Similar in structure and specifics to the original "The Fog" movie, this one fails horribly. The first movie was creepy, eerie and ultilately terrifying because of what it doesn't show you, what it leaves shrouded in either mystery or off camera shots. We are given tight shots of the CGI ghosts who look fanciful, complex and ultimately not scary at all. The original all we see are shadows and for one gruesome moment, a maggot ridden face.
We are also entreated to fragments of narrative that illustrate and retell the tale of Antonio Bay's forefathers betraying and murdering Blake and his band of lepers. Again, i say we are shown too much. The original, this tale of woe is shared via a decrepit old journal, we are left to imagine a scenario that is far more sad and disturbing when pondering the fate of the crew of the Elizabeth Dane.
The film also fails by demystifying and disempowering the fog. Early on we are introduced to the "token black guy" who's zaniness and antical behaviour saves his life on more than one occasion, and whose wit is peppered through out the movie totally killing any chance of a good fright flick. When recreating an iconical early scene of the original, everyon on the Seagrass are killed, in this movie, the fast acting black guy survives by hiding in a freezer. Only to be framed for the murders of the other people aboard, a plot loop that never tries to resolve itself.
Another scene, the female protag is hanging out in a morgue (an access apparently readily available to all walk in traffic of a hospital) filled with 3 not one of the Seagrass victims. The original treats us with a creepy where we see a blurred out or cropped out figure rise from the bed and attack her, in the revised version, we see the dead body crystal clear making the scene all the less scary.
The method of deaths was also something of a cop out. with one exception, everyone is undone or killed by accidental elements around them... being set afire, killed by glass shards, or a knife flying through the air. The menacing element is no longer singularly personified by the killer ghosts of the original.
Finally the movie tries an ill fated stab (no pun intended) at an overused ghost cliché, that of beautiful heroin falling in love with patriarchal lead ghost. the aforementioned cliché is used in the last few moments of the story, and quite literally comes out of nowhere. It is used as a catalyst to wrap up an otherwise terrible movie.
On it's own this movie simply falls apart. As a tribute to an original masterpiece, it is even more tragic. Bad bad bad, I cannot recommend it.
We are also entreated to fragments of narrative that illustrate and retell the tale of Antonio Bay's forefathers betraying and murdering Blake and his band of lepers. Again, i say we are shown too much. The original, this tale of woe is shared via a decrepit old journal, we are left to imagine a scenario that is far more sad and disturbing when pondering the fate of the crew of the Elizabeth Dane.
The film also fails by demystifying and disempowering the fog. Early on we are introduced to the "token black guy" who's zaniness and antical behaviour saves his life on more than one occasion, and whose wit is peppered through out the movie totally killing any chance of a good fright flick. When recreating an iconical early scene of the original, everyon on the Seagrass are killed, in this movie, the fast acting black guy survives by hiding in a freezer. Only to be framed for the murders of the other people aboard, a plot loop that never tries to resolve itself.
Another scene, the female protag is hanging out in a morgue (an access apparently readily available to all walk in traffic of a hospital) filled with 3 not one of the Seagrass victims. The original treats us with a creepy where we see a blurred out or cropped out figure rise from the bed and attack her, in the revised version, we see the dead body crystal clear making the scene all the less scary.
The method of deaths was also something of a cop out. with one exception, everyone is undone or killed by accidental elements around them... being set afire, killed by glass shards, or a knife flying through the air. The menacing element is no longer singularly personified by the killer ghosts of the original.
Finally the movie tries an ill fated stab (no pun intended) at an overused ghost cliché, that of beautiful heroin falling in love with patriarchal lead ghost. the aforementioned cliché is used in the last few moments of the story, and quite literally comes out of nowhere. It is used as a catalyst to wrap up an otherwise terrible movie.
On it's own this movie simply falls apart. As a tribute to an original masterpiece, it is even more tragic. Bad bad bad, I cannot recommend it.