The Fog – Collector’s Edition

Summary

John Carpenter’s early works remain some of his most enjoyable. After the one-two punch of Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween, Carpenter had proven himself as a director that could make a film on a tight budget and deliver large profits. In fact, Halloween was one of the most profitable independent films of all time with a budget of three hundred thousand dollars and a profit of forty five million dollars. John Carpenter and co-writer/producer Debra Hill were given a million dollar budget to make their next project. Re-enlisting the great cinematographer Dean Cundey, they made The Fog. It may not have wowed critics, but it has remained a fan favorite for decades.

The coastal town of Antonio Bay is preparing to celebrate the centennial of the town’s founding. A hundred years earlier, a ship called the Elisabeth Dane was traveling to the town with lepers led by the wealthy Blake. It had been mysteriously wrecked on the rocks near the shore and all the lepers onboard had drowned. A few days later the town had been formed. The local radio station of Antonio Bay is inside a lighthouse facing out towards the ocean. It is owned by Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau) who is forced to spend many of her nights away from her young child Andy so that she can talk to her listeners about weather conditions and play them music throughout the night. At the local parish, priest Father Malone (Hal Holbrook) finds a diary written by his grandfather when it falls out of a hole in the wall of the church. The diary holds distressing secrets about the founding of the town. This occurs while many strange occurrences happen throughout the town including car alarms sounding and gas pumps pouring gasoline on their own. Across town, Nick Castle (Tom Atkins) picks up a hitchhiker named Elisabeth Solley (Jamie Lee Curtis.) They become romantically entwined, as a supernatural fog begins to hover off the coast. Out at sea, the fog rolls in against the wind and approaches a local trawler. Unbeknownst to the men aboard the ship, in the fog is the spectral Elisabeth Dane and its’ revenge seeking ghosts. Soon the town will face serious danger as the centennial approaches of the sinking of the Elisabeth Dane.

The Fog has a ridiculous plot. It doesn’t matter, because it’s a movie that is determined to create a mood. This is a skill of John Carpenter to be able to create something larger and more impressive than the plot of the film would provide. This is also the reason that the remake of The Fog could never work. With the million dollar budget they were provided, The Fog has a broader scope of setting than Halloween and a lot more practical effects than that film. One of the best aspects of the film is the way that setting is evoked. The lighthouse location in the film is a standout, but it isn’t just one location that makes the film. The film manages to make the viewer feel like they understand the topography of the town and the way of life there. The centennial celebration may be borrowed from  films like Jaws, but it allows the town to feel lived in and like an actual community. The practical effects in the film work wonders. 

Cinematographer Dean Cundey does wonders for the film. At Carpenter’s request the film was shot in anamorphic widescreen. This was done for a number of reasons, but the most obvious is that by shooting in widescreen a film can seem like it has a much larger budget behind it. Cundey’s ability to light settings helped to create the trademark look of Carpenter’s filmography. The Fog is not about the ridiculous homicidal leper colony sailors, but about the fog itself. The obscuring of the menace lends so much to the mood of the film, and while the film is not particularly frightening it is still captivating. The imagery of the film is helped by one of my favorite scores by Carpenter. It is really fantastic – driven by a strong piano hook with synth backgrounds.

The cast of the film is filled with great actors. Hal Holbrook is perfectly cast as Father Malone. Holbrook is a great actor and can bring a seriousness to a role that other actors would render ludicrous. Jamie Lee Curtis is enjoyable in her role. Adrienne Barbeau is essentially the central character of the film and this is the best role of her career. I love character actor Tom Atkins and he is reliably great as Nick Castle. Janet Leigh is also a nice addition to the cast.

Overall – The Fog remains a fan favorite from John Carpenter’s long career for good reason: it is an engaging film that achieves a truly unique mood.

Video

This release was first available in 2016 and I am happy to report that it still looks nice today. Like Escape from New York, Shout!Factory’s 1080p AVC encoded transfer has solid attention to detail and a colorful visual approach that still holds up well today. I watched the film on my UHD television and was very pleased. Some of the effects shots have additional grain or look a little funky, but fans of the film will find this to be a minor issue.

Audio

Shout!Factory has provided a solid DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. This track has excellent clarity of dialogue and I love how the score by John Carpenter sounds on the track. It is not an incredibly immersive surround track when compared to modern films, but I thought is sounded pretty great. For the fans who would prefer to hear the track as a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track, Shout!Factory has provided it as well. 

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director John Carpenter and Writer/Producer Debra Hill
• Audio Commentary with Actors Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins and Production Designer Tommy Lee Wallace
• My Time with Terror with Jamie Lee Curtis – the iconic scream queen discusses her working relationship with John Carpenter and Debra Hill, her sadness over their break-up at the time, her distaste for horror films (including The Fog, which she does not particularly care for,) and her numerous horror roles that gave her a start in the business before she could leave the horror genre behind (aside from the occasional Halloween film.)
• Dean of Darkness with Dean Cundey – this interview with the iconic cinematographer behind the camera on so many of Carpenter’s best films is really fantastic. He discusses the various techniques used not only on The Fog, but also on other films including Escape from New York. This is the best feature on the disc.
• Fear on Film: Inside The Fog – this vintage featurette from the Eighties seems to have come out around the time the film was released. I liked hearing John Carpenter discuss that he does not make films for the critics.
• Tales from the Mist: Inside The Fog – a solid archival feature with interviews from cast and crew.
• The Fog: Storyboard to Film 
• Horror’s Hallowed Grounds: A Look at the Film’s Locations – Sean Clark revisits the locations that still exist from the film.
• Outtakes
• Special Effects Tests 
• Theatrical Trailer 
• TV Spots 
• Photo Gallery 
• Storyboards 
• ABC Sunday Night Movie Promo

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

The Fog is a classic horror film that every aficionado should have on their shelf. The plot is ridiculous, but the film more than makes up for that issue with engaging characters, strong setting, and a strong sense of mood. The film is stylistically a triumph thanks to the excellent work by cinematographer Dean Cundey. The Fog has remained one of John Carpenter’s most loved films for good reason. The supplemental features provided are excellent and the movie still looks and sounds great. Highly recommended.