My Shudder Picks: The Fog

Hitchhiker Jamie Lee Curtis makes the mistake of passing through Antonio Bay, California on the hundredth anniversary of its inception. Not only that, she spends the night with the guy who picks her up and decides to stay in town--just as people start to go missing.

A fog rolls in, carrying with it a crew of zombie sailors, equipped with hooks and red eyes. Combine this with a highly Halloween-esque score by director John Carpenter, and you have a pretty decent horror film.

The plot is a bit scattered, but the casting is I think what really makes this one worth watching. This is the only film where Janet Leigh acts alongside daughter Jamie Lee. They don't share much screen time, and no, they don't play mother and daughter, but Psycho star Leigh delivers a solid performance as Kathy Williams. 

A shaggy Hal Holbrook plays Father Malone, who holds the reasons behind why people are disappearing, yet we never know them until the bitter end. Holbrook's character holds up a cross when his church gets invaded by the fog zombies, its gold being the article of which they seek. Yes, I spoiled this film.

Adrienne Barbeau, Carpenter's wife in real life, has a lead role as a night-time disc jockey whose job puts her  in a sticky spot when the fog rolls back in.

The make-up work isn't very imaginative, but The Fog is still a lot of fun. Halloween and The Thing may be more memorable, but I would definitely check this out. A very moody, intriguing short film with some very well-staged scare scenes.