Nice to see you again, fans of the cinema! This is the Face-Off, where two movies enter and both movies leave, but one leaves in a slightly better light. Yes, here we take two competitors and compare their key elements and see who comes out the champion. It's a fierce competition that results in blood, tears, and online arguments, but the more brutal the battle, the sweeter the victory.
With April officially kicking off we will soon be treated to a ton of blockbusters leading into the mighty summer movie season, with big titles like SHAZAM!, HELLBOY and the indie-title-that-could AVENGERS: ENDGAME all on the horizon. Among those movies, everyone is anticipating so hotly is yet another adaptation of a beloved Stephen King classic, PET SEMATARY, which puts a new flavor on the story involving pets, graveyards, resurrected children and warnings from old men. There are tons of movies in the King canon, and this Face-Off we will be looking at two films from seemingly opposite sides of the spectrum, both are both respected and loved takes on classic stories that further prove the range and complexity that comes from the mind of the master author. It's THE MIST vs. IT.
As I said, both of these movies seem like polar opposites, with the former being a modestly grossing, underrated gem with its legion of supporters, while the other is, literally, the highest-grossing horror movie in history with a highly-anticipated sequel on the way. However, both of these movies tackles very similar themes in regards to how we deal with fear and all the forms it comes in, while also sporting game ensemble casts. What it really comes down to is which movie better brings to life the best of King's work across several different aspects, ranging from the character work to the tension and scares.
So, which King adaptation is better when we factor in all the most notable elements? Time to put on your bravery hats and dive into this most frightening of Face-Offs.
Having tackled two of the most notable and lauded Stephen King adaptations of the past (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE GREEN MILE), Frank Darabont was the perfect person to handle the dramatic heft and strong themes that permeate the Lovecraftian horror elements of THE MIST. While the creatures ripped from nightmares and the unflinching use of gore deliver some of the purest pleasures of the genre, what Darabont clearly focuses on is the intensity and atmosphere of the scenario, which involves a group of people locked in a grocery store with little hope of survival or knowledge of what's happening. Darabont understood that what makes the story work is how these people respond to this ambiguous, looming danger, meaning that when fear is all that's left it will cause people to do terrible things, desperate things. His decision to go for a documentary style make for a gripping portrayal of the setting, taking a terrifying scenario and making it feel as real and human as it could be. Again, this is what made him perfect for the movie because, as with his previous King movies, he proved a master of digging to the route of the powerful, timely themes in the story and making them the star attraction. The suspense is palpable, and he emphasizes the unknown threat by never giving away too much information — like when shit first starts to go down — and all we see are ambulances whizzing by, military personnel having hushed talking, and the town alarms blazing. Yes, yes, he does deliver on the creature terror and all that fun stuff, but the suspense inside the store is what makes the movie work so well, and Darabont's grounded, insightful, realistic approach makes this equal parts a horror movie and sociological experiment ripped straight out of hell.
Andy Muschietti didn't have a ton of experience, with his major feature debut being the solid horror flick MAMA, which showcased his knack for fun, sometimes fast-paced action. But what he proved even more with IT is that he's a director of tremendous soul and humanity, and his biggest triumph here is bringing out the best in the young cast and putting all the focus on them. What's more, he does this while never ignoring what makes the classic King tale so vicious and creepy, putting these kids through the ringers with violent and uncomfortable moments. This was a bold project for a director with not a ton of experience to tackle, but he proved he has the chops to bring it all into focus. In fact, bold is the precise word I would use to describe his style, with the more outlandish and ferociously fun terror succeeding in coming like the wild house of horrors it is. An impressive outing as it is, I still feel like Darabont's work is a bit stronger and hits harder than Muchietti's work, with the former packing so much detail, nuance and element to analyze into a smaller story, getting an incredible amount of mileage out of such a simple premise.
