THE FOG (1980) – “11:55. Almost midnight. Time enough for one more story,” John Houseman intones, and so begins The Fog, one of the most unjustly ignored of John Carpenter’s movies. For the follow-up to his biggest hit, audiences expected another gore fest like Halloween but what they got instead was a classic ghost story shot in high gothic style, with a creeping sense of menace, and a number of skin-crawling, mysterioso set pieces. Shot in widescreen, The Fog opens almost worldlessly with a ten-minute sequence of unexplained events unfolding across late night Antonio Bay, which is gearing up to celebrate its 100th birthday. The only fly in the ointment is the little fact that Antonio Bay was founded by murderers and psychopaths and now some of their long-dead victims are coming back for revenge, concealed in the roiling depths of an impenetrable fog bank. The kind of movie with atmosphere you can chew, The Fog is best-watched at 3AM when you can’t sleep, because it sneaks up on you on its little cat feet and then buries a boat hook in your back (and it helps that Netflix is featuring a gorgeous, crystal-clear transfer). (Watch it!)
