The Fog (1980)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (written by) and
Debra Hill (written by)

Release Date:

8 February 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

What you can't see won't hurt you... it'll kill you!

Plot:

A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, is the target for revenge by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths.

Plot Keywords:

Fog | Bay | Leper | Ghost | Revenge

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Adrienne Barbeau	...	Stevie Wayne
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Elizabeth Solley
Janet Leigh	...	Kathy Williams
John Houseman	...	Mr. Machen
Tom Atkins	...	Nick Castle
James Canning	...	Dick Baxter
Charles Cyphers	...	Dan O'Bannon
Nancy Kyes	...	Sandy Fadel (as Nancy Loomis)
Ty Mitchell	...	Andy
Hal Holbrook	...	Father Malone
John F. Goff	...	Al Williams (as John Goff)
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Tommy Wallace
Regina Waldon	...	Mrs. Kobritz
Jim Haynie	...	Dockmaster
Darrow Igus	...	Mel

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's The Fog (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (2002) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Denmark:15 | USA:R (Approved No. 25792) | Netherlands:16 | Italy:T | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivia:

As Stevie calls out the progress of the fog through town over the radio, she mentions Russelville road and Smallhouse road. These are two prominent streets in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where John Carpenter spent time growing up.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Nick (at the bar) is on the phone with Stevie telling her about the SeaGrass, there is a cutaway to the lighthouse. To the left you can see a crew member motioning for more fog, and then more fog rolls by him.

Quotes:

Dr. Phibes: You see the water acts like ice. A whole body would take a year to decompose, longer if it was down far enough, cold enough.
Nick Castle: But he was on the boat. He was below decks.
Dr. Phibes: No. Dick Baxter died in the ocean. Remember last October those three kids that went diving for that old boat off the point. We got to 'em, they'd been down a week, maybe ten days. I swear to you right now, he's been down longer.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Trick or Treat (1986)

*Still My Favorite Ghost Flick!

*(Riverhead Free Library)

(I would like to print a sort of retraction here. I said that I had never seen any other John Carpenter movie, but I fibbed. I remember seeing 'Prince of Darkness', and wasn't too impresed by it, despite all the neat special effects. I'll reserve further comment for that page.)

My bias runs towards the traditional ghost story and variations on that theme.

All the elements of a good ghost story are in 'The Fog': an ancient crime, retribution, foreshadowing, atmosphere and discovery of why things are going wrong. The film is most powerful because of what is not shown or explained. It's not even necessary to see the faces of the drowned lepers - just the glowing eyes and the sense of rotted bodies is more than enough thank you!

Antonio Bay is celebrating its anniversary as a town. However, the residents don't know the terrible secrets behind the founding of their township. 100 years ago, Blake, a rich man, was afflicted with the disease of leprosy. He wanted to use his own money to establish a colony for him and others like him. The town fathers back then, though, didn't want a leper colony close by. They pretended to be sympathetic, then hatched a conspiracy to lure Blake's ship to the rocks where it crashed and all on board drowned. The town fathers had nothing against taking Blake's gold, however.

You see, this is one of those movies where you have to pay attention - sometimes that is asking a lot with the public's short attention span of today. Pay particular attention to Hal Holbrook, who plays Father Malone, when he is reading from the diary that falls out of the church walls. That will go a long way in explaining the ending.

I also love this movie because it was made before all the advances in computer technology. There is an 'organic' feel and look to the special effects - very unlike all the computer-generated tricks you see in movies of today. People had to be more creative back then. Today, technology is so relied upon that many in Hollywood have become lazy. (I still marvel at how Demille did the parting of the Red Sea in 'The Ten Commandments - way before all these computer advances!)

My main complaint with the fog is that the progression of events is a bit choppy and uneven, but that doesn't stop you from enjoying the movie. Also take note of how this is one of those flicks where you can read all the credits and know who did what.

It annoys me that today's movies, when they run them on television, do this split-screen nonsense and roll the credits so darn fast you can't see who worked on the film.

Consensus is mixed on this film. Some say it's Carpenter's worse. I can't say that because I haven't many of his films. I'm not a fan of the slasher-type stuff. I love the more subtle chilling effects, the power of the unspoken word or a certain look, etc.

I'm 43 now, and when I'm talking to the 20-somethings about scary movies from years ago, I make it a point to bring up 'The Fog'!