If there's a perk to adapting a novella vs. a 1,000-page book, it's that you may actually have room to add on the story and build up from it rather than figure out what piles of material to take away. As said before, Darabont knows exactly how to make a King adaptation resonate because in his scripts and directing style he knows precisely what the root and heart of the story are and pulls it front and center with but subtly and power. With his scripting duties here he crafts an immediately suspenseful story that effortlessly flows into something menacing and a reflection of humanity when pushed to the limits. King's story is one about fear, and how our fear of even the most faceless, ambiguous things we're confronted with a choice on how to respond — we can either act rationally and with hope, or with greater fear and panic. Darabont's script pushed the story where it needs to go by clearly defining groups of major characters and figuring out their place in the chaos, and letting those factions become more and more divided as the movie goes on. These plot points are strong, motivated by genuine, monster-driven terror that paints a clear picture of a scenario like this could very realistically play out. It's a fascinating little story filled with characters who get plenty of insightful and often funny observations about the world around them, and Darabont makes the story his own as a way of driving home the themes in ways King even did. While his story as a more hopeful ending, the ending of the movie has become one of the great, tragic twists of modern horror, with the lead character having to shoot everyone in the car after all hope seems lost, only to see rescue come moments later. The idea here is that pinpoint the folly of losing hope, and that you can't let brash reactions overtake your sense of rationality. Darabont deserves immense credit for taking the story there, proving there are few people are capable of touching a King story as himself.
There are couple names on the IT script — Chase Palmer, Gary Dauberman and Cary Joji Fukunaga — and before them was adapting a true beast of a book that takes place over decades. Of course, smart move one was to center it just on the story of the young kids and nixing everything else for the upcoming sequel. In doing so the key to the story becomes finding the voices of the primary young cast, and this script does that in spades. Crafting them all as funny, sweet teens with all the problems that come with the age makes the story relatable as it is vicious and freaky, of which the script also doesn't shy away from. The story digs deep into the more mature, dark elements of the King tale, which is just as important as nailing the sweet stuff, as this story about confronting fear means nothing if you can't drive home what makes the teens scared in the first place. Sure, there's more stuff from the book that may have been better to include (the "Beep Beep Ritchie" line would've been a nice inclusion beyond the once), but like with Darabont's script, the script for IT mines out what works best in King's novel, mainly the young characters at its core, the terror that follows them, and the sweet bond that brings them together, making for a story that juggles just as much light as it does darkness.
Bits:
Tree in the Window
Incoming Victim
The Mist Rolls In
Venturing On Her Own
Tentacles Unleashed
Carmody’s Speech
The Bugs
Chaos in the Store
Webbed Up
Demon Spiders
Mob Justice
Carmody Down
Into the Mist/Inter-dimensional Monsters
One Way Out
Twist!
Lines:
Amanda: "I can't accept that. People are basically good; decent. My god, David, we're a civilized society."
David: "Sure, as long as the machines are working and you can dial 911. But you take those things away, you throw people in the dark, you scare the shit out of them – no more rules."
—–
Ollie: "As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up reasons to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?"
—–
Mrs. Carmody: "I'll tell you what. The day I need a friend like you, I'll just have myself a little squat and shit one out."
—–
Dan: "Don't go out there! There's something in the mist!
—–
Irene: "Shut up, you miserable buzzard! Stoning people who piss you off is perfectly okay. They do it in the Bible, don't they? And I got lots of peas!"
—–
Ollie: "Leave it alone, David. You can't convince some people there's a fire even when their hair is burning. Denial is a powerful thing."
—–
David: "He's a fucking kid. He's supposed to be stupid. What's your excuse?"
—–
Brent: "David, there's nothing out there. Nothing in the mist."
David: "What if you're wrong?"
Brent: "Then, I guess… the joke will be on me afterall."
Bits:
Georgie and Pennywise
Meet the Losers
Beverly and Ben
Burned Hands
Flute Lady
Egg Boy
Bowers Cuts Into Ben
Ghost Kids Get Patrick
Creepy Pharmacist
Leaping Off the Cliff
Neibolt Street
Geyser of Blood
Georgie’s Back
Pennywise Munches on an Arm
Rock War!
Slideshow
Clown Room
Out of the Fridge
Henry Kills
Pennywise's Dance
Henry v. Mike
Ben Kisses Beverly
Losers vs. Pennywise
The Pact
Lines:
Pennywise: "We all float down here."
—–
Richie: "Go blow your dad, you mullet wearing asshole!"
—–
Pennywise: "Oh! Well, I'm Pennywise, the dancing clown. "Pennywise?". "Yes?", "Meet Georgie". "Georgie, meet Pennywise". Now we aren't strangers. Are we?"
—–
Pennywise: "Beep Beep Richie!"
—–
Richie: "Welcome to the Loser's Club, asshole!"
—–
Pennywise: "This isn't real enough for you, Billy? I'm not real enough for you??"
—–
Richie: "Hey Eddie, are these your birth control pills?"
