Stephen King's The Mist

[VRSpock]

My wife and I watched Stephen King's The Mist here recently. I don't make a habit of watching his movies anymore, but this one was presented in the previews as being a "creature feature" from what I saw...you know...giant bugs, killer bees, rabid bats, killer aligators...those types of movies....so I was a bit interested in seeing it based upon that.

While it started out as a typical creature feature, the story line of this movie morphed into something totally different. People in a small town were all huddled into the local grocery/supply store, having been told that there was something in the mist and then hearing someone scream in agony outside in the mist before vanishing. No one in the store knew what was really going on, except for a couple of guys, but you didn't find that out until much later.

Anyhow, the story shifts from that of a creature feature to that of one particular local town woman who...well...for better sake of terms was off her rocker. As the story progressed, she began feeding on the fears of the local town people by spitting out vague and partial verses out of the book of revelation and saying that this was the last of days, that the town people were being judged and that the only way to appease G-d was through the shedding of blood.

I guess she was missing all of the New Testament (except for revelation) and from the sounds of things, a pretty big chunk of the old testament. She was obviously being portrayed as a religious doomsday nut. The fear and paranoia of the town folk caused most of them to begin to believe her and begin to do whatever she said without question right down to sacrificing someone to one of the big giant bugs outside.

The most amazing thing about this whole story was that out of what was supposed to be a typical small American town, absolutely no one seemed to have any sound knowledge of scripture whatsoever in which they could refute any of this woman's cult-like babblings. I get the impression that this was sadly a depiction of Christianity painted by Stephen King.

In the end, the only half-way sane people in this story ended up having to kill her to keep from being killed by the mindless masses who followed her. They then proceeded to flee the store through the mist until they ran out of gas and ended in a very abrupt and disturbing conclusion to this story filled to the brim with the spirit of murder, suicide and despair the likes of which I have never seen a movie reach before....and I was a huge horror fan in my past, so I've seen the greatest of despair in movie form.

Oh yeah and all those mindless masses ended up surviving.

The moral this movie seems to portray: Hate those who speak about end time events or are even the slightest bit "religious" in any way.

My wife believes this movie was made for the mere purpose of promoting persecution.

[Marnie]

I was peripherally involved in that--way back in the very early story development phase, I was one of several on a team. The job was to take the novella and make it into a screenplay. It was a perfect story, by the way, for a movie studying how different personalities react under different stressors. The movie ended on a terribly nihilistic note, nothing at all like the way the novella, and our original treatment, ended. As near as I can tell, the only ulterior motive the producers had in mind was producing the greatest shock value; pushing the envelop of what society considers acceptable forms "mercy killing."

The movie was very disappointing on so many levels; it could have been really good.

[kitty1]

There was another Steven King movie that I was years ago, but I can't remember the name.

It was about an alian or monster of sorts that lived in the core of the earth and came out to feed every 100 years or so.

Any ways this alian or monster liked it self to being GOD. I couldn't believe it!

Do you remember this Steven King movie or the name.

A little more of what I remember of this movie, the begining was these girls come to town and the town is empty but all the jewly watches and dentures are saved in a pile.

I remember a little from the middle of the movie where they are being held captive with some others and a scientist in, what looks like a silver RV in the middle of town. The alian or monster whats them to do something and they have to stay there, and a dog with some type of alian in it is keeping watch.

Any ways it made me think about

[Tony Trout]

Has this been released on DVD yet?

[nebula]

Thanks for your insight, Marnie!

[Guest Biblicist]

Umm, you do realize at most of Stephen King's books, at least the old ones, were written while he was "under the influence"...

I find that most of his books and movies have a religious theme to them. The Green Mile comes to mind.

Paul Edgecomb: On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That is was my job? My job?

John Coffey: You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?

Paul Edgecomb: Yes, John. I think I can.

Storm of the Century was a big religious film. The antagonist was practically Satan himself! Looking for a son, and willing to kill an entire small town to get it.

The Stand...

[Scarletprayers]

There was another Steven King movie that I was years ago, but I can't remember the name.

It was about an alian or monster of sorts that lived in the core of the earth and came out to feed every 100 years or so.

Any ways this alian or monster liked it self to being GOD. I couldn't believe it!

Do you remember this Steven King movie or the name.

A little more of what I remember of this movie, the begining was these girls come to town and the town is empty but all the jewly watches and dentures are saved in a pile.

I remember a little from the middle of the movie where they are being held captive with some others and a scientist in, what looks like a silver RV in the middle of town. The alian or monster whats them to do something and they have to stay there, and a dog with some type of alian in it is keeping watch.

Any ways it made me think about

Ahhh sorry that isn't a King novel, its a Dean R Koontz novel. The closest novel King ever wrote to this would it "IT".

[Scarletprayers]

There was another Steven King movie that I was years ago, but I can't remember the name.

It was about an alian or monster of sorts that lived in the core of the earth and came out to feed every 100 years or so.

Any ways this alian or monster liked it self to being GOD. I couldn't believe it!

Do you remember this Steven King movie or the name.

A little more of what I remember of this movie, the begining was these girls come to town and the town is empty but all the jewly watches and dentures are saved in a pile.

I remember a little from the middle of the movie where they are being held captive with some others and a scientist in, what looks like a silver RV in the middle of town. The alian or monster whats them to do something and they have to stay there, and a dog with some type of alian in it is keeping watch.

Any ways it made me think about

Ahhh sorry that isn't a King novel, its a Dean R Koontz novel. The closest novel King ever wrote to this would it "IT".

I have never seen "The Mist," but according to the Internet Movie Data Base, the story is attributed to Stephen King. When it comes to Stephen King stories, most of the time I enjoy them, but sometimes they are too far out, and don't make sense. Recently I saw the movie, "The Langoliers," and didn't feel like the ending made any sense. If you go back in time, and therefore eventually everything is erased, it would seem to me that if you get ahead of time, it wouldn't catch up with you, but you would remain forever trapped ahead of everyone and everything else.

Yes the Mist is King, but I'm talking about the movie above that Kitty was describing! Come on B keep up! kitty the movie is called Phantoms, I notice I forgot to post that earlier.

[Gerioke]

Pretty much any Sci-fi or fantasy movie could be potentially anti-God.

Even the old original Star Trek series set out to deny the existance of God.

The Time machine opposes the Alpha and Omega teaching.

Are we to look at these movies as fiction or hidden agendas?

[patricia1]

I did not like a lot of stephen King until a few years after Salvation...Wierd. I was able to see some spiritual truth in some of his movies.

Langoliers

The stand

Sometimes they come back I would like to be inhis mind for ten minutes. lol