10 Horror Movies You Probably Hated The First Time Round (But Loved The Second)
5. The Mist
Although it’s not as great as their prior collaborations - 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption and 1999’s The Green Mile - 2007’s The Mist is nonetheless among the best motion pictures with which writer/director Frank Darabont and novelist Stephen King have ever been involved.
It follows a familiar set-up by placing a small group of distinctive – and debatably stereotypical – community members in a supermarket to fend off Lovecraftian monsters and their own growing frustrations and suspicions with each other. By every measure, it’s exceptionally well done.
Even so, it’s easy to see why people detested it all those years ago.
Beyond featuring the requisite trope of characters making overtly stupid and dangerous decisions, the ways in which religious zealot Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) indoctrinates her neighbors into cultish tribalism is infuriatingly ridiculous but realistic. Then there’s the unequivocally nihilistic ending that inevitably depresses each viewer while deviating significantly from King’s more hopeful conclusion.
After those initial gut punches wear off, though, future rewatches allow The Mist’s sheer boldness and craftsmanship to shine through. That’s true for the commendable technical aspects as much as it is for being able to accept (and possibly enjoy) who gets saved vs. who gets slaughtered.