In today’s video, we will be going through 2007’s American Horror Thriller Film, The
Mist. The movie is based on Stephen King’s iconic psychological horror novella by the
same name. Spoilers ahead! You have been warned. Make
sure to give this video a thumbs up, comment on what your favorite part was, and subscribe
to our channel for more. David Drayton lives with his wife Stephanie
and their eight-year-old son Billy in Bridgton, Maine. David is an artist by profession. One
day, their town is hit by a terrible storm, and they are forced to take shelter in their
basement for the night. The storm incurs significant damage throughout
the town, cutting power and phone lines. The storm also sent a tree flying into David’s
house, destroying his living room and professional paintings, while David’s big shot city attorney
neighbor Brent Nortan’s car has been wrecked by a fallen tree. While surveying the damage,
David notices thick mist advancing over the lake coming from the mountains.
David and Billy then leave for the town with their neighbor Brent to buy supplies. On their
way to the town, they come across a convoy of military vehicles driving towards the lake
in a hurry and discuss the US military’s undergoing secret Project in their town. Despite
the setting in Maine, the film was shot entirely in Louisiana and Texas. To Frank Darabont's
delight, Stephen King could not distinguish it from Maine when watching the movie.
While the trio shop at the supermarket, they watch police cars speed down the street, and
the sirens throughout the town suddenly start to go off. The shoppers look around puzzled
when out of nowhere, a man named Dan Miller comes running into the store with a bleeding
nose. Dan, frightened, warns the customers of a
danger lurking in the mist. He reveals that there’s something in it that killed one
of his friends, prompting Store managers Ollie Weeks and Bud Brown to close off the supermarket.
However, a shopper insists on going out. As he ventures out and starts walking to his
car, the fast-moving mist rapidly takes over the supermarket, and he suddenly starts screaming,
frightening the shoppers inside the supermarket. As they just begin to make sense of the situation,
the whole building suddenly starts shaking, terrifying the shoppers. Here is some trivia:
The earthquake scene included a surprise in the form of a "huge earthquake rumble" recording
that they played via large bass speakers without warning the cast in advance. Apparently, "Everybody
jumped." After a while, the trembling stops, and the
store managers request everyone to stay inside the store. Still, another customer insists
on going home to her children, despite everyone else’s reservations. She asks the men in
the store to escort her home. Umm...Ma’am, this is a Wendy's.
After everyone in the store refuses to take her home, she then ventures out by herself.
Stephen King himself said that he was genuinely frightened by this adaptation of his novel.
Director Frank Darabont described that as the happiest moment of his career.
As the day passes, Billy starts to get cold, and Ollie suggests David to use furniture
pads in the loading dock to keep Billy warm. David then asks a woman named Hattie to watch
Billy as he goes to the back of the store to fetch the pads.
In the loading dock, David notices the generator malfunctioning and releasing a lot of smoke.
He quickly turns it off and again starts looking for furniture pads when suddenly some creature
tries to force its way into the loading dock through the rolling shutter door.
A spooked David rushes back to the front when he runs into Ollie, Store Clerk Norm, and
mechanics Jim and Myron heading to the loading dock to check the generator.
David tells them about the strange occurrence, but they remain skeptical and go to the loading
dock to repair the generator. After inspecting the generator, Myron reveals
that perhaps the generator's exhaust vent has been blocked, and Norm offers to go through
the rolling door to unblock it. David and Ollie warn him against going out, but Norm
and the other two mechanics get agitated and insist on clearing the vent.
David and Ollie eventually relent, and Norm opens the door. Quick trivia: It took a while
to configure, but the loading dock effect of having the mist stay at the open roll-up
door without spilling in "had to do with the temperature in the room and air pressure.”
The men curiously wait for something to appear, but nothing happens. Norm then turns around
to mock David and Ollie when suddenly tentacles of a creature reach through the rolling door
and grab Norm’s leg. The cocky Norm freaks out and starts screaming
for help. David and Ollie try to help him, but the creature manages to drag Norm out.
Life knows a way or two to humble you real quick or, dare I say, kill you real quick;
in this instance. The tentacles then retreat but not before
David chops a chunk of it with an axe. David and Ollie disclose the development to
the rest of the shoppers and barricade the glass front of the store with sacks of food
items. The events eventually start to take a toll on the customers. Mrs. Carmody, known
for her unstable nature, begins to preach about the end of days.
