Rating: 
Summary: NIFTY LITTLE SPOOKER
Review: I saw "THE FOG" when it first came out. It was winter and when I left the theater I had that "I just saw a REALLY scary movie" feeling. I've always associated the film with winter ever since like I would a scary ride at the fair...in the winter. I'm pleased that the DVD is fine and I really like the old trailers....they remind me of seeing them for the first time and me thinking "I'm gonna see THAT". Well, "THE FOG" no longer deserves it's "R" rating, but it remains intact as one of Carpenter's best films. You couldn't put a cast like that together today! And I had forgotten how nice the cinematography was...those shots of "Antonio Bay" are really good. And best of all, it has kept (for me) that shivery winter feeling. Like I want to pull my jacket just a little closer...it's cold...and there's a fog up ahead...
Rating: 
Summary: Why?!
Review: Can someone please tell me why this is such a well loved classic? It is sooooo silly and boring! Adrienne Barbeau is the KAB radio disc jockey in a pathetic little California village called Antonia Bay. Hour after hour, she plays stomach churning music to a town of people that would probably be better off dead. Meanwhile, Tom Atkins picks up unfortunate hitchhiker Jamie Lee Curtis, unfortunate because they are headed for that same dreary town. What they find when they get there is, well, nothing special. But a thick, low fog is rolling in from the ocean to bring fear, terror, and well, mostly just fog. Actually, the fog brings with it the ghosts of a ship full of lepers who were betrayed and murdered by the people of Antonio Bay 100 years earlier. The lepers are out for revenge, but for the first half of the movie their ominous fog does little more than cause poltergeist-like trouble throughout the village. Eventually though, they do start to inflict harm, and the heroes of the film drive their vehicles left and right, trying to get away from the fog that really isn't moving very fast. That's the problem with this whole movie. There's not much action, and most of the time you're wondering why people don't just leave town. They seem to find out through the radio reports that the fog is coming, and bringing death, with plenty of time to take action. But even the radio DJ making the announcements (Barbeau) would rather watch the fog roll in and stare in panic, than take any action that might save her life and that of her small son. Of course, everyone ends up trapped in the local church where the evil deeds of 100 years ago were first planned out, the place that the ghosts have been heading for from the beginning, and what happens next is,...well, you'll have to see that for yourself, if you're still interested for whatever warped reason. But if you're smart, you'll steer clear of The Fog. Unless you want to be BORED TO DEATH!
Rating: 
Summary: Jogging in the fog.
Review: If you think that this movie is stupid. Just watch it and then try and jog at 5:00 in the morning before the sun comes up and there is a thick fog outside. I did this once and kept looking behind me afraid that something was going to come out of the fog at me. It is a scary movie and I dare you to go out some night in a thick fog and try not to look behind you for a figure reaching out to grab you.
Rating:
Summary: Wow Another great Carpenter Flick
Review: John Carpenter in his prime right after Halloween's huge success. What else can you say about this movie? The documentary is great on this DVD and i really enjoyed it. The movie looks good, it sounds good, it's a fun ghost story movie. It's finally on DVD and i'm a happy guy owning this. If you like Halloween or any John Carpenter movies this is definitely one to buy and add to your collection. The DVD version is long awaited and it's finally here. John Carpenter is a great film maker and this ranks up thier with Halloween, In the Mouth of Madness and The Thing.
Rating:
Summary: Another Carpenter classic
Review: Early in his career John Carpenter had a knack for finding spooky situations and placing viewers squarely in the middle of them. For Halloween it was the creepiest holiday of the year, for The Thing it was a frozen wasteland a thousand miles from anywhere, and for The Fog it was a coastal town smothered by a glowing fog so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face (or the undead pirates coming towards you with cutlasses drawn).The film boasts several great genre actors in Jamie Lee Curtis, her mother Janet Leigh, Hal Holbrook, and Adrienne Barbeau. The film also has several actors who grace many of Carpenters other films, including Buck Flowers, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Loomis, etc. Rob Bottin, the fx guru who would create the creature effects for Carpenter's "The Thing" appears briefly as the head ghost, Captain Blake. Mr. Carpenter introduces us to the town of Antonio Bay, CA on the eve of the town's 100th anniversary celebration. A pre-credits campfire story told by the great John Houseman introduces us to the story of how a ship, the Elizabeth Dane, crashed off shore 100 years ago, drowning all aboard. As Houseman's watch chimes midnight, signaling the beginning of the 100th anniversary, a glowing fog rolls in heralding the start of a tale of vengeance that was 100 years in the making. I have watched this movie many, many times, and it always seems to last about 50 minutes. I get so wrapped up in the great mood, atmospheric music, and fine performances and direction, that time just flies. Such an excellent movie to pop into your DVD player on a particularly dark (or foggy) night. Even if the DVD sported no extras this movie is worth the price, but luckily for all of us this special edition adds even more value with a small treasure chest of extras. The Fog gets 5 stars, only because I can't give it six.
Rating: 
Summary: Halloween seems to be a fluke
Review: ...the Thing (***), the Fog (**), Ghosts on Mars (-*)Vampires (-**) seem to try and recapture the magic of Halloween, like the score in the Fog really tries to be Halloween but falls apart from its unoriginality. ... The mood and sets of this movie are actually really pretty good. The set-up is great, the first hour is very nice, but the movie quickly devolves into a real witless piece of revenge. (Um, why do the zombies come back 100 years later? How do they know it's 100 years later? Do they have calanders? Why even take revenge on the town NOW? They didn't do anything to you zombie folk.) I just have to ask, why do drowned zombies KNOCK on the door trying to get in? The first time I saw this, I was like, OK, that has to be someone else leading us to believe it is one of the villians... but sure enough, the zombies knock on the door trying to get in! How polite! The transfer, sound and extras on this are really great and add quite a bit of value to this movie... however you must like the movie first for it to matter... John Carpenter says during the commentary that Hal Holbrook didn't like the movie when it was finished. I have to second that. I like elements of it, but the movie as a whole doesn't measure up to his previous works, I mean work, Halloween.
