31 More Days of Horror: John Carpenter's The Fog (1980)

Anything that opens with an Edgar Allen Poe quote has potential, but with director John Carpenter at the helm The Fog is so much more. Carpenter has created a creepy atmospheric ghost story in The Fog. Understated and eerie, the silhouetted revenge seeking century-old shipwreck victims turned villains provide efficient scares without the gore.

Opening with crusty old fisherman telling a ghost story to riveted children gathered around the campfire, Carpenter sets his audience up for the scare. A piece of driftwood surfaces and a glowing fog moving against the wind sets the tone.

A solid including Hal Holbrook, Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Adrienne Barbeau provide certain realism as residents of Antonio Bay. The town is preparing to celebrate their 100th birthday. Unbeknownst to township, the fog plans to drop in. Stevie Wayne (Barbeau) is the primary voice of our film as the local DJ. Each of the villagers adds a particular element of surprise, distain, and/or horror that is believable as they become prey for the watery phantoms.

Carpenter is content to build the tension slowly with wide shots of unpopulated expanse. As the fog envelopes the small hamlet, the chilling score ebbs and flows furthering the chill. The seaweed shrouded monsters success lies in the sounds and actions emitting, not the look. Carpenter is smart. You never actually see them. Rather you hear the distinct rap on the door and the particular squish of wet footsteps. The unfurling fog plays a character as well. Watching it swell around people, places, and things, the fog has uncanny finger-like tendrils that reach into the night. The suspense is unwavering and its release can’t come soon enough.

From the moment we discover the first body, The Fog is set to scare. With the addition of the cursed driftwood, we know something bigger it at hand. Though a humble and often forgotten production, John Carpenter’s The Fog is a truly terrifying masterpiece.

As I see it, this film alongside Halloween and The Thing will become an integral part—Carpenter’s trifecta—that is a must see around this time of year.