The Fog DVD Review:

It seemed as though the PG-13 horror film had passed in popularity, and it has only further been driven into the grave by recent failures. Beginning with Anacondas and The Cave, PG-13 horror films are growing out of style and extremely gory R-rated horror films are taking their place. The Fog seemed to be one last attempt at the dying breed. It never really manages to take off from the ground, and it doesn’t seem to be trying all that hard either. It is a simple ghost story which seems dragged out just to make a film.

The residents of peaceful seaside town Antonio Bay have no idea what trouble they are in. Thanks to a cruel act by the forefathers of the town, a number of people were killed a hundred years earlier, and now their spirits have been released in the fog. Seeking out descendants of those responsible for their death in order to get revenge, the fog rolls over the town and people begin to mysteriously die. The deaths must be creative, since they are happening because of the fog, and after a while The Fog just feels like a PG-13 version of the Final Destination series, without any of the creativity.

The Fog features performances by a few of televisions hottest stars. Tom Welling who is best known from “Smallville”, and Maggie Grace from “Lost” are only overshadowed by the random role which is filled by Selma Blair. Blair plays a radio DJ in the small town, and she only has a few scenes with the other characters. Mostly it just seems like they felt they needed a more recognizable name in the cast, so they found a role that could be filled that way.

The DVD boasts that the film is made by the same people who made Halloween, and although it is true that John Carpenter produced this remake of one of his own films, there should be no comparison made to The Fog and Halloween. The menus consist of some of the eerier shots in the film, which actually seem better out of the context of the story.

There are a number of small featurettes in the special features section. “Whiteout Conditions” is a featurette about remaking a horror classic, although I don’t think the original film was much of a classic. “Seeing Through the Fog” is a making of featurette, but not a very in-depth one. “Feeling the Effects of The Fog” is a featurette just about the special effects in the film, which can be interesting when it isn’t just focusing on the digital shots. There are also deleted scenes with optional commentary by the director in the special features.

Ryan Izay