She tells the shoppers it is futile to attempt to prevent the inevitable, and they must prepare
to meet their makers. She continues that humans have mocked God far too long, and now he is
demanding retribution in “blood sacrifice”. It starts to frighten the children, and a
local teacher named Amanda Dunfrey slaps Mrs. Carmody to shut her up. I mean, do we blame
Amanda? Some people only understand this sort of language.
As well as barricading the store, David and other customers also gather tools and weapons
to fight the alien threats. Amanda reveals that she carries a revolver and gives it to
Ollie, who is a former regional shooting champion. Convenient.
Among the shoppers are also skeptics like David’s neighbor Brent who mocks the extraordinary
claims. He speculates that the threat might be natural or man-made, but it can not be
supernatural. Led by Brent, the skeptics decide to venture out to inspect the threat themselves
and seek help from the government authorities. David convinces one of the skeptics to tie
one end of a long rope around his waist with its other end held by David and Ollie from
inside the store as a safety precaution. The group then heads out and soon disappears in
the mist. The skeptic suddenly seemingly begins to pull David and Ollie vigorously with the
rope. After a lot of struggle, the two manage to pull the rope back but only to retrieve
a severed lower half of the man’s body, horrifying the customers.
David then forms connections with several people in the store, including Amanda and
Irene Reppler, who also came into conflict with Mrs. Carmody over her religious zealotry.
As night falls, enormous flying insects – attracted to the lights inside – swarm the store.
Quick behind-the-scenes fact: The window impacts were accomplished by hurling baseballs at
the glass and then digitally removing them from the final shot.
As the customers just begin to wrap their heads around the gigantic insects, suddenly,
pterodactyl-like flying creatures start banging on the store’s glass, preying on the massive
insects. Soon the glass gives in and breaks, allowing the insects to fly into the store,
followed by the creatures. The shoppers run around in panic as David and a few others
scramble to kill the alien creatures. The creatures kill two people while a man named
Joe gets severely burnt in an attempt to incinerate the insects.
An insect lands on Mrs. Carmody but, for some reason, leaves her unscathed. David lights
and beats one flying creature to death while Ollie shoots one dead. Eventually, all insects
and creatures that stormed into the store are killed.
The chaos and Mrs. Carmody’s miraculous survival proselytizes other shoppers, and
she starts gaining followers among the survivors. Most shoppers have seemingly been divided
into groups: a small one led by David and the other by Mrs. Carmody.
Meanwhile, Joe’s condition worsens, and he cries, unable to bear the pain of getting
severely burned. He pleads with David and Ollie to relieve him of his pain. As they
console Joe, Amanda reveals that Hattie, the woman who was taking care of David’s son
Billy has committed suicide by overdosing on pills.
Watching the situation continue to spiral at the store, David reveals his intentions
to leave the building for good and drive as far away as possible from the mist in his
car parked outside, as these alien creatures seem to hide in the mist.
Amanda and others warn him that it would be dangerous and suicidal, but David retorts
that the alien creatures could storm into the building anytime and kill them anyway,
so he prefers taking a risk. He also brings up the fact that Mrs. Carmody is rapidly converting
more people, and she will soon look for people to sacrifice.
David gives Amanda and the others the time to think it over till the next morning, and
meanwhile, he gets ready to leave for the pharmacy to get medical supplies for Joe.
Ollie, Joe’s brother Bobby, Jim, Mrs. Reppler, Dan, fellow customer Mike and a soldier named
Jessup agree to go with him. As they head out, they are met with protests from Mrs.
Carmody and her eccentric followers, but the group heads to the pharmacy, defying them.
The medical store is dark and deserted. The pharmacy is called "King's Pharmacy,” most
likely a reference to author Stephen King. The group swiftly begins to collect medicines
when they hear the noise of a creature moving. Spooked, they look around nervously only to
notice bodies of people hanging in the air by spider webs.
Suddenly an alive soldier suspended by the web grabs Jim from behind, freaking him out.
David and Jessup try to free him, but the soldier is firmly glued to the wall. The soldier
keeps apologetically saying, “It is our fault” before he begins to convulse, and
tiny spiders crawl out of his body that were eating his insides.
A colossal spider then appears and starts shooting highly acidic threads at the group.
