This ridiculous yet hilarious 'horror' film makes the most out of its thread-bare plot by casting stereotype characters against an evil presence that arises out of a mysterious fog that en-shrouds a coastal town which becomes the subject of the above-mentioned horror, "THE FOG".
The evil here isn't actually 'the fog' itself, but what comes out of 'the fog' that supposedly represents the true terror.
John Carpenter's protege, Jamie Lee Curtis, shares the head title for this garbage with none other than ex-'MAUDE' wash-up, Adrienne Barbeau who begins her career into schlock horror territory with this tripe. Also thrown into this horrific melange is silver-screen veteran, Janet Leigh, sporting a ludicrous poodle-haircut that serves her no justice, B-Grade actors John Houseman, Tom Atkins and Hal Holbrook as a Minister with several dark secrets hidden beneath his cloth.
Adrienne Barbeau portrays a radio DJ(!!) aptly named Stevie Wayne who broadcasts her program live from a lighthouse situated out in the middle of nowhere. She is the first character to notice the strange happenings accompanied with 'the fog' that begin to occur during the town's centenary celebrations. From her lighthouse, she can track the exact route 'the fog' takes as it spreads across town with a personal mission of its own.
You see, 100 years ago, apparently a leprosy-infested crew of a ship filled with gold were tricked into docking outside the town's harbor where they were butchered during the night by the greedy townsfolk who plundered the gold for themselves and left the poor victims for dead. Of course, little did they know that their actions would have sinister consequences and that on this particular night 100 years later, a fog sweeping across town would bring with it zombies who represent the slain crew members of the ill-fated ship, seeking the gold that was once taken from them. Not to mention, the victims of this supernatural rebellion all happen to be the unfortunate descendants of the very people who plundered the gold 100 years ago.
The zombies are basically men wearing wet rotting clothes with no apparent facial features who walk out of the fog rapping on various people's doors to kill residents of the town in bizarre fashions. This would have to be one of the first horror films to feature zombies who are actually courteous enough to knock on their victim's door first before doing away with them! Some of the victims include a boat load of gin-soaked fishermen and complete loons who answer the 'strange knocking on their doors', even if it does happen to be 1:00am in the morning!
The survivors of the pack are of course the big names of the cast - Barbeau, Lee-Curtis, Leigh, Atkins and Holbrook who manage to hold off the vengeful zombies in a church who spend the last 15 or so 'suspenseful' minutes of the film enforcing pews and cupboards against the windows as the zombies outside shatter the pains with their rotting hands as they try anything to get in.
The five final minutes of "THE FOG" are nothing but total inappropriate hilarity. It involves Hal Holbrook, his nasty little secret and a glowing golden crucifix.
There are very few scares in this film and I was quite stunned to discover that John Carpenter had dreamed this garbage up and also managed to haul in Alfred Hitchcock's darling, Janet Leigh ("PSYCHO") to portray a festivity organizer who almost becomes zombie food. I did however get a good laugh out of the preposterous nature of "THE FOG". It would definitely be one of his worst films, but it is quite an enjoyable film if you're drunk on a Saturday night.
3 out of 10.
The evil here isn't actually 'the fog' itself, but what comes out of 'the fog' that supposedly represents the true terror.
John Carpenter's protege, Jamie Lee Curtis, shares the head title for this garbage with none other than ex-'MAUDE' wash-up, Adrienne Barbeau who begins her career into schlock horror territory with this tripe. Also thrown into this horrific melange is silver-screen veteran, Janet Leigh, sporting a ludicrous poodle-haircut that serves her no justice, B-Grade actors John Houseman, Tom Atkins and Hal Holbrook as a Minister with several dark secrets hidden beneath his cloth.
Adrienne Barbeau portrays a radio DJ(!!) aptly named Stevie Wayne who broadcasts her program live from a lighthouse situated out in the middle of nowhere. She is the first character to notice the strange happenings accompanied with 'the fog' that begin to occur during the town's centenary celebrations. From her lighthouse, she can track the exact route 'the fog' takes as it spreads across town with a personal mission of its own.
You see, 100 years ago, apparently a leprosy-infested crew of a ship filled with gold were tricked into docking outside the town's harbor where they were butchered during the night by the greedy townsfolk who plundered the gold for themselves and left the poor victims for dead. Of course, little did they know that their actions would have sinister consequences and that on this particular night 100 years later, a fog sweeping across town would bring with it zombies who represent the slain crew members of the ill-fated ship, seeking the gold that was once taken from them. Not to mention, the victims of this supernatural rebellion all happen to be the unfortunate descendants of the very people who plundered the gold 100 years ago.
The zombies are basically men wearing wet rotting clothes with no apparent facial features who walk out of the fog rapping on various people's doors to kill residents of the town in bizarre fashions. This would have to be one of the first horror films to feature zombies who are actually courteous enough to knock on their victim's door first before doing away with them! Some of the victims include a boat load of gin-soaked fishermen and complete loons who answer the 'strange knocking on their doors', even if it does happen to be 1:00am in the morning!
The survivors of the pack are of course the big names of the cast - Barbeau, Lee-Curtis, Leigh, Atkins and Holbrook who manage to hold off the vengeful zombies in a church who spend the last 15 or so 'suspenseful' minutes of the film enforcing pews and cupboards against the windows as the zombies outside shatter the pains with their rotting hands as they try anything to get in.
The five final minutes of "THE FOG" are nothing but total inappropriate hilarity. It involves Hal Holbrook, his nasty little secret and a glowing golden crucifix.
There are very few scares in this film and I was quite stunned to discover that John Carpenter had dreamed this garbage up and also managed to haul in Alfred Hitchcock's darling, Janet Leigh ("PSYCHO") to portray a festivity organizer who almost becomes zombie food. I did however get a good laugh out of the preposterous nature of "THE FOG". It would definitely be one of his worst films, but it is quite an enjoyable film if you're drunk on a Saturday night.
3 out of 10.