John Carpenter does a fairly good job in directing the material here, with some effective horror moments, even if they are too few, and an interesting visual and audio style. Otherwise, this is not good stuff. Fog as a horror monster is not really scary, the characters and events are run-of-the-mill, and the dialogue is lame, bridging on bad, with Adrienne Barbeau going through some very poorly written monologues. The special effects are okay, but hardly brilliant, and both the acting and writing in general is below par. Carpenter shows some skill in the film, but only as a director and not as a screenwriter. Overall this is still as forgettable as the average horror film out there, despite a few neat bits thanks to Carpenter being in the director's chair