It manages to get Bobby’s leg, and he screams in pain. A spider then jumps on Mike and starts
eating him. Frightened, the group begins rushing towards the exit dragging a severely wounded
Bobby with them. However, Bobby dies midway, and the group leaves without him. Joe passes
away before David can get back to the store with painkillers.
Did you know that the characters of David and Amanda were initially supposed to know
each other already and have been having an affair?
The situation in the store continues to deteriorate as the failed expedition gives Mrs. Carmody
more ammunition, and she uses it to increase her influence by offering protection from
divine wrath to new converts. Traumatized by the events in the pharmacy, Jim too becomes
a follower of Mrs. Carmody. The next day, with Mrs. Carmody’s increasing
popularity and her growing eccentricity, David feels the pressure to get to the bottom of
the threat they are facing and abandon the store. He remembers the dying soldier’s
last words at the pharmacy and goes to talk with Jessup and his two military buddies stuck
in the store. They soon discover that Jessup’s two military
friends hung themselves in the loading dock. Jessup breaks down in tears and disbelief.
He reveals the military's involvement in the whole ordeal. Of course, the government is
somehow involved in this mess. A crazed Jim overhears their conversation
and drags Jessup to Mrs. Carmody and her other followers. A frightened Jessup then reveals
that a government project to discover other dimensions was underway at the military base.
Scientists may have opened a doorway into a dimension containing the creatures invading
the town. The revelation enrages Mrs. Carmody. She blames
Jessup for bringing the wrath upon them by going against the will of God and the forbidden
rules. Her incitement riles her followers up, and the mob starts lynching Jessup.
Mrs. Carmody then orders her followers to expel Jessup from the store and offer him
to the beast outside. David and others try to intervene, but Mrs. Carmody’s followers
easily overpower them, and they watch helplessly as Jessup is devoured by a giant praying mantis-like
creature. Did you know that the film’s director Darabont
added the Jessup character to drive home the danger that Mrs. Carmody and her mob represent?
Early the next morning, David, Billy, Amanda, Ollie, Mrs. Reppler, Dan, Bud, Myron, and
a man named Cornell prepare to leave the store secretly. But they soon learn that Mrs. Carmody
uncovered their plan and her followers block their exit.
Mrs. Carmody accuses David and his group of going against God's will and incites her followers.
She demands David to hand over Billy as the next “sacrifice”. A struggle follows.
The cult tries to snatch the child as David and others desperately try to keep them away.
Left with no choice, Ollie shoots Mrs. Carmody dead and forces her followers to stand down
at gunpoint. David and his group then quickly rush out of the store. Outside, Myron sprains
his ankle. Bud and Cornell help Myron run, but they soon get separated from others in
the mist. They are soon attacked by gigantic spiders. The spiders devour Cornell and Myron,
but Bud manages to run back to the store. Meanwhile, David, Billy, Amanda, Mrs. Reppler,
and Ollie manage to reach David’s car. However, Ollie is soon killed by the creature.
David and other survivors drive through the deserted town drowned in mist. He passes through
his wrecked home. David notices his wife Stephanie’s dead body outside. She died while fixing her
home’s front window that got wrecked by a tree. An emotional David then breaks into
tears. Amanda consoles him, and after pulling himself
together, David continues to drive away from the town. After passing several cars, school
buses, houses with dead bodies inside, and a colossal six-legged beast, they eventually
run out of gas. With no means of escaping the mist, the resigned
group members decide to end their lives. David shoots Billy and the other three survivors
with his four remaining bullets. He then leaves the car and angrily challenges the creatures
to take him. He suddenly hears the sound of something approaching
him. The mist suddenly dissipates, revealing the vanguard of a U.S. Army armored column
that is in the process of exterminating the creatures and restoring order.
Seeing that they have also rescued those from the store, including the woman who left to
get to her kids, David, realizing that he killed his son and friends for nothing and
that they were just moments away from being rescued, drops to his knees, screaming in
anguish over what he has done. Sheesh! Talk about regret. Although the movie
had such a bleak, unforgiving, and finite conclusion for the main character, the novella
had a more open, ambiguous, and hopeful ending for David. In the book, David hears a nearby
town’s name called Hartford in a brief radio transmission from the car and chooses to believe
that the city might offer some type of sanctuary for himself and the others. In the end, after
driving for a while, when they stop to rest for the night, he kisses his son good night
and whispers "Hartford" and "Hope" to him. Thanks for watching! Make sure to like the
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