Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsA fun horror romp
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2019
Movie 6 of 1980 and 76 overall in my journey through films of my lifetime.
"The Fog," which seemed inspired, in part, by "Shadow Over Innsmouth" was a movie I used to see snippets of in a documentary called "Terror in the Isles." That puts the fog high in the list of must see movies for this retrospective.
What "The Fog" does well is really important. First, from a technical aspect, I find it to be well done even by today's standards. If you like to escape when you watch movies this definitely gets the job done. Secondly I think it has some genuinely creepy to scary moments, and more than a few. I don't think it reaches the summit of some of the great horror of the 70's in its overall presence but it does its own thing well.
For me, well I like to think. This was not thought provoking at all. If I can't get that then I would like a great story. Unfortunately I found it was short here as well. The effort was there and I appreciated that but the execution was short. I think it may have been better to not explain why these events were happening at all. I do realize that's not John Carpenter's style and I respect that but, as I have said before, I'm happier not having answers to mysteries; especially if the answers provided are not up to snuff.
It's impossible to not think about "Pirates of the Caribbean" and, as stated, "Shadow Over Innsmouth" when watching this. That's a compliment in my opinion.
I have noticed that horror/fantasy when trying to satisfy and resolve a plot are often mechanical in nature. Another example of this is "The Ring." The trick in that movie was to figure out what satisfied the ghost. It turned out that it was quite ritualistic and absolute. The same was true for "The Fog" and many other horror films. That's something that would have bothered me if I had been writing this. It didn't dampen my enjoyment of the movie but it didn't enhance it either.
Pros
-Vintage John Carpenter (down to the music)
-technology well done
-truly good horror elements like jump scares and isolation.
-mindless escapism, fun and entertainment (if that's your thing)
Cons
-story left a lot to be desired
-not thought provoking (if that's your thing)