I remember seeing this film during its theatrical release. It was 1980 and I was in the USN stationed at Pensacola studying electronic warfare. (That didn’t really work out but that another and much longer story.) A female friend and I went to see the film at a theater near the base. When the film finished and the credit began to run, in addition to the black screen and white lettering, fog rolled on the screen. The then fog rolled off the screen, down to the floor and up the aisles. The theater had run fog lines behind the screen giving everyone an extra half -second of heart-stopping fear. I loved it.

The Fog is the horror film John Carpenter made to follow-up his success with the low budget and trend-setting movie Halloween. The story is set in the fictional California town of Antonio Bay just as the residents are about to celebrate the town centennial. On the eve of celebrations a ghost brig appears shrouded in a fog bank and ghastly figure slaughter fishermen aboard the small boat. Soon the town itself is threatened as the dark terrible secret of their founding is covered and the sins of the past propel a murderous present.

Unlike Halloween The Fog isn’t primarily about the kills, for an 80’s horror film the body count is actually rather low, but the movie works on a sense of dread and what can’t be seen. Personally I find that the sound effects and works in the film carry a great deal of the terror. The are moments of gruesome violence made terrible personal because you can’t see them but instead you hear the sounds and that is much more effective.

The Fog is at its heart a ghost story and I have already spoken about how much of a personal affinity of have for spook stories. This is a story that doesn’t have a lot of logic to it, but I think the illogic in some way works to the benefit. There are no Deus ex Machinas to create a crappy ending but rather a sense that the universe doesn’t have clearly defined rules and that is truly terrifying.

In 2005 Hollywood released a remake with none of the story telling or style of the original. Skip that one, but this one is a good movie to watch alone in the night when the chilly air turns misty.

I hope I can watch another film tonight, but the day job has pulled into overtime mode and sleep may win out.