Hot on the heels of ‘Halloween’ and following a brief stint making TV Movies, John Carpenters return to the big screen with ‘The Fog’ is simultaineously the primary blueprint for his career in film for the next decade or so, and a development on what had come before.
The plot centers around the coastal town of ‘Antonio Bay’, a picturesque location on the cusp of celebrating the centenary of its founding. Across most of the first act we’re introduced to the locals; Local DJ Stevie Wayne who manages the 6pm – 1am slot on K.A.B Radio (Jazz and easy listening if you must know) theres the town mayor Kathy, whos overly anxious to ensure the festivities around the centenary go without a hitch, local priest Father Patrick Malone, and town local and avid fisherman Nick Castle, who’s just picked up a hitchiker Elizabeth Solley
At midnight on the 21st of April (the day of the centenary), for an hour; Bizarre happenings occur around Antonio bay, windows smash, car alarms sound off, tremors and earthquakes occur and paranormal activity seems to take place. At the church a brick from the chapel appears to fall from the wall, revealing to Father patrick a diary…a diary from his grandfather…one that contains a terrible secret.
The next day K.A.B Report on a missing fishing boat, which is recognised by Nick as belonging to one of his good friends, him adn Elizabeth head down to the harbour to investigate, while Stevie is woken up by her child who appears to have found an interesting piece of driftwood, with half the name of a ship carved into it. and Kathy and her PA begin the rollout of the festivities.
But on heading up to the chapel to liase with Father Patrick, they’re taken into a back room, and the terrible details from his grandfathers diary are brought to light. It transpires that 100 years ago, Patricks Grandfather (also a priest) along with 5 other members of the fledgling town betrayed a nearby lepar coloney looking to relocate to within a mile of Antonio bay for easier trading and better quality of life. They were led by a once wealthy business man who wanted to use his wealth to ensure good tidings with the community by helping establish a foundation.
However; on the night where clear passage was supposed to take place, Patricks Grandfather betrayed the coloney, sending their ship crashing into the rocks, while he pocketed the gold and used it to found the church and establish the community that ultimately grew into Antonio bay, the final sight, was a mysterious fog rolling into the bay covering the corpses of the coloney and an heir swearing vengence.
Well; at this point I dont have to say anything more, you can very likely guess what happens on the night of the Centenary festivities.
This was my first time catching ‘The Fog’, and im kind of sad I sat on this one for as long as I did. In many ways it feels like a much more developed, slower burn take on the suspense cinema developed for ‘Halloween’ while at the same time it also has proto elements of Carpenters signature direction and producership, that would seep into his later works such as ‘Halloween 2 and 3’ and ‘The Thing’. Its a film trading solely on characters and atmosphere, and gave me quite strong ‘Jaws’ vibes at times. The horror comes from just how closely they tie the audience to the characters, they spend at least half the film building up the core casts complex characters, attempting to invest the audience in these characters and this world, before pulling the rug from under them in the 3rd act, taking the sleepy and scenic coastal town and turning into a living nightmare.
Im not a huge ‘slowburn’ fan, but the sheer prettiness of this picture, combined with the total likability of the characters absolutely kept me watching from start to finish uninterrupted. its such a naturalistic feeling production, that the supernatural elements feel like the perfect contrast. the pacing is slow, but not glacial, edging in just the right balance of character moments and plot development so that you never feel the films running dry. at 90 minutes on the nose, I feel it keeps a consistent pace with a rock solid act structure gently inching up the tension and atmosphere until we hit that final 30 minutes of all out horror action.
Tonally; the films kind of playful, theres some very light comedy, a bit of slice of life, but the horror elements bring with them some incredibly dark moments and heavy suspense. its a lovely contrast thats satisfying to sit through, and they never linger too heavily on one aspect or another, they seem to know JUST the right time to throw a little light in to offset the dark.
Direction wise, this is a gorgeous production, creative and vibrant world building, Carpenter having had a few more productions under his belt by this point delivers frankly a masterclass in character pieces and location work from a directoral standpoint. While there are moments here and there that do look a little cheap when watched in 2025 in UHD, I can overlook that for the gorgeous coastal location work, the lush greenery and the deep rich blues of the town at night. Carpenter here, is pretty much at the start of a HELL of a consistent run that will include ‘Halloween 2’, ‘Escape from New York’, ‘The Thing’ and ‘Christine’ to name a few. and here, he’s already more or less firmed up his style and vision to the point that you can more or less instantly identify it as a Carpenter production. I was honestly blown away.
Same goes for the cine really, extremely well composed shots stand out as distinct, the use of varying shades of dark blue to white act almost as a form of chiascuro lighting in and of itself. Shots are rich, deep, varied and very much open to experimentation. Sequences are masterfully crafted, allowing the tension to breath easy, the films not in a rush to get to the scares and that slow and mindful editing results in a pressure cooker of a movie thats a total trip from start to finish.
Performance wise? Get OUTTA here. Jamie Lee Curtis, Hal Holbrook, Tom Atkins, Charles Cypher, Janet Leigh, and the ever delightful Adrienne Barbau. and not a stinker in the pack. This is an incredible cast list, everyones pretty much perfect in their roles. I honestly have no notes. They play it exactly how I’d wanna see it played. and barring the fact Atkins is ‘Stache’ less for this film (a serious crime I fear) Im willing to overlook that for just how quality it really is.
And thats not even to MENTION the absolutely amazing soundtrack, composed by Carpenter, while it may not be as iconic as ‘Halloween’ its beautiful synth compositions that fit the moody tone of the film perfectly and were frankly beautiful to hear. I was a big fan.
‘The Fog’ may not be an ‘everyday’ watch, and the slow pacing may be offputting to some, but for me? I really loved it. Its a totally atmospheric immersion of a film that gently pulls you in, and then hangs you over a cliff face till the credits. Rich, detailed, its an incredible work. An absolute ‘must see’ at least once, and I highly recommend you do.
TYTD Reviews 