The Fog

Thanks to a brand-new 4K restoration, John Carpenter’s supernatural horror will look creepier than ever and what better treat for Halloween than this tale of stolen gold and ghostly seamen returning from their watery graves to exact revenge on the small coastal town of Antonio Bay.

Like all good ghost stories, THE FOG begins with the strike of a clock announcing witching hour – and local priest Father Malone (Hal Holbrook) experiences some paranormal activity when precisely at midnight, a piece of masonry falls from a wall inside the church to reveal a small hollow space in which an old journal has been kept. On closer inspection Father Malone realises that the journal in question belonged to his grandfather who, in 1880, plundered and sank a clipper ship called the ‘Elizabeth Dane’ to retrieve the loaded gold. The ‘Elizabeth Dane’ was owned by a rich leper named Blake whose sole aim it was to establish a leper colony. Instead, he and his men drowned together with the sinking ship while Father Malone’s granddad used the stolen gold to build Antonio Bay complete with school and church and what have you. 100 years have passed since the dastardly event and it’s now 1980 (the year the film was made) with Antonio Bay getting ready for the anniversary celebrations. But something doesn’t seem right given that things suddenly go bump in the night and three fishermen out at sea are the first to fall victim to a strange and glowing fog out of which Blake and his un-dead seamen seem to emerge, ready to use their deadly blades…

Meanwhile, local lad Nick Castle (Tom Atkins) picks up young hitchhiker Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the pair hit it off immediately. On the way into town they witness how al the windows of parked vehicles, in particular trucks, suddenly shatter without any logical explanation, not realising (and why should they?) that a mysterious fog bank which descended onto Antonio Bay minutes earlier is responsible. Even local radio DJ Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau – then married to director Carpenter), who conveniently operates her station from a lighthouse, senses that something might be awfully wrong when she spots the aforementioned glowing fog bank but does anyone take notice of her warnings? Of course not! Only when the body count begins to rise and Stevie’s son Andy (Ty Mitchell) discovers a piece of driftwood with the letters Dane written on it the locals, including Kathy Williams (Janet Leigh) – the wife of one of the fishermen killed by the ‘fog’ – begin to put two and two together. But with Antonio Bay’s anniversary celebrations in full swing and with DJ Stevie finding herself attacked by a ships crew of revenants it may well be too late for some to escape Blake’s bloodthirsty revenge…

THE FOG is a cult horror classic in the truest sense and even 38 years later still holds its water (no pun intended) – forget about the 2005 remake, this is the real deal! Great performances all around and of course John Carpenter struck gold (though not Blake’s gold) when he decided to cast Jamie Lee Curtis together with her real-life mum Janet Leigh (‘Marion Crane’ in the 1960 Hitchcock classic PSYCHO). The special effects are suitably creepy and chances are you’ll never look at fog the same way again.

As a special Halloween treat, THE FOG will screen at selected cinemas nationwide on October 31st.