By Jesse Miller, MoreHorror.com

The Fog Original (1980)

Directed by John Carpenter
Written by John Carpenter & Debra Hill
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh & Hal Holbrook

With all the horror films I watch, I sometimes forget how frightening something as simplistic as a shadow emerging from the fog can be and yet, you’ll find a few moments of these here in The Fog and each time, as the sailor’s ghosts lurk towards these unsuspecting poor souls, they’re as effective and chilling as they were the first time – Now, this is what makes The Fog so effective – John Carpenter’s understanding of horror and how he chooses to wonderfully build the mood and suck the audience into the worlds he establishes.

The setting of The Fog  - Antonio Bay, California – feels surprisingly intimate and despite the fact that horrors come in the dead of the night in thick blankets of fog and ghostly beings, the setting feels warm, friendly and inviting – okay, so it’s a typical archetype of that small town in horror films where everyone knows your name and everybody soon dies, but it’s quaint, intimate and is yet another point that Carpenter does a great job in setting up the atmosphere.

A few John Carpenter regulars also return – Jamie Lee Curtis is here in top form as Elizabeth Solley, cinematographer Dean Cundey returns after working with Carpenter on Halloween, as do the two editors Charles Bornstein and Tommy Lee Wallace and Debra Hill, who co-produced this film and co-wrote the story with Carpenter, further adding to the film’s magic.

It’s also quickly worth mentioning that the legendary Janet Leigh has a role here and shines just as bright as ever in her screen time - it’s also a blast, as a horror fan to see her act alongside her daughter – both who have starred in two highly influential horror films.

Carpenter has mentioned that this isn’t his overall favourite film of his due to reshoots and the production values – which is one of the reasons why he agreed on the remake, of which we’ll get to in a moment – but for me, I think it holds up quite nicely today and while it may not have the best of effects that were offered in that time, I think the crew cleverly utilizes what they do have at their disposal to come up with some truly spectacular effects to capture this supernatural activity.

John Carpenter’s The Fog was an absolute blast to revisit, largely because it tells such a suspenseful, compelling ghost story with Carpenter himself at the top of his game, bringing together all his recognizable trademarks fans have to come to know and love about some of his film - from his foreboding synth scores to his masterful use of colours and shadows – and crafting a great horror tale, one that still holds up quite nicely today.

The Fog Remake (2005)

Directed by Rupert Wainwright
Screenplay by Cooper Layne
Starring: Tom Welling, Maggie Grace and Selma Blair.

When John Carpenter was asked during an interview about why he had given the 2005 remake of The Fog his blessing and gone on to produce it, he simply answered: “Why not?” going on to list a few good reasons such as advanced special effects, a higher budget for production and some extra money as a bonus – and hey, I mean, why not, right? The notion of revisiting this ghost story with a bigger sandbox to play in sounded like a great opportunity to be more creative with the effects and with Hill and Carpenter on board, I think fans began to relax about visiting the world of Antonio Bay.

The screenplay, by a Cooper Layne, largely follows the same road as the original, including all those effective and memorable set-pieces from the original, but updates the characters, changes a few key things around and throws in a few flashbacks to make sure the audience get all the major twists and turns.
While I came to accept the changes because the film has to do things a little differently to the original and explore new territory, I found the screenplay’s inclusion of flashbacks most un-necessary and damaging to the overall mystery of just what the hell is going on.

Too much of the story is spelled out to you in either flashbacks or jarring scenes of exposition as to make sure everyone’s up to speed and following the story and I don’t know about anyone else but I’m more than happy to connect the dots myself and love feeling like I’m in the dark until I do.

Who was it that said, “let the audience connect the dots and they’ll love you forever for it” – or words to that effect – because this is a particular aspect screenwriter Cooper Layne could’ve used when re-writing and unveiling the mystery.

The abundance of unimaginative and hackneyed scares is also on display and it’s a shame that nothing too different was attempted or explored – I mean these sorts of jump scares are so obvious due to the framing of the scene and they even resort to a friend jumping up from behind a person and saying “Hey there!” to the sound of a musical sting – it’s a little lazy to me and a sorely missed opportunity to get creative with the fog and all its reveals.

The cast here all do an adequate job with the material here – Tom Welling is a likeable and charismatic lead here, Maggie Grace does the best with her underdeveloped role and Selma Blair does a solid job of playing Stevie Wayne, the island’s “radio master”.

What I feel this remake of The Fog lacks is imagination and some restraint with the mystery – sure, we knew the story from the original but it’s still all spelled out that it’s frankly a little insulting to sit through sometimes.

A bigger budget means more elaborate effects and while these all look spectacular in action, I couldn’t help but think of the far scarier and eerier images that Carpenter had achieved on a smaller budget and with minimal sources.

This remake was pretty disappointing as a whole and ends on a note that feels rushed, lazily wrapped up and nonsensical - Some more thought to the scares, character development and unveiling of the mystery could’ve made for more of a memorable and effective remake

My preferred film: The Original.

When it comes down to it, I simply prefer Carpenter’s style, energy and script to the 2005 film.
Carpenter just has a way with storytelling, building atmosphere and crafting some fantastic chills and imagery that is much more effective and engaging than what’s on offer in the remake.