Eddie: "Yeah, I'm saving them for your sister!"
—–
Ben: "Derry started as a beaver trapping camp."
Richie: "Still is! Am I right, boys?"
—–
Eddie: "They're gazebos! They're bullshit!"
—–
Pennywise: "NO! I'll take him! I'll take all of you! I'll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear… Or… you'll just leave us be… I will take him. Only him, and I will have my long rest and you will all live to grow and thrive and lead *happy* lives, until old age takes you back to the weeds."
—–
Bill: "When you're a kid, you think that you'll always be… protected, and cared for. Then, one day, you realize that's not true. If you open your eyes, you will see what we're going through. 'Cause when you're alone as a kid, the monsters see you as weaker. You don't even know they're getting closer. Until it's too late."
—-
Richie: "You punched me, made me walk through shitty water, dragged me through a crackhouse… and now I'm gonna have to kill this fucking clown."
—–
Richie: "I'm sorry, but who invited Molly Ringwald into the group?"
There are plenty of gory, creature-feature thrills to be had in THE MIST, but the real terror comes from the horrific reflection of humanity that makes up the rest of the movie. Letting the suspense wash over like a mist on over the hills (get it??), the terror slowly escalates as tensions rise in the store, with the terrible obnoxious and just plain terrible Mrs. Comrody stoking the flames with her babble about the end times. What makes it such an unsettling experience is watching everyone unfold and then accept the fact this is human nature simply playing out as it would on a more fantastical canvas. People would start to wonder what to do, discover survival may not be so easy, and then divulge into pack mentality that seeks to destroy everything outside of that pack. One of the most jarring scenes involves the attack on a young military man, as the mob descends on him after they learn he knew about what the government was doing with their work, and thus beat and stab him, all before throwing him out into the mist. There is something so nerve-wracking about looking face to face with our worse impulses, and this is something we see in some of the strongest outings the genre has to offer (look at the recently released US as an example).
IT is all about bringing out the things we fear the most, ranging from the adults we once thought we could trust to demonic clowns — with demonic being a redundant term as all clowns are likely demonic. The heftier scares, like Pennywise, his sharp teeth, or the leper that chases children through the street are not quite the elements that would keep grown adults up at night, nor are they filmed in such a way, with a heavier focus on CGI for many people's tastes. But all of that is okay, but IT is not meant to jar audiences on a deep level like THE MIST does but is rather, to pull from a phrase I used earlier, a wild ride through a house of horrors, filled with colorful scares and painted-up creepos. It's the kind of terror that makes you jump one moment and then laugh the next, painting fun, freaky images in your head that remain there for years. It's terror at its most fun and unabashedly odd, which is perfect for this movie a whole different level of horror that deserves as much appreciation as the subtle, quiet kinds of horror that gets a lot of attention nowadays.
Awards:
Golden Schmoes:
Nominee:
- Most Underrated Movie
- Best Horror Movie
- Most Memorable Moment: "Final Sequence"
**6 Wins & 11 Nominations per IMDb**
Praise:
Rotten Tomatoes: 72% (65% Audience Score)
Metacritic: 58 (7.0 Audience)
IMDb: 7.2
Money:
$25 million ($57 million globally)
Awards:
Golden Schmoes:
Winner:
Nominee:
- Coolest Character: "Pennywise"
- Best Trailer
- Breakthrough Performance: Bill Skarsgard
- Biggest Surprise of the Year
**8 Wins & 43 Nominations per IMDb**
Praise:
Rotten Tomatoes: 85% (84% Audience Score)
Metacritic: 69 (7.8 Audience)
IMDb: 7.4
Money:
$327 million ($700 million globally)
What makes THE MIST such a fascinating piece of suspense and horror is how the story traps a group of characters within the terrifying, bleak sceanrio and is then driven by how they react to the chaos they're thrust into. As perceptive characters like David and Ollie note, when you put people in positions like this, the comforts of normal society gone and nothing but fear left in its place, people will believe anything and be reduced to their most primal instincts, namely survival. I covered in the "Terror" section that this is what makes the movie so eternally unnerving, thanks to how Darabont clearly places the characters into distinct groups, whether they be the rational individuals just trying to survive and retain their sense of humanity, or the radicals reduced to base, irrational responses. Where THE MIST loses this category is that, as strong as those lines in the sand and the major character's motivations within them are, the mystery of the sceanrio itself and the urgency to escalate tensions lessens room for individual personalities of characters to shine through. Most of the shop goers are merely bodies in a room, while primary characters like David, Ollie and Amanda are each defined and motivated by the same exact thing, which is the desire to survive while maintaining a sense of rationality. Beyond that, it's hard to unearth anything more about them, which is not a criticism of the writing by any means, but moreso just the result of having to keep the story moving and focus on the larger themes at hand. Mrs. Carmody, on the other hand, is an endlessly fascinating figure whose behavior pushes and pulls in all sorts of different directions, with Marcia Gay Harden delivering such a bravado performance it almost seems like a one-woman show. The point I'm trying to make is that both movies here have impressive ensemble casts, but this movie utlizes it's band of characters more as defined groups (think a far more bloody take on a sociology experiment) than fully fleshed out, unique characters (something the short-lived TV series probably meant to expand on), while the movie next door was able to get so much more out of its young cast to immensley effective results.
