Creepy fishermen? (The Fog [1979] (DVD))

Member Name: moleman

Product:	The Fog [1979] (DVD)
Date:	05/11/00 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Scary, some effective moments

Disadvantages: Cheat ending, unrealted characters might confuse or annoy, what's up with that music?

Yep, years before I Know What You Did Last Summer, John Carpenter made fishermen's hooks a scary sight. Made a couple of years after his classic Halloween, Carpenter returns to the slasher genre with a supernatural-tinged tale of a coastal small town with a secret to hold.
The story begins with a scene-setting campfire tale of a group of sailors who were fooled by a campfire into running aground, killing all on board. Exactly 100 years later, the town is covered with a mist at midnight, which hides the ghostly sailors, killing anyone they come across with their hooks.
In an unusual approach, which makes or breaks the movie for most people, few of the characters are involved with each other in any way. Rather than having a small band of teenagers come together to fight a killer, Carpenter uses mostly adult characters, some of whom don't meet at all.
The 'stars' are Adrienne Barbeau, then Carpenter's wife, as a late night radio DJ and single mother. Jamie Lee Curtis pops up as a hitchhiker who spends the night with the guy who picks her up. And Hal Holbrook appears as a priest harbouring the secret to the deadly fog.
Though gory in places, the film concentrates on a series of shock moments and creepy images to deliver the scares.
There are some letdowns. After an excellent first night in the town, there's a long daytime sequence which gets a bit boring. When some of the mystery is revealed, the film slows down a bit too. And the shock final scene, shot after an unsuccessful preview screeing, seems a little out of place. Oh, and that radio station -does anybody actually listen to that kind of music? I'd go mad if the only station in town played that stuff! (watch the film and you'll see what I mean). Although, Carpenter's self-penned score is his usual top notch stuff.
Overall, however, this is definitely one of the better slasher pics out there.

Summary: