The Fog (1980) ***1/2

Antonio Bay is your typical water front town with all of its rich, vibrant history and colorful characters. The town is getting ready to celebrate it's 100th anniversary. Little does anyone know is that the towns founding was built on broken promises and murder. Tonight is the night for that revenge as a fog bank rushes into town, not causing a couple of fender benders and a terrible night for catch. This is a fog that carries those poor souls that were screwed over by the founders of Antonio Bay and boy are they upset.


The Fog is John carpenter's follow-up to Halloween and in many ways it follows the basic premise of that film in that this is a film that takes a generalized legend and builds a story around it. Halloween was basically about The Bogeyman and The Fog is about those sea legends that abound coast towns east and west. It's a simply film about a simple town populated by simple people such as the town priest (Hal Holbrook), the local DJ (Adrienne Barbeau), the town cheerleader (Janet Leigh), the town playboy (Tom Atkins), and who can forget the town drifter (Jamie Leigh Curtis). 


It's a basic ghost story film that is really interesting, yet fails at times , especially as we get closer to the ending. It doesn't stand up to Halloween, but it is a film that will keep your attention as the fog rolls into Antonio Bay. It's not perfect, but The Fog is an entertaining thriller.