Although
not an immediate favorite, John Carpenter's THE FOG ($20) has grown
in my estimation to be one of the director's most memorable efforts. Unlike
HALLOWEEN, which was a tense shocker, THE FOG is an atmospheric
throwback to an old style Hollywood ghost story. Certainly, the movie
has its share of shocks and bits of gore, but for the most part, Carpenter
builds tension subtly, in the style of the old Val Lewton movies, by making
the audience think that they've glimpsed things lurking in the fog. Of
course, the bits of horror and gore that are actually shown in THE
FOG are indicative of the changing sensibilities of the genre during
the late seventies and early eighties. However, it is Carpenter's creepy
old style approach to THE FOG that consistently sends shivers down
audiences' spines and has earned the film a reputation of a minor horror
classic in the twenty plus years since it was released.
THE
FOG opens with an old salt, played by the legendary John Houseman,
who spins a ghostly yarn around a campfire on the beach of Antonio Bay.
Exactly one hundred years ago, a ship named the Elizabeth Dane became
lost in the fog off the coast of Antonio Bay and the crew began following
an onshore campfire that they thought would lead them to safety. However,
instead of finding a safe haven, the ship broke up on the rocky coastline
and sank, taking all hands to a watery grave. As the town of Antonio Bay
prepares to celebrate its centennial, the fog that appeared a century
before returns, bringing with it the ghostly crew of the Elizabeth Dane,
who have come in search retribution against those who lead them to their
deaths all those years ago. To say anymore about the plot would spoil
it for anyone who has never had the opportunity to experience John Carpenter's
THE FOG. The plucky cast of THE FOG features Adrienne Barbeau,
Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, James Canning, Charles Cyphers,
Nancy Loomis and Hal Holbrook.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE FOG available on DVD in a 2.35:1
wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
A full screen presentation is provided on the opposite side of the disc,
but for the life of me, I can't imagine anyone finding a severely cropped
and scanned version of a John Carpenter movie enjoyable. That aside, the
wide screen transfer is truly superb; bringing out the beauty of Dean
Cundey's wonderful cinematography. Since his work for John Carpenter,
Cundey has gone on to become one of Hollywood's premiere cinematographers,
but his genius is clearly evident in this early low budget effort, which
looks like a far more expensive film than its one million dollar budget
would indicate.
The
image on the DVD is crisp and very nicely defined. Complex lighting situations
are rendered flawlessly and with impressive detail. The film contains
numerous dark sequences and a lot of optical processing work, which are
reproduced with surprisingly little noticeable grain. In general, colors
have a natural level of saturation and flesh tones look appealing. There
are instances of stronger hues throughout the course of the film, but
they are completely stable and noise free. Blacks are right on the money,
plus the picture has clean whites and very smooth contrast. Shadow detail
is good, but much of the photography is designed so that the viewer is
unable to see whatever is lurking in the dark. Dual layer authoring tends
to keep digital compression artifacts virtually unnoticeable, even with
all the difficult to encode fog effects in the film.
For
this release, THE FOG has been upgraded from monaural to a Dolby
Digital 5.1 channel sound mix. Although this remix isn't as gimmicky as
some might like, I think that THE FOG is well served by the atmospheric
quality of the soundtrack. The forward soundstage dominates the new mix
and there are distinct sound effects that utilize the stereo imaging.
Dialogue is rendered crisply and with complete intelligibility from the
center channel. As for the surround channels, they serve to supply the
track with an ambient sense of atmosphere, which is subtle, but effective.
Considering the age and budgetary restrictions of the original production,
fidelity is reasonably good and the track is well worth amplifying for
John Carpenter's creepy minimalist score. English and French monaural
soundtracks have also been encoded onto the DVD, as have English, French
and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s stylishly
creepy interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as the supplemental materials.
Co-writer/director John Carpenter and co-writer/producer Debra Hill are
on hand for a running audio commentary, which was originally featured
on the wide screen Laserdisc release of the film from the mid-1990s. This
is an informative and entertaining commentary track; maybe not Carpenter's
personal best, but certainly better than a whole lot of other director's
commentaries.
Newly
produced for the DVD is a nearly thirty minute documentary entitled Tales
from the Mist: Inside The Fog. This is a great program that features
recent interviews with John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet
Leigh, Dean Cundey and Tommy Lee Wallace, as well as vintage interviews
with some of the above and Jamie Lee Curtis. Next we find the original
1980 documentary Fear On Film: Inside The Fog, which is
interesting in its own right, but the ten-minute program really doesn't
compare to the newly produced documentary. Also included on the DVD is
about four minutes worth of outtakes, a storyboard comparison, a theatrical
trailer, two teaser trailers, three TV spots, a poster art gallery, a
memorabilia gallery and two photo galleries.
John
Carpenter's fans have waited a long time for THE FOG to come to
DVD. I can honestly say that MGM has done a fantastic job with the DVD
in terms of the film's presentation and supplements, so the wait is more
than justified. If you are a Carpenter fan, don't hesitate in picking
up a copy of THE FOG. However, if you have never seen this Carpenter's
homage to old style Hollywood ghost stories, get the disc- the DVD is
definitely the best way to see this minor genre classic short of a theatrical
re-issue.
