Comments on: Fear Changes Everything: The Mist and the Hospital Elevator http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/fear-changes-everything-the-mist-and-the-hospital-elevator/ Random weirdness and bits of horror Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:39:32 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Poe http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/fear-changes-everything-the-mist-and-the-hospital-elevator/#comment-129 Poe Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:40:03 +0000 http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/?p=19#comment-129 I always thought 'The Mist' was an excellent movie, but then again this is a comment coming from a girl whose favorite movie is 'Evil Dead'. Anywho, I guess I can see your point. Hollywood has changed horror to be something more grewsome and disgusting but I think that transition was made years ago. You still see eyes being slit with razors and zombies eating faces even 30 to 40 years before the making of high-budget low-thought productions. Perhaps the big difference is the effects and transition from chocolate syrup "blood" to the now more realistic blood smothered with bits and pieces of brains. I always thought ‘The Mist’ was an excellent movie, but then again this is a comment coming from a girl whose favorite movie is ‘Evil Dead’.

Anywho, I guess I can see your point. Hollywood has changed horror to be something more grewsome and disgusting but I think that transition was made years ago. You still see eyes being slit with razors and zombies eating faces even 30 to 40 years before the making of high-budget low-thought productions. Perhaps the big difference is the effects and transition from chocolate syrup “blood” to the now more realistic blood smothered with bits and pieces of brains.

]]> By: Hubcaps http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/fear-changes-everything-the-mist-and-the-hospital-elevator/#comment-15 Hubcaps Sat, 19 Apr 2008 03:12:13 +0000 http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/?p=19#comment-15 Interesting Enough Interesting Enough

]]> By: timkane http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/fear-changes-everything-the-mist-and-the-hospital-elevator/#comment-12 timkane Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:15:30 +0000 http://weeklyrot.wordpress.com/?p=19#comment-12 Oedipus Rex: The Hollywood Ending I think I understand why people think The Mist is “bad”. It has to do with how Hollywood has changed horror. Most horror movies these days have the Hollywood ending tacked on. This is where the beast is destroyed, the evil vanquished, and everyone goes back to life as normal (minus, perhaps, some key friends who were eaten or chopped up). Although this is not true to life, neither are these gruesome situations. Even such masterpieces like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, have the girl survive, albeit barely. Darabont, while filming The Mist, said he reached a point where he could go for the Hollywood ending, or simply end it realistically. His ending pushes past that of the original story by King (it ends with the characters driving into the mist). I think people react negatively to any story that does not have that hint of happiness at the ending. The idea of the Tragedy, heralded by the Greeks the supreme form of drama, seems to be lost on modern audiences. Stories like 1984, The Crucible, or Death of a Salesman, although praised for their literary qualities, do not make blockbuster movies. In that vein, I think if Oedipus Rex were filmed today, it might have Nicolas Cage as the lead (Sorry Nick, but you know you’d do it). After murdering his father, and causing the death of his mother, he would gouge his eyes out. Yet there would be some miraculous medical procedure, and he would regain his sight. Perhaps, his mother didn’t tie the noose right, and she too would live. Realizing their love should overcome all boundaries, they run off together to live with the Romans (they’re use to that sort of thing). Tim Kane Oedipus Rex: The Hollywood Ending

I think I understand why people think The Mist is “bad”. It has to do with how Hollywood has changed horror.

Most horror movies these days have the Hollywood ending tacked on. This is where the beast is destroyed, the evil vanquished, and everyone goes back to life as normal (minus, perhaps, some key friends who were eaten or chopped up).

Although this is not true to life, neither are these gruesome situations. Even such masterpieces like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, have the girl survive, albeit barely.

Darabont, while filming The Mist, said he reached a point where he could go for the Hollywood ending, or simply end it realistically. His ending pushes past that of the original story by King (it ends with the characters driving into the mist).

I think people react negatively to any story that does not have that hint of happiness at the ending. The idea of the Tragedy, heralded by the Greeks the supreme form of drama, seems to be lost on modern audiences. Stories like 1984, The Crucible, or Death of a Salesman, although praised for their literary qualities, do not make blockbuster movies.

In that vein, I think if Oedipus Rex were filmed today, it might have Nicolas Cage as the lead (Sorry Nick, but you know you’d do it). After murdering his father, and causing the death of his mother, he would gouge his eyes out. Yet there would be some miraculous medical procedure, and he would regain his sight. Perhaps, his mother didn’t tie the noose right, and she too would live. Realizing their love should overcome all boundaries, they run off together to live with the Romans (they’re use to that sort of thing).

Tim Kane

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