A well-crafted return to horror for genre giant John Carpenter, The Fog rolls in and wraps viewers in suitably slow-building chills. Read critic reviews
The Fog
1980, Horror/Mystery & thriller, 1h 29m
69 Reviews 25,000+ RatingsWhat to know
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Movie Info
Strange things begin to occurs as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone (Hal Holbrook) stumbles upon a dark secret about the town's founding; radio announcer Stevie (Adrienne Barbeau) witnesses a mystical fire; and hitchhiker Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) discovers the mutilated corpse of a fisherman. Then a mysterious iridescent fog descends upon the village, and more people start to die.
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Rating: R
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Genre: Horror, Mystery & thriller
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Original Language: English
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Director: John Carpenter
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Producer: Debra Hill
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Writer: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $69.5K
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Runtime:
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Distributor: MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., RCA/Columbia, AVCO Embassy Pictures
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Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)
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Critic Reviews for The Fog
Audience Reviews for The Fog
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The story is simple-mined and the 3rd act doesn't deliver any frights, but John Carpenter's second feature is atmospheric and a fun family pic for Halloween season
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A highly underrated horror gem by the great John Carpenter. So many great scenes and the score is one of Carpenter's best. Delivers relentless unpretentious thrills from beginning to end.
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The Fog is John Carpenter's first offering immediately following the tremendous, well-deserved success of Halloween. Call it the sophomore jinx or the pressure of generating the same kind of success that he did on Halloween, The Fog was reportedly fraught with production problems, didn't make sense when first edited and viewed by Carpenter, so much so that he re-shot or added a full 30 minutes of new footage, including the opening campfire story scene, to help tell the story and eliminate confusion. He also added some violence, feeling The Fog lacked scares. In the end, Carpenter has said this is his least favorite film he made, due to the production problems and disappointment following Halloween. But let's face it, Halloween is a masterpiece which defined and created the benchmark for a genre, and you simply cannot do that twice, let alone back-to-back and with only 3 theatrically released films to his credit at age 32. And Assault on Precinct 13 is pretty primitive and simplistic. By comparison, Halloween was a quantum leap in terms of story and direction. The Fog is actually a good movie with a decent, if a bit odd, mystery backstory to explain the curse on the folks at Antonio Bay. Carpenter again, wisely, avoids graphic violence or gore, and sticks to slow, atmoshperic build up with some decent spooky set pieces including the Elizabeth Dane ghost ship and the coastal town and lighthouse. This is a respectable, simple ghost story which was made on yet another tiny budget - 1 million, and earned more than 20 million, setting up Carpenter for his first big-budget horror movie 2 years later, The Thing. The Fog is a good entry-level horror movie for those who are easily frightened, and probably should have been rated PG. Surely it would have fit the PG-13 mold a few years later. Overall, a worthy ghost story and one of Carpenter's best. (Sorry, John!).
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A very simplistic story executed in an engaging way. The great music elevates the film.
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