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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The only thing that scared me was the price of the ticket., October 18, 2005
I can't believe I wasted $8.00 watching this movie. I have only myself to blame, since I was foolish enough to go and see how they would change the original story. Well, it was as bad as I expected it to be. THE FOG has little in common with the original classic except the premise: ghosts rising from the sea to wreak vengeance upon a small town for crimes committed a century ago. Otherwise, this film was an abomination. For example:
1)the original began with an old fisherman telling the story of the Elizabeth Dane to children around a roaring campfire. The remake began with the ship set on fire by the founders, thus eliminating the mystery.
2)Father Malone read his grandfather's journal to tell the audience the truth about the founding of the town and the curse that was about to descend upon its citizens. In the remake,
we learn the truth from Elizabeth's dreams. The journal is included as a token gesture to the original, and Father Malone is all but ignored.
3) The computer-generated images of the fog and the ghosts did not frighten me. John Carpenter and Debra Hill made the fog in the original seem alive as well as menacing.
4) the cast was no different than those of films we have seen since SCREAM was released. Not one actor delivered a convincing let alone a good performance. The original had talented actors
like John Houseman, Janet Leigh, Hal Holbrook, and Jamie Lee Curtis. All of whom performed admirably.
5) the director proved incapable of creating a scary movie. Then again, only a fool would dare to improve upon a horror film made by John Carpenter.
6) the ending defied logic. In the original the ghosts returned to punish Father Malone. Why Elizabeth kissed Blake and joined him in the spirit realm as his bride is incomprehensible.
I hope THE FOG is the last in a long line of wretched remakes of classic horror films, but I doubt it. I can assure you, however, that this is the last time I pay to see one.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Succesful Remake/Reinvention!, October 14, 2005
After watching John Carpenter's original I was really creeped out by it. I have to say, I think that movie needed to have a facelift like this. I loved the original (I own the DVD), but I think the remake gives the story a nicely darker package. Thanks to todays wonderful little computer toys, "The Fog" is no longer a glowing blue mass, It is a wispy gray/green mass that moves forward with determination and drive. The original may have had some cool effects, but with technology today they can make "The Fog" do so much more. Ok, on to the well above average acting. Selma Blair. What else need I say? Beautiful, talented, and rather sexy Blair brings sweet life to the role of Antonio Island radio personality Stevie Wayne. The role is somewhat less in this version however, but that doesn't make Blair any less compelling in the part. Tom Welling and Maggie Grace are Nick Castle and Elizabeth Williams, respectively. Both do admirable jobs, though Nick was a bit more playboyish in this one. I don't know the young boy playing Andy (Stevie's son), but he deserves mention for being a lot smarter in this version. This Andy actually runs from "The Fog" at first sight of it rolling across the ocean like a blanket ready to smother everything in its icy folds.
I have already mentioned how the effects of today can make "The Fog" do so much more than Carpenter ever imagined in 1980. Now it is time to give THE MAN his due. Rupert Wainwright (director of "Stigmata") delivers the creepy goods fast, hard, and almost nonstop. Kudos, man, Kudos. Cooper Layne's ("The Core") screenplay is also of worthy mention. Yes, some really significant changes have been made to the story. The most obvious would be the ages of the main players. Yes, we have a younger Nick Castle and Elizabeth (in the original she was not related to the town at all) Williams. However, I consider most of the changes to be for the better. Giving us more insight into Blake's (Rade Serbezija) plight was a good move I think. The poor guy really was trying to provide a better life for his people (including his lovely wife, whose role becomes quite important over the course of the film). Sadly, he was screwed over in a major way. Who wouldn't be angry if they had met the horrible fate Blake did at the hands of traitorous thieves. In closing, the movie was awesome. People will moan at the PG-13 rating, but look at the original. There was nothing really gory in that film. I saw much grisslier sights in this remake than I ever did in Carpenter's. Go see for yourself. Can you say Leprosy is really nasty? So, don't judge it on its rating, it is very intense for a PG-13, but it feels just like it should. Some critics have already called it an assembly line picture. Well, if that is true then its a darn good assembly line becasue I like what I saw. Rupert Wainwright has proved himself to be a worthwhile ("assembly line" HA, HA, HA) director. See it, enjoy it, and leave it behind until the DVD comes out. That is one horror DVD I will certainly be picking up. It had better have a good "making of" doc too. BRAVO RUPERT, COOPER, AND SELMA.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Average scares, interesting story., October 17, 2005
The Fog is good. I mean, the movie is good, the fog is bad. It's about resident's of an island haunted by ghosts from the sea. The fog is their medium of travel and they only appear as apparitions in the fog. The story behind the ghosts and their reason for haunting the island is interesting, and while the first part of the movie isn't very scary, as that background story develops it gets scary enough to recommend for horror fans.
I don't know why the movie needed to be remade, but if you want an average scare or are a Tom Welling (Smallville) fan, you won't be disappointed.
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