An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations
- Sandy Fadel
- (as Nancy Loomis)
- Al Williams
- (as John Goff)
- Sheriff David Simms
- (as John Vic)
- Mayor
- (as Jay Jacobs)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAdrienne Barbeau patterned her voice after Alison Steele, who was a female disc jockey from the 1960s who was known as the Nightbird.
- GoofsIn a few scenes, Dan the local weatherman is tracking the fog bank on his weather radar, and giving reports. Weather radars have never been able to detect fog. Today's most powerful state-of-the-art NEXRAD radars are sensitive enough to detect bugs, birds, and smoke plumes, but still not fog.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Mr. Machen: 11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story. One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm. In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April. One hundred years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land. Suddenly, out of the night, the fog rolled in. For a moment, they could see nothing, not a foot in front of them. Then, they saw a light. By God, it was a fire burning on the shore, strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist. They steered a course toward the light. But it was a campfire, like this one. The ship crashed against the rocks, the hull sheared in two, masts snapped like a twig. The wreckage sank, with all the men aboard. At the bottom of the sea, lay the Elizabeth Dane, with her crew, their lungs filled with salt water, their eyes open, staring to the darkness. And above, as suddenly as it come, the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean and never came again. But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death.
[bells ring distantly]
Mr. Machen: 12:00, the 21st of April.
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)
Sound format: Mono
While celebrating its centenary birthday, a small Californian coastal town is visited by a ghostly fog containing an army of murderous spirits who take revenge for a terrible injustice.
Released on a wave of expectation following the worldwide success of John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN (1978), THE FOG surprised everyone by generating only moderate returns at the US box-office, though it's arguably the better of the two films. Beautifully photographed by Carpenter stalwart Dean Cundey (BACK TO THE FUTURE, JURASSIC PARK, etc.), this unassuming 'ghost story' opens on a lonely clifftop at midnight, where crusty old sea dog John Houseman tells an audience of wide-eyed children how their home town was built on the foundations of tragedy. As with HALLOWEEN, the pace is slow but steady, punctuated by a series of well-judged scares, and there's a relentless accumulation of details which belies the script's modest ambitions.
Jamie Lee Curtis headlines the movie opposite her real life mother Janet Leigh, though Hal Holbrook takes the acting honors as a frightened priest who realizes the town was founded on deception and murder. As the fog rolls in, the narrative reaches an apocalyptic crescendo, as the film's principal cast are besieged by zombie-like phantoms inside an antiquated church, in scenes reminiscent of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). Scary stuff, to be sure, though Carpenter was forced to add new material during post-production in an effort to 'beef up' the movie's horror quotient, including a memorable late-night encounter between a fishing boat and the occupants of a ghostly schooner which looms out of the swirling fog (similar scenes would be added to HALLOWEEN II in 1981 for the same reasons, though under less agreeable circumstances). Production values are solid, and Carpenter cranks up the tension throughout, resulting in a small masterpiece of American Gothic. Highly recommended.
- Libretio
- Mar 31, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- John Carpenter's The Fog
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,100,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $21,448,782
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $39,565
- Oct 28, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $21,448,830
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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