The Fog (1980) Directed by John Carpenter.

11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story. One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm. In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April. One hundred years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land. Suddenly, out of the night, the fog rolled in. For a moment, they could see nothing, not a foot in front of them. Then, they saw a light. By God, it was a fire burning on the shore, strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist. They steered a course toward the light. But it was a campfire, like this one. The ship crashed against the rocks, the hull sheared in two, mars snapped like a twig. The wreckage sank, with all the men aboard. At the bottom of the sea, lay the Elizabeth Dane, with her crew, their lungs filled with salt water, their eyes open, staring to the darkness. And above, as suddenly as it come, the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean and never came again. But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death. (Distantly, the Clock Strikes the Hour.)12:00, the 21st of April

This is the story that Mr. Machen (John Houseman) tells the children on the beach. And as he finishes his tale, the town goes wild; dogs bark frantically, car alarms go off spontaneously, and out at sea, a fog forms.

The story is worse for the Sea Grass, a fishing vessel. Fog is always worrisome, but this is thick and cold, and glows. And there is something in it.

The next morning, Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau) is given a treasure by her son, Andy. An old piece of driftwood with the word “Dane” carved in it, he found it on the beach. First, he had though he had seen a gold doubloon but then, it was just the wood. Stevie takes the dry piece of lumber to work with her; she is the owner of the Radio Station, and its chief disk jockey. The Station KAB runs out of the old light house on Waitley Point. As she goes about the business of business, listening to various station identification bites, and reading the mail, the wood begins to weep salt water. It drips onto the recorder, and suddenly, Stevie is listening to a horrid voice, speaking of death and retributions…then, as suddenly as it started, it is over. Was it her imagination? A pocket of water in the wood?

Meanwhile, the town prepares for its Centennial celebration. Kathy Williams (Janet Leigh) is the town Select Woman in charge, with the help of her able, if less than enthusiastic assistant, Sandy (Nancy Loomis). They have some of the best bits in the movie:
Kathy: “Sandy, you're the only person I know who can make "Yes, Ma'am" sound like "screw you".”
Sandy: “Yes, Ma'am.” (She does, too!)

But all is not right in Antonia Bay. The local priest Father Malone (Hal Holbrook) has spent the day getting snockered. He found something, a book, and it does not bode well for the town.
Father Malone reads from his Grandfather Patrick’s diary. December 9: Met with Blake this evening for the first time. He stood in the shadows to prevent me from getting a clear look at his face. What a vile disease this is. He is a rich man with a cursed condition, but this does not prevent him from trying to better his situation and that of his comrades at the colony. December 11: Blake's proposition is simple, He wants to move off Tanzier Island and re-locate the entire colony just north of here. He has purchased a clipper ship called the Elizabeth Dane with part of his fortune and asks only for permission to settle here. I must balance my feelings of mercy and compassion for this poor man, with my revulsion at the thought of a leper colony only a mile distant. April 20: The six of us met tonight. From midnight until one o'clock, we planned the death of Blake and his comrades. I tell myself that Blake's gold will allow the church to be built, and our small settlement to become a township, but it does not soothe the horror that I feel being an accomplice to murder. April 21: The deed is done. Blake followed our false fire on shore and the ship broke apart on the rocks off Spivey Point. We were aided by an unearthly fog that rolled in, as if Heaven sent, although God had no part in our actions tonight. Blake's gold will be recovered tomorrow, but may the Lord forgive us for what we've done. I couldn't read any further.”
Sandy: “Your grandfather had a way with words.”
Fr. Malone: “The celebration tonight is a travesty. We're honoring murderers.”

So as the sun sets, Stevie is starting her show, Kathy is starting the celebration, and Nick Castle (Tom Atkins) is picking up a hitchhiker, Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Tom and Elizabeth head out in a boat, and find the Sea Grass adrift. They explore the vessel, puzzled. A working vessel, she is covered in sea weeds and rust, as though it had been adrift for years. Worse, they find one of the men quite dead. As the coroner says, “Nick, his wounds are covered with algae, his lungs are full, and there's silt in his fingernails. I tell ya, I saw Dick Baxter three days ago in Salinas. Now he's lying there on the table looking like he's been underwater for a month.”

And things only get worse. As the fog rolls in, Stevie contacts the weatherman. From her perch, she can see as his office is surrounded. As he goes to answer the door, Stevie is seized by a dread. She calls out for him not to answer the door, but he does, and Stevie listens to his death cries.

Now Stevie tries to get help. She sends out a broadcast asking the sheriff to call her. (Remember, this is all in the days before cell phones.) But the fog billows up to the lines, and they are cut off.

Something is in the fog, and it is coming for the people of Antonia Bay.

There are several things about this movie that make it very effective. It was a low budget indie film, but Carpenter filmed it in Panascope, which gives it a better quality, and makes it look less cheap.

Second, of the two headliners, Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis, neither appears together. In fact, Stevie only shares the screen with two living people, her son, Andy and the babysitter. The rest of the time, she is up in the lighthouse, all alone.

And even though it is on the mainland, it is isolated, away from town, perched on the edge of the cliffs. There is a very long flight of stairs to traverse from the Lighthouse to the parking area, not something I would want to traverse in the Fog.

Worse, she is isolated because she can not leave. She is not a prisoner, but she is the only one who can see what the Fog is doing. If anyone is going to survive, she has to warn them, and to do that, well, she is in a radio station. The phone may not work, but she has a generator. As much as she might want to, she can’t leave. She has to tell them what streets are free of the Fog.

This movie is a wonder of understatement. The mood builds, and dread sets in, but nothing happens. And when something does happen, it is usually very dramatic. In point of fact, the movie was originally so low key, it was deemed not scary enough. It was also a bit short. So Carpenter shot the more shocking scenes, and added the undead with Stevie on the roof. That changed the tone just enough to make it truly creepy. It also added the opening story with Mr. Machen, which adds to the cohesion of the plot.

I think this is an excellent example of how sometimes you can do more with less. Carpenter managed to creep up out with a good story, and some fog machines. He even saved money on make up….the Fog hides many sins. Witness the 2005 remake. It had a budget and special effects, and is not half as scary. The main thing it had going for it is Tom Welling.

This movie also has several neat coincidences; it pairs Mother and Daughter, with Jamie Lee Curtis appearing on screen with her mother, Janet Leigh. Also, Andrienne Barbeau was married to John Carpenter. Talk about nippltism, the part was written for her.

This is one of my favorite B movies. It is not great cinema, but every time look out my door and see fog, it is the first thing that pops into my head, and a shiver races down my spine.

I leave you with the final words of the movie: “I don't know what happened to Antonio Bay tonight. Something came out of the fog and tried to destroy us. In one moment, it vanished. But if this has been anything but a nightmare, and if we don't wake up to find ourselves safe in our beds, it could come again. To the ships at sea who can hear my voice, look across the water, into the darkness. Look for the fog.”


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older