Rating:
Summary: Great isn't a good enough word for "The Fog"
Review: First off, theres not much I can say about this DVD that everyone else hasnt said already. It's a great movie! I remember the first time I saw this movie, It was in a run down Drive-In Theater in Broken Bow Oklahoma. I was old enough to drive and was on a date, I must say it scared the living hell out of us both. Instead of making out like normal we were both glued to the big screen, John Carpenter has the ability to create such a feeling in a person it's hard to explain. It's beyond creepy, I love it. The music score is like anything else he does, amazing. I love the way the movie starts as well, a crusty old guy telling some kids a creepy ghost story. If you like bloody slasher movies with stupid half dressed females running off into the woods... get something else. The Fog delivers more than visuals, it lets your mind ponder on things.
I am so glad The Fog came out to DVD, This is definatly one to add to your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: a great idea, not up to its full potential
Review: First off, the DVD presentation here is very good. Good print, nice extras, good sound. Now, the movie itself: The first five minutes of this movie, a monologue by John Houseman, are a masterpiece of mood, and such an incredible setup, that the film never lives up to the promise of those first five minutes. I won't give away any serious plot details, but the payoff this movie provides just was not enough for me, and that it seemed awkwardly scripted.
What I enjoy most about this movie are of course Houseman's brief intro, the nighttime shots of the sea, and a few other set pieces involving the ghostly sailors. What scares me is not the blood and guts and timed shocks, but what is *not* on the screen.
When a ship is suddenly boarded by the ghost sailors, they can barely be seen, they are just shadows and fog. "Who is that?", whispers one of the soon-to-be-whacked fishermen, and it's that sense of mystery, and impending doom that makes this movie worth a look. It is seriously flawed on a scripted level, with some lame and/or forced dialogue and plot tactics, but it just has a great feel, and I suppose that is what makes a horror film good.
This film is best when it just whispers.
Rating:
Summary: Try not to fall asleep
Review: I remember when this movie was released. People had high expectations because it was Carpenter's next film after his tremendously popular "Halloween", and it had the same writing team and some of the same actors (Curtis, Loomis, Cyphers) as that movie. Carpenter even did the score himself, as he did for Halloween. How could it miss? But it did. The reactions and reviews were mostly awful. I saw it in the theater and was really disappointed too. It wasn't terrible, but after "Halloween" we all expected something good from Carpenter and "The Fog" wasn't it. Basically, (while visiting Stonehenge with producer/co-writer Debra Hill), he had an idea to make a movie about 'something scary coming out of the fog', but he found that constructing a whole movie out of this concept was a more difficult task. The film is very boring, and what little excitement there is is filled with horror movie clichés from the late 70's/early 80's: bodies falling from closets, obvious red herrings and setups, Jamie Lee Curtis screaming, and plenty of other passé ideas you've seen too many times before. The great actor Hal Holbrook must have needed money that year - he plays a priest, taken directly from "The Omen", complete with the constant dire warnings and foreboding looks toward the sky. Another irritating thing was the 'annoying little kid who can't act' casting syndrome - also found in "The Omen" as well as "The Shining" and countless other films. On the positive side though, the overall atmosphere and scenery are well done. Carpenter picked a sleepy little seaside town to shoot in, and it works well. Reminded me of "The Birds", a LOT. The music was ho-hum, not as special as the "Halloween" theme but not distracting either. Carpenter seems to know this film was a failure, based on his DVD liner notes and commentary. He timidly writes "I did the best I could" and "enjoy it for what it is - a little exploitation horror movie". In his commentary, he sometimes points out his own clichés, in a disappointed manner. I guess he doesn't want us to take it too seriously (apparently he doesn't), but even as an exploitation horror film, it fails. Still, as poor as this movie is, it looks like a masterpiece compared to the abominable straight-to-video duds Carpenter would make in the years after that. Well, I already knew it wasn't a great movie before I bought the DVD; I got it mainly for the extras. I paid the money, and I got to see about 7 minutes worth of outtakes (actors flubbing lines); a couple interesting documentaries; some worthless storyboards, stills, etc, and the audio commentary by Carpenter and Hill, which was more interesting than the film. I guess it was worth it - the DVD is priced reasonably, the print and 5.1 sound are excellent, and there's enough extras to make a night out of it. Too bad the movie itself is a snoozer.
Rating:
Summary: The DVD Version is AWESOME!
Review: There's something about John Carpenter's films that are so much unlike Stephen King, Steven Spielberg or Clive Barker. Carpenter leave's no room for humor. He likes to terrify you from start to finish. And, to make "The Fog" even more terrifying, the DVD version is like seeing this 23-year-old flick at a first-run theatre. The picture quality and sound are AWESOME! SO what's this flick all about? I have always been terrified by fog. I grew up in a town that was shrouded by fog most of the inter-seasons and it was like walking/driving with your eyes closed. The fog in this film is filled with much more than a damp breathe of fresh air. There is terror in the fog...a haunting memory of death and deception. I give Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman and Hal Holbrook five stars for their perfectly cast roles in this horror classic. Granted, it was released in 1979, but the DVD version is much better than many modern-made horror flicks. Horror fans need to add this one to their collection. The music, also created by John Carpenter, is reminiscent of "Halloween"...a heavy, solemn, freaky sound that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I dare you to go into the fog. I dare you!
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