Although
not an immediate favorite, John Carpenter's THE FOG ($20) has grown
in my estimation to be one of the director's most memorable efforts. Unlike
HALLOWEEN, which was a tense shocker, THE FOG is an atmospheric
throwback to an old style Hollywood ghost story. Certainly, the movie
has its share of shocks and bits of gore, but for the most part, Carpenter
builds tension subtly, in the style of the old Val Lewton movies, by making
the audience think that they've glimpsed things lurking in the fog. Of
course, the bits of horror and gore that are actually shown in THE
FOG are indicative of the changing sensibilities of the genre during
the late seventies and early eighties. However, it is Carpenter's creepy
old style approach to THE FOG that consistently sends shivers down
audiences' spines and has earned the film a reputation of a minor horror
classic in the twenty plus years since it was released.
THE
FOG opens with an old salt, played by the legendary John Houseman,
who spins a ghostly yarn around a campfire on the beach of Antonio Bay.
Exactly one hundred years ago, a ship named the Elizabeth Dane became
lost in the fog off the coast of Antonio Bay and the crew began following
an onshore campfire that they thought would lead them to safety. However,
instead of finding a safe haven, the ship broke up on the rocky coastline
and sank, taking all hands to a watery grave. As the town of Antonio Bay
prepares to celebrate its centennial, the fog that appeared a century
before returns, bringing with it the ghostly crew of the Elizabeth Dane,
who have come in search retribution against those who lead them to their
deaths all those years ago. To say anymore about the plot would spoil
it for anyone who has never had the opportunity to experience John Carpenter's
THE FOG. The plucky cast of THE FOG features Adrienne Barbeau,
Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, James Canning, Charles Cyphers,
Nancy Loomis and Hal Holbrook.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE FOG available on DVD in a 2.35:1
wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
A full screen presentation is provided on the opposite side of the disc,
but for the life of me, I can't imagine anyone finding a severely cropped
and scanned version of a John Carpenter movie enjoyable. That aside, the
wide screen transfer is truly superb; bringing out the beauty of Dean
Cundey's wonderful cinematography. Since his work for John Carpenter,
Cundey has gone on to become one of Hollywood's premiere cinematographers,
but his genius is clearly evident in this early low budget effort, which
looks like a far more expensive film than its one million dollar budget
would indicate.
The
image on the DVD is crisp and very nicely defined. Complex lighting situations
are rendered flawlessly and with impressive detail. The film contains
numerous dark sequences and a lot of optical processing work, which are
reproduced with surprisingly little noticeable grain. In general, colors
have a natural level of saturation and flesh tones look appealing. There
are instances of stronger hues throughout the course of the film, but
they are completely stable and noise free. Blacks are right on the money,
plus the picture has clean whites and very smooth contrast. Shadow detail
is good, but much of the photography is designed so that the viewer is
unable to see whatever is lurking in the dark. Dual layer authoring tends
to keep digital compression artifacts virtually unnoticeable, even with
all the difficult to encode fog effects in the film.
For
this release, THE FOG has been upgraded from monaural to a Dolby
Digital 5.1 channel sound mix. Although this remix isn't as gimmicky as
some might like, I think that THE FOG is well served by the atmospheric
quality of the soundtrack. The forward soundstage dominates the new mix
and there are distinct sound effects that utilize the stereo imaging.
Dialogue is rendered crisply and with complete intelligibility from the
center channel. As for the surround channels, they serve to supply the
track with an ambient sense of atmosphere, which is subtle, but effective.
Considering the age and budgetary restrictions of the original production,
fidelity is reasonably good and the track is well worth amplifying for
John Carpenter's creepy minimalist score. English and French monaural
soundtracks have also been encoded onto the DVD, as have English, French
and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s stylishly
creepy interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as the supplemental materials.
Co-writer/director John Carpenter and co-writer/producer Debra Hill are
on hand for a running audio commentary, which was originally featured
on the wide screen Laserdisc release of the film from the mid-1990s. This
is an informative and entertaining commentary track; maybe not Carpenter's
personal best, but certainly better than a whole lot of other director's
commentaries.
Newly
produced for the DVD is a nearly thirty minute documentary entitled Tales
from the Mist: Inside The Fog. This is a great program that features
recent interviews with John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Adrienne Barbeau, Janet
Leigh, Dean Cundey and Tommy Lee Wallace, as well as vintage interviews
with some of the above and Jamie Lee Curtis. Next we find the original
1980 documentary Fear On Film: Inside The Fog, which is
interesting in its own right, but the ten-minute program really doesn't
compare to the newly produced documentary. Also included on the DVD is
about four minutes worth of outtakes, a storyboard comparison, a theatrical
trailer, two teaser trailers, three TV spots, a poster art gallery, a
memorabilia gallery and two photo galleries.
John
Carpenter's fans have waited a long time for THE FOG to come to
DVD. I can honestly say that MGM has done a fantastic job with the DVD
in terms of the film's presentation and supplements, so the wait is more
than justified. If you are a Carpenter fan, don't hesitate in picking
up a copy of THE FOG. However, if you have never seen this Carpenter's
homage to old style Hollywood ghost stories, get the disc- the DVD is
definitely the best way to see this minor genre classic short of a theatrical
re-issue.
