The Fog (2005) Reviews

• This movie is really good if you're a complete moron

  holder_MD2005-10-17

  Allow me to save you $8 by offering something you can do at home that is just as entertaining as watching this movie. Go get a load of whites and throw it in your dryer. Now, add in one red sock. (Make sure everything's dry so you don't end up with a bunch of pink laundry.) Now, hopefully you have the kind of dryer that has the clear window in front. If you do, start the load and watch the laundry spin around. Every time you see the red sock pretend to be scared. That's it. That's the equivalent to seeing this movie. As entertaining as watching your laundry dry and every bit as scary as a red sock. Others have already punched all the holes in the plot (or complete lack thereof) that are necessary. I won't beat that dead horse. As mentioned, the acting was completely mailed in. The CGI was hokey, stilted and throw in in a lot of scenes unnecessarily. This wasn't just a really bad movie, this was a really bad horror movie. Most horror movies these days suck to one degree or another, but this moving distinguishes itself as being among the worst of the worst. Seriously, save yourself the time and energy and steer clear of The Fog. I haven't seen a horror movie this bad since I saw the remake of The Haunting.

• Watch the original instead. This is just pants.

  Progressive-Element2011-03-22

  This remake tones things down for a more teen-friendly spookfest, which might have been OK if it had been spooky. Unfortunately you'll find more scares in a Scooby-Doo episode. The opening sequence removes much of the mystery by showing us the backstory to Antonio Bay straight away. Among the cast, only Selma Blair seems to be trying hard, but she just doesn't have Adrienne Barbeau's presence. Changes to the story don't work at all, especially the final moments involving Maggie Grace's story. The film ends on a whimper instead of a bang. Although this maybe a blessing, as a PG-13-friendly version of the shock ending of the original would probably only further the contempt many feel towards this flick. Probably the biggest flaw though is the sense of blandness throughout the film's running time. Scenes that worked well in the original come off as poorly staged in the remake. For good value for money, just watch (or rewatch) the original.

• The first tomato can be thrown at the screen two minutes after the opening credits

  NateF882005-10-20

  I wasn't angry about The Fog remake until I heard that it was going to be released by Revolution Studios, a company known to house crap movies. From then on, my hopes weren't that high, and they sank even lower when I saw the trailer. It looked to much like Boogeyman or Darkenss Falls rather than an atmospheric, imaginative, horror production like the original. The original Fog deserves to be a cult classic and is a great film, but I thought it could have used a couple of improvements. It was not John Carpenter's best effort, but it still was an 8 out of 10 movie. This remake had potential because it could have corrected some of the plot holes from the original. Not surprisingly, the modernized Fog created new loopholes in the story and in addition had a terrible script. The characters here were clichéd. The naive young girl who sees "horrible things" happening and who is befriended by her "hot ex-boyfriend". There is even a token black guy who serves as the "comic relief" for the film. Why can't they have black heroes in horror movies? Every character is seen in some state of undress, including Stevie Wayne, a mother of a young teenage boy named Andy, who struts around in panties in front of her son (I thought that was funny). I'm surprised Andy's old nanny wasn't shown strutting around in her undies while cleaning the dishes. The leper colony ghosts were not scary. They were all see through, and instead of a giant fishing hook, Father Blake carried a cane (WTF??), not for support while walking, but for a scene near the end of the film where flying glass shards contribute to the death of a character. Also, the fog in this film is all CGI, and is not nearly as menacing as the one in the original was.Father Malone's character in the original was a major contributor to the story, because he represented the sins of the founding fathers. In this one, he's just a stupid old drunk who has a minimal impact on the story and plays more like the typical "old lady who can see the future" kind of character. Also, why aim for a PG-13? It's obvious the filmmakers wanted to put some gore in this, and they did, because there were many deaths that involved people being maimed and/or set on fire, not necessarily in that order. Only a few more drops of blood and it would be R. There are two good things though. There is one pretty shocking death scene that was cool and there were some cool cinematography shots. The eerie image of the sailors on their ship in the fog gave me the chills. There was also a really creepy ghost who was only shown in shadows (you never saw his face) and who wore a top hat. It would have been interesting if they showed that ghost more, but alas, they shied away from it. And don't get me started on the ending. It's supposed to be a shocker, but it's extremely predictable. It also makes everything that preceded it make little sense. What was the point of that? Stevie Wayne's cheesy closing monologue was even cheesier than the concluding monologue in House of the Dead. Overall, this dreadful remake ran shy of where it could have won the race.

• They destroyed a classic horror flick !!!

  kastrostophy2005-10-31

  OK, I should have known better before paying money to go see the 2005 remake of The Fog starring TOM WELLING and rated PG-13!! For me, the Fog, was a cult classic I used to love when I was a kid. The scary, eerie small town with a dark secret, the ghostly figures in the fog and the brutal way the townspeople got slayed in, contributed to a great ghost/horror story that was both exciting and enjoyable. Unfortunately we live in the "era of the remake" and naturally they had go screw this flick up as well. The small eerie town is replaced with a totally un-scary town, the fog looked like something pulled out of "the perfect storm" w/ George Clooney or "the day after tomorrow" (which is no surprise since it was the same company who handled the FX on "Day after..."), Selma Blair was trying to hard to fill out the role of Stevie Wayne and it seemed awfully fake at times. One thing that really got me cracking was the black guy/comic relief. I couldn't really figure out what the hell a black dude was doing in a small (all white) fishing town anyway? (if U ask me he was totally misplaced in the movie). In overall they actually managed to turn, what could have been a great horror movie into a teen/slasher/ring-knockoff!! The same goes for the moody "Carpenter music" that was replaced with the standard PG-13 b*llsh*t pop-rock soundtrack, it basically stripped the movie from having any tense atmosphere. The script was horrible, there where no scares and no mood at all, instead of cooking up a better "FOG" they actually made it worse, I find it incredible that despite having the technology to make some visually nice horror flicks today and correct some of the flaws that were caused by lack of money or technology back then, the studios are still spitting out nothing but trash... PEOPLE what makes a movie is a good story and HEART not Special FX (a principle Carpenter used to work with back then when the funds were limited...even still the man still made some of the most memorable horror movies in my lifetime). The ghost looked like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean and the only moment I thought "hmm...that's actually cool" was when you could see the big ship and the crew's ghostly figures standing in the fog, kindda made me remember back to the original, unfortunately things only went (even more) downhill from there...I mean WTF is up with the ending!?!?! I thought it was supposed to be a horror flick? In overall: If U are a fan of the original Carpenter movie, DO not see this cr*p, almost no gore, no feeling with the characters (actually you couldn't care less if they all got killed...), no mood, no eerie music, bad CGI, and the list just goes on and on... my advice: Rent it on DVD or even better wait for it to be aired on TV!

• don't bother wasting your time or money

  mayhoe2006-02-21

  seriously. what the hell? this movie was a complete waste of time. my husband and i ended up just making fun of the entire movie and enjoying it that way. it seems as though the entire movie was written up on a weekend. the continuity in this movie was horrible. it couldn't get in a freezer but it could get in through a kitchen sink? it had trouble with a door but not a car vent? what was with the ghost holding the woman's ankle and then releasing her? was it ghosts or fog? make up your mind. was it for a selective massacre or a search for a blonde wife? this movie had absolutely no structure. the acting was a complete sham and the script... oh holy god. i can respect a fun movie with ghosts and bad acting, but it has to have SOMETHING going for it. the fog had to be one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time.