Billy as their town is overtaken my a mysterious fog after a serious storm. The man and his son are then trapped in a local supermarket when unearthly creatures begin taking over the small town and killing it’s residents. The story is lived from inside the supermarket.

Still keeping the short story, published in “The Skeleton Crew”, in mind I do not want to tell more about it, as you really should read it narrated by The Master himself.

Picture and Audio

Frank Darabont, who’s no stranger to King fans (“The Green Mile”, The Shawshank Redemption”) opted for a B-movie alike camera style. The whole movie feels as if filmed with a shoulder camera and the picture quality resembles this style. Sadly the CGI is below par as well, but in this King drama the social terror among supermarket _inhabitants_ prevails and guarantees some hours on the border of your seat.

I certainly belong to the group of Black & White fans as the B&W Disc the just creepier and more atmospherical is. Over saturated colours ion Disc 1 certainly don’t help, but even on BD the picture stays rather soft and unsharp/grainy (see shoulder camera comment).

The English Dolby TrueHD score makes up for a lot again. You can hear ‘what is inside The Mist’ all over the place in the right moments and combined with the B&W creepiness you will be in for a great time. Once more this score proves that most movies would ultimately suck without music and makes one wonder how people could appreciate cinema in the early years.

Extras

Obviously the highlight of the bonus content is the second disc with the B&W film version, but there’s a lot more, more than the compulsory director’s comment!) and all bonus content is in HD.

Bonus Content

Stephen King – Frank Darabont Interview

This interview is an absolute must for everyone who likes Stephen King.

When Darkness Came: The Making of The Mist

The making of and behind the scenes content.

Deleted Scenes

Eight in total, with commentary from Darabont. Worth watching, especially since we don’t always get director’s comments on deleted scenes.

Taming the Beast: The Making of Scene 35

It is imperative to watch this AFTER having watched the movie (in B&W).

The other extras are also worth watching, but these certainly are the most intriguing ones.

Final Thoughts

Fans of the genre, and of Stephen King, will love this release, albeit not perfect and possibly destroying own perceptions of the story. All in all a great release, especially because of the second disc and definitely worth buying.

Biased as I am I recommend everyone to first watch the B&W edition³. Fans of the genre certainly will appreciate these 2 hours of creepiness and psychological terror. A solid 4/5 overall.

1. Besides “The Dark Tower” series [↩]
2. Yes, I still buy retail. Sometimes, mainly when bored [↩]
3. Maybe even skip the coloured one [↩]