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Another personal connection I have with the film is the fact that I lived in a small town in Florida on the ocean (Atlantic) that also has a lighthouse.  In fact, for a very brief time, I even worked at that town’s local radio station, but unlike the movie, the station where I worked was not atop the town lighthouse. Having been born and raised in southeast Louisiana into a recreational fishing and boating family, I’m fond of nautical and maritime themes.  Perhaps that’s another reason why The Fog appeals to me.

As for the cast, everyone does a great job.  The foreboding sense of dread is always present in the film and the cast does justice to this, each in their own way.  The movie has several film veterans like Janet Leigh (of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” fame), who also acts alongside her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis. The Fog was filmed early on in Curtis’ career just after her famous performance in “Halloween” (also directed by John Carpenter who has a cameo in The Fog). Hal Holbrook portrays “Father Malone,” the emotionally tortured priest who is the first to discover Antonio Bay’s one-hundred-year-old dark secret.  Holbrook does a fabulous job and carries a lot of the film’s mood throughout.  John Houseman rounds out the veteran cast with a creepy, but fun, opening scene as he gives us the backstory.

Tom Atkins does well as one of the local sailors/fisherman in the leading man role. The scene where he tells Jamie Leigh Curtis a story aboard the Seagrass from his childhood is particularly chilling.

I can’t forget to mention the music and score of the film.  As with all John Carpenter films, the music is front and center.  Carpenter scored the film himself, which is something he’s known for.  The music is beautiful and truly haunting, no pun intended, and it fits the theme of the film perfectly.  It’s not overstated and doesn’t detract from the atmosphere.  It merely adds that extra sense of foreboding and creepiness at the right moments.

The Fog was rated “R” when released in theaters in 1980.  I was too young to see it at the time, but it certainly left its impression upon me when I finally did give it a view.  Even after all these years, it still entertains me.  If you’re looking for a scary, fun, and not overly violent horror film/ghost story, then I highly recommend The Fog.  Watch it with the lights out, if you’re brave enough!

So the next time you see a misty fog lurking around the hills or mountainside, or if you see it gliding in from the ocean…look out, there just might be something in it!  “Look for The Fog!”

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