Heavily underrated. Light+color+mist on celluloid is just pure beauty.

With The Fog, John Carpenter tries to make a film entirely different from Halloween, but would eventually regret it and add more slasher material because he felt his ghost story didn't work. He also added a prologue in which an old fishermen tells a campfire tale that efficiently explains the backstory of the pirate revenants, setting us up for what's to come. That prologue is exactly what makes the movie work. What are ghost stories? He tells us one, but he's not alone. Adrienne Barbeau is telling her own ghost story on the radio. Hal Holbrook's priest has his own piece of the story to tell. It gives the entire affair that campfire atmosphere. And I mean, how fun is it to cast the mother-daughter team of Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis (even if they don't have scenes together?), the leads of the two prototypical slasher films. For many of the characters, the events of that night remain mysterious, and the film treats it as a mystery for the most part. We know more as we get to see that cool ending, but the monsters are still only half-seen. The big glowing cloud isn't entirely visceral as a horror effect (it looks too much like a smoke machine gone haywire), but I do like the idea. Nice score too (obviously).

I actually liked it. Nice scary atmosphere, beautiful landscapes, great music...