The Grim Cellar

1980, US, Directed by John Carpenter

Colour, Running Time: 86 minutes

DVD, Region 2, Momentum, Video: Anamorphic 2.35:1, Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1

For every cool movie John Carpenter produces there almost seems to be a diametric stinker, particularly over the latter half of his career - in fact he‘s not actually released a feature film since the 2001 debacle Ghosts of Mars (Masters of Horror doesn‘t count). He’d already attracted attention in the mid seventies with the violent Assault on Precinct 13 but really established himself as a genre director of value with Halloween of course. Following a couple of inconsequential TV projects (where he met future star Kurt Russell) Carpenter signed a two film deal with AVCO Embassy and went back to the traditional ghost story to add his own modern spin for The Fog. Written with previous Halloween collaborator Debra Hill the story fixates on the perpetually windy coastal town of Antonio Bay, a place where a ship full of pirates died a hundred or so years before. Strange things start happening around the town as a thick fog drifts in slowly from the ocean and Nick Castle discovers that some old fishing friends have been brutally murdered while out to sea. Taking almost residential position at a lighthouse over the town is DJ Stevie Wayne, host of the one and only radio station in the town. As she realises that the fog contains something malevolent and unexplainable she takes to offering broadcast guidance to Castle and his companion as they try to rescue Wayne’s son while preserving their own lives.

As the ghost story it intends to be The Fog is successful on its own terms. Reuniting a couple of people from Halloween along with several other recognisable but not big-name faces, Carpenter generally has a readymade cast of likeable individuals at his disposal, including Jamie Lee Curtis (with her mom Janet Leigh showing up too) and a brilliantly cynical Nancy Loomis as a PA who really should have had more screen time. Tom Atkins (as Castle) is always fun to watch and almost approximates the same personality as my favourite of his characters - Detective Cameron in Night of the Creeps. Adrienne Barbeau’s DJ is a necessary part of the story but undeniably corny. DJ’s tend to become dated as quickly as the pop records they promote in my opinion and it’s this element that really drags the film back to the beginning of the eighties from whence it was born. It’s also a little too close to the embarrassing DJ effort later displayed in Fulci/Mattei’s messy Zombie 3, however it is marginally possible to become accustomed to over repeat viewings and so shouldn’t cause viewers too much lasting psychological damage. In fact she demonstrates such a degree of geographical insight when guiding Atkins and Curtis through the town she could probably have stood in for Google Earth prior to its inception. The overall feel of the film isn’t far removed from Halloween actually, both as far as its visual style is concerned and the creeping atmosphere. Aside from collaborating with Debra Hill again as well as utilising some of the same cast, this probably has something to do with the fact that cinematographer Dean Cundey returned to photograph for Carpenter as well as the director once again writing his own music score, something which he’s proved very good at over the years - his father worked as a musician with some of the more famous names of his era so John himself no doubt had a strong foundation from which to catapult his own musical inclinations. The Fog is a great film really and a guaranteed thrill ride I always look forward to, but it could have been a different story: much like Star Wars: A New Hope before it the earlier cuts were looking very bad and resulted in a few touches of violence being added, some reshoots, amendments to the score, etc. Carpenter and his crew managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat to release a low-budget movie that went on to pleasing success, since to become a recognised work of cult interest.

Momentum’s UK DVD provides us with the essential full Panavision frame (the US DVD provided a pan & scan version on side 2 which serves no other purpose than to illustrate in comparison how indispensable the 2.35:1 compositions are). While looking very good in lighter scenes the transfer exhibits excess grain during darker moments. There is also a slightly beefed up 5.1 mix of the original sound, obviously not competing with today’s surround tracks but serving to enhance the envelopment just slightly. Supplemented with plentiful extras we have a generous offering of a cool eighties movie that even modern day remakes can’t surpass…