The Fog
Short description
The Fog is set in Antonio Bay, a small coastal town in California preparing to mark its centenary. As the celebration approaches, ordinary objects seem to come to life and residents encounter disturbing sights, including a body found near the shore and a strange fire witnessed by radio announcer Stevie Wayne. A glowing fog then rolls in from the sea, and people begin to die. A local legend ties the events to a ship that was lured onto the rocks a century earlier, and a priest learns something about how the town was founded.
John Carpenter directed and co-wrote the film with Debra Hill, who also produced. It was Carpenter's sixth feature as director, arriving between Elvis and Escape from New York, and it reunited him with Jamie Lee Curtis following their earlier collaboration. The cast includes Adrienne Barbeau as Stevie Wayne, Tom Atkins as Nick Castle, Curtis as Elizabeth Solley, Hal Holbrook as Father Malone, Janet Leigh as Kathy Williams and Nancy Kyes as Sandy Fadel, with 26 credited cast members and 41 credited crew.
Made for about 1 million USD, the film took roughly 21 million USD worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from around 91,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.7/10 from 1,812 votes, showing broad agreement between the two audiences. A critics' rating of 6.6/10 from 72 reviews places it in similar territory to those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Shortly after the film's release in 1980, a novelization was published. It was written by the well-known fantasy and horror writer Dennis Etchison.
- The quote from Edgar Allan Poe at the beginning of the film is taken from the poem "A Dream Within a Dream".
- The image of the fog advancing on the town was inspired by a visit to Stonehenge: the director remembered the sight of a valley shrouded in fog.
- The role of Malone's father was offered to Christopher Lee. The renowned actor did not object to the offer, but was busy with other projects.
- John Carpenter cited the black and white British horror film "The Trollenberg Terror" (1958) as a major source of inspiration while working on the film.
- John Carpenter cited the British horror film "The Trollenberg Terror" as a major source of inspiration.
- The role of Father Malone was initially offered to Christopher Lee. The renowned actor did not object to the offer, but was busy with other projects at the necessary time.
- John Carpenter himself appears in a cameo as an assistant to Father Malone Bennett. This character was named after the director's friend, Bennett Tramer, whom he once studied with at university.
- Many characters in the film were named after actors who had previously worked with John Carpenter. Dan O'Bannon was one of the screenwriters for the science fiction thriller "Dark Star" (1974), Nick Castle played Michael Myers in "Halloween" (1978), and Tommy Wallace worked with John Carpenter as an editor, production designer, and sound editor throughout the 70s and 80s. Mrs. Cobritz received her surname in honor of Richard Cobritz, who was one of the producers of the television film "Someone Is Watching Me!" (1978).
- Captain Blake’s blade is a Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry Sabre – a sabre used by the British light cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars. These blades were in production from 1796 to 1821.
- "The Fog" was the first part of a two-film contract concluded between John Carpenter and the production company AVCO-Embassy. The second was the science fiction action film "Escape from New York" (1981) released a year later.
- The first cut of the film was approximately 80 minutes long. Since the director considered this insufficient, a prologue was added, in which Mr. Mahen tells scary stories to children around a campfire. In addition, John Carpenter was generally very dissatisfied with the result, which led to the addition of new scenes and reshoots.
- One of the roles in the film was offered to Kurt Russell, who later received the leading role in John Carpenter's next project, "Escape from New York" (1981).
- The two actresses in the leading roles, Adrienne Barbeau and Jamie Lee Curtis, do not appear in any scenes together in the film.
- The role of the main ghost, Captain Blake, was played by makeup artist Rob Bottin. He got the role due to his very large build.
- As Adrienne Barbeau's character speaks on the radio about the fog advancing on the city, she names Russellville Road and Smalhouse Road. These are the names of two major streets in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where director John Carpenter spent his childhood.
- Many characters were named after actors who had previously worked with John Carpenter. Dan O'Bannon was one of the screenwriters of "Dark Star", Nick Castle played Michael Myers in "Halloween", and Tommy Wallace worked with Carpenter as a film editor, production designer, and sound editor throughout the 1970s-80s. Mrs. Cobritz received her surname in honor of Richard Cobritz, who was one of the producers of the made-for-TV movie "Someone's Watching Me!"
- One of the roles was offered to Kurt Russell, who then received the lead role in John Carpenter's next project, "Escape from New York".
- Adrienne Barbeau landed the lead female role in the film; at the time, she was married to John Carpenter.
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