The Fog (2005) Review Country : USA Year: 2005 Genre: Horror Format: Theater Running Time: tbc Distributor: Sony Pictures The original by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, is considered a horror classic by any self respecting movie fan with a working brain. The remake is not so good... Credits Directed by Rupert Wainwright. Written by Cooper Layne (screenplay). Originally wrote by John Carpenter and Debra Hill (1980 screenplay). Starring Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, Selma Blair, DeRay Davis. Stay out of the FOG! Seriously, stay FAR away from The Fog. I am sick from just returning from what I thought might be a good remake. I love the original and remember being scared out of my wits as a kid after seeing the original. Do you think Hollywood has finally gone too far? Remaking everything from Dawn of the Dead, to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and now The Fog. Why are these horror classics being made over? Hollyweird is out of ideas and keen on ripping off great films like John Carpenters original, and terrifying The Fog. Widely considered as being one of the best horror films ever made - with its moody atmosphere, brilliant suspense build-up's and excellent musical score - it is highly recommended that you watch this original masterpiece before you head out to see the incredibly inferior version that has just landed at your local theater. In fact, do yourself a favor and avoid it at all costs. It will only leave a bad taste in your mouth and shell shock you from seeing anymore remakes. In The Fog 2005, Exactly one hundred years ago, off the rocky shore of an isolated Northern California town, a ship of lepers were horribly wrecked in an eerie fog when the founders of the town purposefully misguided the ship, dooming everyone aboard. Now, tonight, the ghosts of the long-dead mariners have returned from their watery graves to exact revenge. Shrouded within a supernatural fog, the ghosts trap the residents of the remote community, intent on seeking out the descendants of those who founded the town...and killing anyone who stands in their murderous path. (plot summary from IMDB) There are many horror films that create clever openings to suck you into it's world. However, this Fog may very well have the dumbest and most ineffective use of an opening sequence ever used in a horror film. John Houseman opened the original with such ambiance and truly set the story up for something scary. Not here... and not only does the Fog not have many chills (if any at all) it does not have one drop of blood. Hardly any killings... these 'ghosts' are not even ghosts. They are more like parts of the fog, who later turn into foggy mists of their former selves... sounds stupid right? Well, it is. And how do you kill two people by throwing them through a window? Written by Cooper (The Core) Layne, the story of The Fog had a classic, almost child-like storytelling feel and it is butchered beyond belief. I have a feeling that he wrote this as a Fog rip-off and somebody said 'hey, this would be a good remake... lets call Carpenter'. And shame on John Carpenter. It truly shows that he is only out for one thing, money. It was nice to see Debra Hill's name on the screen one last time though. Tom (Smallville) Welling plays Nick Castle, who is decent, but Atkins he ain't. Maggie (Lost) Grace just plain sucks, and the usually sultry and talented Selma Blair made me laugh as she tried so hard to replace Adrienne Barbeau's classic character Stevie Wayne. Lets move on to director Rupert (Stigmata) Wainwright. You would think that having John Carpenter as a producer on the film would help you create some scenes of intense fright, like in the original when Andy Wayne is trying to escape the house, or when Stevie is trying to escape the lighthouse. he does none of this and I should always listen to myself... Stigmata sucked and so will this movie. He also came up with an ending that is truly lame and entirely bizarre... mostly stupid. The cinematography in this film is bologna compared to Dean (Halloween, The Thing) Cundey. The Fog (2005) has no shots that are eerie or dream-like in quality; it has zero atmosphere, and it has not even a hint of anything remotely creepy. So, this Halloween, when you see the fog roll up, avoid it like the plague! OFFICIAL SITE DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS Review by John Gray, for Pitofhorror.com