The Fog (1980)
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh
Primary genre: Supernatural
Secondary genre: Horror
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No other director has received much critical re-evaluation (and appreciation) than John Carpenter. His simple and highly effective skills as a storyteller behind the basic concepts of primal fear and paranoia have been remarkably ignored. “The Fog” (1980) finds the laid back director at his creative peak following the massive (and unexpected) success of “Halloween” (1978).
Avoiding the mistake of doing the same thing again, he opts out instead to have a go at the supernatural horror genre. Praise the cinematic gods as Carpenter sets the otherworldly tone right from the opening sequence: a ghost story around a midnight camp fire and a superb piece of exposition that does not outstay its welcome and working within the confines of story set up. With several characters scattered around this Pacific facing sea town, when the fog rolls in, so does the terror. It is a straightforward approach that does not waste time to get to the “meat” of the Lovecraftian influenced premise but as the victims pile up, so does a (somewhat) resolution of the mystery for this unnatural phenomenon is creeping up.
Carpenter uses excellent locations (e.g., a lighthouse, a church, a boat) for moments of pure intensity where a picture deserves a thousand word description moving towards an escalating climax. His script though does not forget to feature relatable characters and if sex appeal and star power is tour thing, “The Fog” might disappoint you. The cast is charismatic enough to sell their middle class persona convincingly ranging from Jamie Lee Curtis (in a supporting and quite liberal for the 80s role) who shares great chemistry with Tom Atkins to Janet Leigh (Jamie’s mother) as an OCD event planner for the town’s 100th anniversary and Adrienne Barbeau’s lighthouse-broadcasting DJ who makes for an unusual heroine choice.
While Carpenter could have follow his slasher success with more gore, guts and sex like so many others in the 80s sought to do, his resistance to any graphic (and for this story pointless) violence is remarkable. Emphasizing ominous atmosphere, he crafts some well-executed scares that ultimately reward the audience for their patience focusing more on psychological (and surreal) terror under Dean Cundey’s (“The Thing”, (1982), “Jurassic Park“ (1993)) lusciously black (and blue-ish) cinematography. His simple but highly effective score uses piano melodies to great effect dressing the proceedings with an upcoming sense of doom (one of his greatest music outputs).
While “The Fog” (1980) might not (sacrilege!) be frequently featured in top horror film lists, it deserves wholeheartedly your attention. It is old school horror filmmaking relying on actual ability to craft a jump scare lacking the technical elements that test your sound system and hearing. Easily one of Carpenter’s top five films, “The Fog” is a wonderful addition to the horror pantheon with its relatively spooky story and timely execution.
Excellent supernatural horror from Carpenter
+Excellent, otherworldly atmosphere
+Cinematography
+Believable heroes
+Good cast
+Emphasis on psychological horror not gore
+Beautiful score by Carpenter
+Well crafted and original scares
+Lovecraftian premise always a plus