The Mist: Stephen King

[mack]

Watched The Mist - a movie adapted from a Stephen King novella, and wow - I must say, definitely a rent-worthy movie, if you did not see it already. However, in all of my many impressions from this movie the largest one that lept out at me was the one at the end where I was like Jesus, Stephen! Please tell me we havent fallen as far as to justify EUTHANIZING one's family in the face of grave peril??

Thankfully, that was not the case, but I was really worried for quite some time there, to the degree I was even thinking about commenting on how far we've fallen as a society, if we come to a place where we feel such behavior is normal and warranted. Look, I dont know what they did in barbaric times, nor do I ever hope to find out - still in all, I do hope that I have enough HOPE not to commit that one act. We all gotta die. Me, you, everyone alive. And no. You have to face yours, same way I have to face mine. God forbid you would have escaped death for a little longer, and now I have to live with this horrendous act on my conscience.

Here, I thought that the censure for euthansia in the violent clime of 30 Days of Night was a little harsh given the circumstances, but the vantage point of The Mist, however, turned out to be an even harsher censure than the you see in 30 Days of Night. Josh Hartnett's character comes to the house of his deputy to find his deputy alive and well, with several untouched dead bodies in the master bed. It appears that the deputy, knowing that certain death was in store for his family, and in order to save the wife and 2 girls from butchery by the vampires, the Deputy laid them in bed and shot them 1 by 1. The grave horror of it is that everyone finds him horribly guilty for this act, and at the same time everyone else is horribly glad they have no children, and wonders if they would not have done the same. Josh's wife even comments on this fact. The sense you get from 30 Days is that the deputy is the lowest of the low, and will die for his despicable yet compassionate act.

It made me think - what is mercy in this type of scenario? what is compassion? And Stephen King dealt with it, and how!

I also thought he did an outstanding job of painting a warning about the regression into primitivism under harsh circumstances and the dangers of extreme religion (though I have no problem with religion, and am myself a Christian, and consider myself pretty devout - and I have yet to meet someone like THAT woman), and in some way distancing himself from being solely painted as having a religious message. He did good.

Thomas Jane needed a hug.

[Tack]

that was the scariest part of both those movies. driven by fear to kill your family... couldnt do it.

[Sharky]

RE: The Mist's ending. Stephen King didn't actually write that scene in the book. Frank Darabont agreed to direct on condition the studio would not change the ending he came up with. The story goes that King walked out of the screening and said "I wish I'd had the balls to write that ending!"

I love this film. Easily the best horror film of the 21st century.

[mack]

agreed! with 30 Days of Night you ended up feeling that the guy who offed his family was a real loser. For Jane character in this film, you just feel HIS pain.