Frank Darabont has directed two of my favorite films: "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile". 8 years after the release of The Green Mile, it seems interesting to see how Darabont could manage a low budgeted Sci Fi horror film.

The story is told almost entirely inside of a supermarket where a group of customers are trapped as they encounter a mysterious mist that releases various beasts. Staying inside, they at first attempt to survive the mist but realize that the only possible way to be saved is to attempt to escape. What happens from here, is a truly exciting and intense film that is truly a well made film featuring some great performances and some truly interesting characters.

Ms Carmode is one of the more interesting characters, though most definitely irritating to the hundredth power! A few of the other characters are each given enough depth to create some truly great character drama but this is when certain aspects of the film come off a little predictable, such as with Amanda and her relationship with David's son. What no one would've guessed completely and what many would consider to be "one of the worst twists of all time" is something I particularly loved about the film.

In terms of special effects, the movie looks cheap as it should. A budget of less that 20 million ought to prove that but there are certain shots of the monster up close that most definitely don't look impressive. I can freely admit movies like "Aliens" hold up better over the long span of years than The Mist. What makes me be able to avoid the cheesy visuals is just how intriguing the film is. It becomes packed with drama between various characters such as David and Ms Carmode.

Performance wise, the movie is fine. No one gives that "power house performance" that Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan did in "The Green Mile" or that Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins gave in "The Shawshank Redemption" but the performances are good enough so that characters are made believable and interesting. Whilst viewing the film, I felt the story was a combination of Dawn of the Dead and possibly, Predator. Being trapped in an even smaller place makes this feel a lot of like 'Dawn of the Dead' and the mystery of the monsters behind the mist make it feel more like "Predator"

I can freely admit how much I enjoyed the film. If any part of the film weighed down for me it was after a sequence at a pharmacy. There was a bit of a slow patch there but as a whole, this film is truly fantastic providing great suspense, good character drama, a great and well told story and is written well. Truly a good adaptation of a lesser known Stephen King novel, "The Mist"