The small seaside fishing community of Antonio Bay has to answer for a curse brought upon them by the towns forefathers 100 years earlier, when the founders conspired and killed a group of lepers who were coming to build a nearby colony. the modern day citizens of the coastal village must answer for the sins of those that came before them, when a fog rolls off the waters and onto their streets, carrying the spirits of those drawn into the rocks the century before. The cursed gold, hidden in the walls of the local rectory, must be reclaimed by the restless souls, and a night of mist shrouded terror must fall upon the town before debts can be settled.
For John Carpenter, following up the smash indy hit about the night a certain "He" came home was no easy task. The young director, trying to keep the momentum of his surprise success rolling forward, penned a story (along with his creative partner Debra Hill) that would prove a near disaster, from a technical and personal standpoint. THE FOG was a a bigger nightmare to shoot than the story itself, the crew finding out that a force of nature such as fog doesn't like to be directed and controlled. More unwieldy than any child actor or animal, re-shoots were needed to achieve the fx required for this fable-like scarey movie. factor in a personal break-up between carpenter and Hill, and the fact carpenter was starting a romance with his lead actress, Adrienne Barbeau, and yeah, there's not a lot of happy anecdotes surrounding the films production. but with Barbeau, and Carpenter's returning star from HALLOWEEN, Jamie Lee Curtis, along with Curtis' real life mother Janette leigh (PSYCHO), and characters actors and luminaries such as John Houseman, Tom Atkins, Charlie Cyphers, and Nancy Loomis, somehow a movie was delivered. Enough of a success to move Carpenter's career along, THE FOG harkened back to the more Gothic scares of 60's horrors, and classic terrors of the Universal days. It has a fable-like quality, and it's scares are generated by tension and atmosphere, rather than FX. In fact, the shot of the worm faced specter during the films climax, is something I still find a bit incongruent. but this is where Carpenter first hooked up with then-teenage FX wiz Rob Bottin, which led to their collaboration on the uber classic THE THING. Next month brings the 35th anniversary of the film, so now would be the perfect time to run out and grab it on bluray, and prepare yourself for the return of Captain Blake, and his vengeful crew of ghosts. Damn, I love this movie. Just remember, if you see it creeping over the hills outside, and through your streets, stay out of THE FOG!
~Sean Smithson
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