Written by Joseph B. Mauceri  

Crew: Director - Frank Darabont; Screenplay - Frank Darabont; Based on the novella Stephen King; Producers – Frank Darabont & Liz Glotzer; Cinematography - Ronn Schmidt; Score – Mark Isham; Editor – Hunter M. Via; Production Design - Gregory Melton; Costume Design - Giovanna Ottobre-Melton; Special Effects – KNB EFX Group; Creature Design – Michael Boom; Visual Effects – CafeFX, Look Effects, Digital Dream, and iO Film.

Cast: THOMAS JANE... David Drayton; Andre Braugher... Brent Norton; MARCIA GAY HARDEN… Mrs. Carmody; LAURIE HOLDEN… Amanda Dumfries; TOBY JONES… Ollie; BILL SADLER… Jim Grondin; JEFFREY DEMUNN… Dan Miller; FRANCES STERNHAGEN… Irene; ALEXA DAVALOS… Sally; NATHAN GAMBLE… Billy Drayton; CHRIS OWEN… Norm; SAM WITWER… Jessup; ROBERT TREVEILER… Bud Brown; DAVID JENSEN… Myron lafleur.

Official Website: www.themist-movie.com

"REEL" Value:           $10.87 - No one knows how to make a Stephen King movie like Frank Darabont! Their relationship began with his emotionally charged adaptation of King’s "The Woman in the Room" into a short film. It’s obvious that in Darabont’s tackling the adaptation of THE MIST for the screen he takes several cinematic queues from the classic Hitchcock films "The Birds" and "Lifeboat" to bring to a boil the intense emotional drama of King’s chilling tale. The core of the tale is as faithful as any of the previous King/Darabont collaborations, but Darabont pushes the social commentary to extremes with the addition of the military character Jessup and bringing closure to the tale, as opposed to King’s original ending that has a striking similarity to that of the film "The Birds."

"If ther was any aspect of the adaptation that made me a little nervous, it was that King’s story was open-ended. We don’t know what happens," explained Darabont. "That can be pretty cool at times, or it can be really annoying. I think in a movie like this, to not have a conclusive ending would be really annoying. So I provided a conclusive ending.

"The audience may kick my ass, but Steve’s with me on this one. He sent me an email about the ending that I treasure. He said if he had thought of that ending he’s have used it in the story. I thought that was awesome."

Darabont is obviously a fan of the genre at takes some liberties with the story to set the tone right at start. He tips his hat to the fans in the audience by making David Drayton a commercial artist whose paintings have been used for movie posters and book covers. As the storm approaches, David works on a painting that is clearly a reference to King’s "Dark Tower and the Gunslinger" series. There are other paintings hanging on his walls that are images from several other genre films, including John Carpenter’s "The Thing."

Darabont is a cleaver filmmaker in that he knows where to focus his strengths and when to turn over the reigns to other professionals in the industry. Directing the second unit, over seeing the special effects and handling the creature designs on THE MIST is Greg Nicotero and his company KNB EFX Group. With over 20-years experience in the industry, Nicotero is the perfect counter balance to Darabont’s skills as an actor’s director. Nicotero knows monsters and even though these are fantastic creatures from another dimension, he works with physical and digital effects to make them believable and threatening. There is a quality and style that is obviously Nicoteros’ handiwork, but there is also an element to his work here that was reminiscent of the critically acclaim Asian monster movie "The Host."

Darabont is truly a gifted actor’s director as he gets these potent performances from a cast of character actors that sores to new levels. Thomas Jane’s work in THE MIST is on a par with anything Tim Robbins or Tom Hanks gave Darabont in "Shawshank" or "Green Mile." It all trickles down from there as Darabont works with his cast to give the audience characters they can identify and empathize with, and be emotionally drawn into the relentless tragedy they face. Equally impressive is the performance Marcia Gay Harden as the fanatical Mrs. Carmody and young Nathan Gamble as Billy Drayton.

The final emotional element of the film is an excellent score by composer Mark Isham. A cleaver balance of themes is woven into the sound design and creates an emotional foundation for these performances.

Serving as director, screenwriter, and producer, THE MIST is as much a Frank Darabont film as it is a Stephen King film. Truly one of the scariest films of 2007, and already on my "top ten list" for the year, I am a bit pessimistic about the film finding an audience. As we enter the holiday season, the tone of the film has much in common with 2006’s "The Children of Men" and "Pan’s Labyrinth." THE MIST is absolutely a film that should be viewed on a big screen to get the full impact, but, because of Darabont’s ending, I don’t know if I would run out to see it again so soon. However, there is no doubt this would be a film I would go out of my way to purchase for my DVD collection.

{Based on the average Manhattan Theater Ticket Price of $11.00.}