October 13th - The Fog

I had another film in mind to post about but as I wrote last night's post I listened to score from John Carpenter's "The Fog," and remembered how engulfed in that film I become every time I see it.

Firstly, I love John Carpenter.

Listen to this as you read on...


Trivia:Casting John Carpenter's wife of the time as the main character Stevie, Carpenter wrote the role with her in mind the whole time (supposedly this also holds true for Escape From New York).

Stevie is a late night radio host, and the only radio host of Antonio Bay, a small coastal fishing community somewhere in California. She notices the fog moving against the wind one night and soon we see where exactly the fog is going...The film cuts to a small fishing vessel who are completely engulfed in this unnatural cloak. Soon they see an old clipper ship silhouette sail by and before you know it, the whole crew is getting cut down one by one by by phantoms of the past.



We later learn that Antonio Bay, 100 years ago was the scene of a gruesome ship crash. Captain Blake and his men asked if they could relocate near the town for a fee where their community would serve as a leper colony. The town got together and lit a roaring campfire on shore during a night of thick fog, knowingly, the fire caused the ship to crash on the rocks killing everyone on board. The town retreated the gold the next day and set the building blocks of what the town is today.

100 years later, the ghosts are back for their revenge. They're in the fog.




There's something magical about The Fog. It never gets old for me no matter how many times I watch it. The acting by all actors is great, and even though Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't serve as the leading lady it's still fun to see her in another Carpenter film after Halloween. In fact, The Fog wasn't doing well initially so posters were made with Curtis on the cover to attract more people (seeing as Halloween was a massive succeess). It worked.

One of my favorite aspects of the film is how smoothly the fog moves, as if it had it's own will. It sweeps up the road around houses with ease...one scene in particular shows the fog moving up the church road with such intensity that you can almost feel the ghosts eagerness to extract their vengeance on the ancestors of those who wronged them in the past. Not to mention the wonderful colored tint the fog sometimes has gives it that extra spooky feel.



John Carpenters score here is one of his best. It never settles as less than anything eerie, nor ever over the top becoming too much. Written on his own as Halloween was the score in one of the pillars of the movie that makes it so strong.

Watch The Fog.