Tonight I watched "The Fog" (1980), director John Carpenter's eerie ghost story about some 19th century inhabitants of a leper colony who return 100 years after their deaths to seek revenge on the residents of a small community on the coast of central California. The lepers had negotiated with settlers and a local priest a deal in which they would be allowed to move closer to the mainland (lepers being the equivalent of bubonic plague victims back then), but the priest played a sly hand and tricked them. He and the settlers only wanted the substantial amount of gold offered by the head of the colony, a wealthy man who found himself banished when he contracted the awful disease.
After the deal was struck, the lepers sailed down the California coast toward their new home. But a thick fog enveloped their ship at night, and they could not see well enough to continue sailing. Suddenly, they saw a very bright fire that directed them toward the shore. It was a trick, though, and their ship was dashed against the coastal rocks. It sank with all men aboard.
This happened in 1880, and in 1980, the lepers returned from their watery grave, which looked to be right off PCH, somewhere in the Lompoc area of coastal California. John Carpenter, by now a star director after "Halloween" in '77, was given a budget for special effects, and I must say that they hold up 38 years later.
I had been meaning to re-watch "The Fog" for several years now, but I kept putting it off. I think I had a sub-par memory of it, and at the time, in the late 70s and early 80s, I was going to see a lot of extreme horror movies like "Don't Answer The Phone" and "Don't Go In The House", and it is possible I was judging "The Fog" against these far more violent and exploitative films, because I was only 20 years old and everything had to be hard core as far as horror was concerned. If a movie wasn't gritty or really over the top, I might have said, "yeah, it was okay", while thinking that it was nothing compared to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". What I did remember about "The Fog" was that Carpenter's special effects received a lot of critical attention because they stood out at the time.
Maybe it was the look of the film that stuck with me all of this time, because I just recall telling my buddies that, "yeah, the movie was pretty good", but thinking that the story wasn't all that spooky.
But man, has my appreciation for atmosphere ever grown since that time. And it is the atmosphere (and a few choice "gotcha"-type shocks) that makes "The Fog" not only one of John Carpenter's best works, but also makes it one of the best ghost story horror films in that sub-genre.
It's really good, because for one thing, it looks fantastic. Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey know how to use saturated color in small amounts to highlight the darkness around the colored objects. You'll see a brightly lit liquor store refrigerator after closing time. The perimeter of the frame is in shadow, with pockets of lighter greys, flat colored pockets. But then you see these big, standout colors in smaller, focused POV areas that your eyes are immediately drawn to, like the illuminated dials of an old plastic radio. Carpenter used pinpoint lighting in a lot of scenes to separate objects and characters in a room or space, and he combined this spatial effect with small amounts of specifically placed colors in a wide pallette surrounded by blackness. I am only describing the start of the film, but it's look is something you notice right away.
I was watching tonight, expecting the story to be mediocre as I'd remembered it, but I was wrong on that score. Maybe it's because my tastes have changed as I've grown older, and I'm nearly two times as old as I was when I first saw "The Fog" (holy smokes!), but on this second viewing almost 40 years layer, the story not only became scarier, but I was able to see the economy. This is one of those horror movies in which there is no waste; nothing extraneous, no scenes that don't need to be there.
Everything moves the story forward, anchored by a radio host (played by Adrienne Barbeau) who broadcasts out of her lighthouse and is the first to see The Fog as it rolls across the ocean, lit from inside.
I wasn't expecting too much when I began the film, so I was pleasantly surprised by the look of the film, it's direct telling-of-tale, and also it's use of sound which is tremendous. Carpenter added an electronic score of his own to the existing music, and the "door-pounding" sounds of the Leper Pirates are loud and frightening enough to cause you to turn the sound down a notch while you crane your neck around to look at your own door..... :)
On my second view of "The Fog", 38 years after my first, I conclude that I was wrong in my initial thoughts. Now I will give it Two Very Big Thumbs Up. It is an atmospheric gem of darkness, color and suspense, with a varying group of character personalities to build the terror.
If you've never seen it, give it a try. I am talking about the original 1980 version, not the remake. I am glad I finally listened to my intuition and gave it a second chance. Now I want to revisit more 1980s horror, perhaps in the new year. ////
Last night Grimsley came over, and though I did end up watching a late night movie on Youtube, called "The Monster Walks", I wasn't feeling well enough to write and review it as I had developed another allergy, this time in my sinuses. It's weird, because though I was allergy-prone all my life until I was 35, I hadn't experienced but maybe five allergies in all the time since. Lately, though, I've had minor flareups, and I am thinking it's gotta be because of the cats. Big Orange & Grey, I think. She's an attention hound, and even though my hand swelled up last time I petted her, yesterday I relented and scratched her between the ears with the tips of my fingers. But my head was close to hers, and whatever is in her fur I must have inhaled, because I was all stuffed up a couple hours later.
It was that old feeling from my teens and my twenties of being congested, drowsy and light-headed, trying to hold back watery eyes and a sneeze.
Luckily, it never became full blown, but allergies suck.
If you suffer from them, I know the feeling and I sympathize. I just don't wanna develop them ever again.
That's all for tonight. I will try not to miss any more days for a while. :)
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo.
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