Picking up off the point I made next door about THE MIST being moreso about the defined groups in the store than the individual characters within them, IT takes an equally-sized band of primary characters and — with the help of King's classic source material — fleshes them out incredibly well, outfitting them with humor, charm, fears, enemies and motivations. All of this makes IT engaging in ways other King adaptations haven't been, giving the whole movie a strong, beating heart that exists thanks to the beautifully realized Loser's Club. Moreso than the horror, the blood and even the demon clown itself, what sells this movie and what contributed to it being a massive hit is the bond and relationships between the young cast of characters, driven by relatable humor, trying fits of anger and a unified sense of discovering the monsters of this world. Each of the young actors fits into their roles so perfectly, often showiing talent beyond their years. Nothing in the movie would work if not only the bond between them didn't work, but also their individual arcs. They each need their reasons for facing down Pennywise and coming together to do so, and each of the teens has those distinct, palable qualities. Sure, some get more screen time than others, but I can't say any of them are exactly ignored, and you can pluck out quaities that give them each depth and make them a member of the Club. My favorite angle of this movie is watching these characters come together to banter and face off againt nightmare after nightmare, and I don't think I'm alone here.
Both of these movies deal with the concept of fear and how we react to it and challenge it, but each on vastly different levels. For my money, that theme is actually stronger and more well-realized in THE MIST, because it harnesses those themes through a jarring, often brutal, sometimes nightmarish but always relevant lens. A product of the Bush-era, THE MIST paints two sides of people in chaos, with those who keep their heads on the shoulders and persevere with thought during times of crisis, and those who respond with judgment, mania and — in terms Mrs. Comrody would understand — fire and brimstone. Darabont makes these themes the center of his movie and explores them with tight scripting and direction, taking things even further with a gut-punching ending that means to bring the lesson home about how we must respond to fear and the challenges that come with life, as big and omnipresent as they are. Darabont had a vision and point with this movie, and it's never not clear.
With IT, the story juggles the same themes, mostly how to face fear when it comes to take over your entire life. King's story deals with this from the perspective of children, a point the movie embraces by showcasing how often times it's the people in our young lives (adults) who we should be able to turn to, but who often end up being the ones we should fear. The response then is to stand up to fear and face it head on, and when you do so nothing can stop you. It's a more heartwarming approach than THE MIST and a welcome one at that, but it just doesn't have quite the impact that the portrayal of the themes does in the movie next door, and any message can often get lost in the spectacle of IT.
THE MIST is certainly one of the more underrated horror movies of its decade, if not the century so far, and deserves tons of praise for Darabont's focused, unflinching vision and intelligence. The tension is heavy and the kills are nasty, and when it comes to holding up a mirror to society few movies in the genre are as starkly relevant as this one. Still, the victory goes to IT, and upon a rewatch it's easy to see why. This King adaptation deserves its place as one of the best in the canon regardless of the box office it was able to pull in, all thanks to the fact the filmmakers were able to bring out the best of what makes the author's best story so iconic and timeless. Among the bloody kills, darkness and demon clowns is a beating heart that resonates throughout, brought to life by an incredible cast that rightfully deserves to be called the Avengers of the horror movie world. Everything from the script, the bits, the humor, the horror and the themes underneath come to fruition so effectively that it can't help but find a place in memory long after its over. Yes, THE MIST has stuff it does better than this one, and perhaps those elements are strong enough to win the day for many movie fans, but as a well-rounded and frightening testament to the legendary authors best qualities, IT is perhaps the king of them all.