On June 22, the American television channel Spike presented the premiere of a new series based on the novel by Stephen King. After an amazing film adaptation of the 2007 work, viewers, like the sponsor channel, had high hopes for the new TV show. However, after the first, pilot, episode of the series "Haze", critics' reviews were disappointing. And at first the considerable number of spectators, 1.2 million, later barely reached 800 thousand.
Double name
The Mist King is a 1980 story, known by the Russian reader under the name “Fog”. The 2007 film directed by Frank Darabonte, which became one of the most successful adaptations of King's works, was released at the national box office under the name "Mist". Both translations of The Mist are correct. This explains why the Christian Thorpe horror featured by the Russian audience was often referred to as “Mist” in reviews of the series. Apparently, in this version of the translation, the meaning of this word best conveys the essence of the work and is closer to our audience.
Remote prototype
Christian Thorpe, director, screenwriter and producer of The Fog, said in an interview that he has been a passionate fan of King since childhood. After another reading of the story, he thought that in this rather short story (180 pages) there is potential for the series. The theme of the behavior of people facing fear remains always modern and relevant. To implement the idea, Christian was helped by executive producer Amanda Siegel. But the series, according to Thorpe, cannot be perceived as a full-fledged film adaptation of the story, but rather, as her cousin.
True, in the end it turned out to be a much more distant relative. From King’s action-packed work, there is only a scene and a fog in which “there is something”. Monsters and those acquired a completely different, some psychological significance. The project was realized as a prolonged melodrama about the relations between the inhabitants of the town. But judging by the reviews and opinions on the series “The Darkness”, viewers expected an expanded and augmented, but precisely King’s plot.
Creative freedom
By increasing the number of places in history where people hid in relative safety, and, therefore, introducing more characters, the creators of the project intended to focus the viewer's attention on the psychology of the inhabitants of the provincial town, as is typical for King. Thorpe also hoped that Stephen would find the series tense enough and filmed with due respect for his work. The great maestro of psychological thriller himself was extremely supportive of the development of the project and allowed to make any changes to the movie plot, regarding its printed source. However, devastating reviews and reviews of the series “The Darkness” are directed precisely towards the unsuccessful interpretation of the plot and boring, uninteresting characters.
In an interview, Thorpe mentioned that a lot was allowed to him regarding the depiction of terrible scenes by the channel and the producers. How could such a boring and banal show come about under such favorable conditions and complete freedom for the creative process?
Custom Game
The series depicts several scenes and plot conflicts, which, obviously, should indicate to the audience the non-standard approach of the creators of the show to the concept of psychological thriller. Some creative research went unnoticed. Others were disgusted, like seducing a school football player with a miserable gay character. The first fragments of the pilot series led the audience to indignation.
A soldier waking up in the forest cannot remember who he is. Next to him is a shepherd dog who rejoices at the awakening of the soldier, and he concludes that the dog belongs to him. Sensing something in the approaching fog, the animal is hiding in its dense veil, and the soldier who follows him literally immediately hears a screech and finds the shepherd dead. The torn body of the dog is extremely picturesque.
If this scene was one of the Christian Thorpe promised to freeze the soul, then it made a different impression. The reviews of critics and critics were unanimously negative to this fragment of the series “The Darkness”, causing bewilderment and indignation.
“The silent rule of film and television: avoid cruel animal scenes. The creators of the "Mist" violate this taboo to shock the audience and report that they will not play by the rules. In the first minutes of the pilot episode, a demonstration of a dead dog in all graphic details with organs scattered behind its head, the only surviving part of the body, only to warn that yes, there is something in the fog, ”is one of the reviews of the series "Mist" on The New York Times Company television pages. For the entire first season, it was the only convincing scene about the mercilessness of the fog, and even that caused the indignation of the audience.
Main characters
The main and must be good characters are the Cunningham family trio: spouses Eve and Kevin, their senior daughter Aex. Kevin (Morgan Spector) with such remarkable qualities as justice, kindness, generosity, courage, for some reason does not cause either sympathy or antipathy. Despite all the positivity, he remains a flat, lifeless character. Eve (Alyssa Sutherland) is a bright, temperamental person, acting only according to her decisions. Not seeing beyond her convictions and fixated on her daughter's problems, she never once worried about the fate of her husband, who was left somewhere in a terrible fog. Sometimes it causes sympathy, but more often - indifference or irritation.
Alex (Gus Byrne) is a character who has collected the most hostile reviews in the series "Mist". In theory, she is a modest, kind and obedient girl, so good that even a monster from the fog did not touch her. But her dull, helpless image, excessive concentration on a personal problem, compared with which the ominous haze is a trifle, causes antipathy.
Other significant characters
There is also Adrian - a classmate and friend Alex, a melancholy, lonely-looking youth who considers himself to be either gay or bisexual. Drug addict Mia is an unreliable and dangerous character, but claims to be positive. Brian Nantes is a soldier who has lost his memory. The three of them accompany Kevin, trying to get to the shopping center, where Yves and Alex are.
A fan of nature, a gardener-lover Natalie (Francis Conroy) is a dual character. Having spent the hippie boisterous youth with her husband, with whom she had lived since she was 18, she had just lost it. Part of her mind also left with him. In the name of nature and all its living creatures, Natalie, apparently, without hesitation, will kill a person.
Reviews for the series "Mist". Critics Opinion on Characters and Story
"Despite the fact that the premiere series for at least two-thirds of its hour introduces the viewer to the details of the characters' lives, none of them seem so interesting, pleasant or attractive to empathize with his future fate." This is the critics' reviews of The Hollywood Reporter's television series The Darkness. And further: "There is not a single character or scene that would be distinct and inspire faith in what is happening."
On various sites - both Russian and foreign - you can find many similar ratings. And this is only the correct formulation of critics. The audience’s feedback on the series “Mist” is much sharper and rougher.
Three groups of people: moving around, sitting in a shopping center and waiting for salvation in the church - three lines of the first season, which could well extend the TV show. But in the reviews of the plot of the series “The Darkness”, the words: banality and boredom are more common than others. Prolonged, sluggish current events, "bland", boring characters. The problems of the main characters seem so far-fetched and lifeless that the viewer does not penetrate them.
“Real fog is our gloomy morality, a true unknowable evil that lurks in the hearts of people. I have no doubt that Thorpe knows how this should work, but I doubt that Fog will carry out this plan, ”Daniel Finberg writes on the electronic pages of The Hollywood Reporter after the pilot series.
The End of the Mist
This dramatic horror never won sympathy. Reviews for the 1st season of the series “Haze” and critics and viewers were unanimously devastating. Fantastic films and thrillers have their own audience. She can not slip a melodrama, slightly covered with elements of her favorite genre. And the change in almost every aspect of the original “Fog” insulted fans of S. King. Because the leadership of Spike TV after the first season decided to close this unpopular television show.