The Fog is a 2005 horror film directed by Rupert Wainwright. It is a remake of John Carpenter's film of the same name (1980), but with more of a "teen horror film" angle. The original music score is composed by Graeme Revell. The film was a critical failure, but a commercial success, ranking #1 at the box office.
Plot
The backstory of the film is somewhat similar to the original film: In 1871, a group of men conspired to mislead and murder the crew of the Elizabeth Dane, a clipper carrying a group of lepers from Prince William Sound seeking sanctuary. The Dane was captained by William Blake, a wealthy man infected with leprosy who made an agreement with the town's founders to buy half of the island for a leper colony. However, when the islanders' leaders meet with Blake onboard the Dane to make the purchase, the islanders double-cross the lepers, loot the ship and then set the ship on fire, slaughtering everyone onboard. In this film, the town of Antonio Bay, Oregon, is preparing to celebrate a new statue dedicated to the "founding fathers" of the town. This awakens the ghostly crew of the Elizabeth Dane, who have sworn revenge on the town for what the "founding fathers" did to them.
Cast
Production
The film was green lit by Revolution Studios before the script was written. When the remake was announced, rumors circulated the Internet that Charisma Carpenter had been cast as Stevie Wayne and Jessica Biel as Elizabeth. Later reports stated Carpenter was deemed 'too old' for Stevie Wayne and Biel simply did not want to do any more horror films. Similarly, reliable websites announced that Chris Isaak had signed on to play Nick Castle, which was completely untrue as the character was being rewritten to be in his mid-twenties. Before Tom Welling - who received his first motion picture starring role - was cast, actors considered for Nick Castle included David Boreanaz, Jesse Metcalfe, Matthew Davis, Henry Cavill, Adam Garcia, Michael Cassidy, Oliver Hudson, and Peter Facinelli. Matthew Fox and Benjamin McKenzie were also considered for the role and met with the director, but due to conflicting television schedules they did not read for producers. Tom Welling had three weeks left on Smallville (2005) season 4 when he began shooting The Fog (2005). Selma Blair often joked that the director kept two cameras running during his scenes - one for The Fog, and one for Smallville.
During early development, Julia Stiles expressed interest in the role of Elizabeth. The screenplay was subsequently tailored, the character matured, and the role expanded. When Stiles did not come aboard, Maggie Grace was immediately cast, and the character of Elizabeth was rewritten to be younger and more innocent than in previous drafts. Maggie Grace beat Emilie de Ravin, her Lost (2004) co-star, for the role of Elizabeth.
Selma Blair did almost all of her own stunt work for the film, and spent 12 hours in a water tank (with only short surface breaks) for two straight days to shoot her underwater scenes.
The film was partially shot in and around Cowichan Bay, British Columbia. Majority of beach scenes filmed in Tofino, British Columbia.
Songs featured in the motion picture
- "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" - Performed by Fallout Boy
- "Salome's Wish" - Performed by The Booda Velvets
- "Vibrate" - Performed by Petey Pablo
- "Take Off Your Clothes" - Performed by Morningwood
- "Nighttime" - Performed by Petracovich
- "Feels Just Like It Should" - Performed by Jamiroquai
- "Invincible" - Performed by OK Go
- "What Died" - Performed by Alden
Reception
The film was poorly received by critics and movie fans. The film was further negatively viewed due to its numerous plot holes and abandonment of many of the elements from the original film. To date, the film has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 5%.[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 27 out of 100, based on 16 reviews.[3] The Fog was widely considered an unsuccessful remake of the original movie made in 1980,[4] with the Hollywood Reporter stating that the movie "lack[ed] the scares necessary to satisfy its target audience",[5] and Variety commented that "interest lags between the grisly deaths, and, worse, none of the characters generates rooting interest."[6] The film was rated D- by Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly.[7]
Box Office
In the US, the film opened ranking #1 grossing a mild $11,752,917. It averaged $3,954 at 2,972 sites[8]. It had a final domestic gross of $29,550,869[9]. In Australia, horror films of late were only getting "small-wide" releases due to the fact they hadn't performed too well. It opened ranked #11, averaging AUD$3,866 at 81 sites, with a gross of AUD$313,181[10]. It went on to have a final Australian gross of AUD$661,230[11]. Worldwide the film has grossed US$46,201,432[12]
References
External links
