The Pumpkin King: THE MIST (2007)

Back in 2007, Frank Darabont, the man who weaved gold out of Stephen King's SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE took a stab at King's sci-fi horror property, THE MIST. A bustling and creative throwback, the film, working off a rather modest budget, managed to be a small hit. The only problem was, it wasn't the final version. At least in the director's eyes. Envisioned as a black and white film that had more in common with monster movies than tentpole theatrical fare, Darabont got to see his dream come true on home video. Since then, countless other films have tried to chart the same course, with varied results.

For those who may not have seen the movie or need a quick refresher, the plot is just about as simple as they come. With all the nail-biting and hair-raising bits, fans of the author could hope for. After a massive storm knocks out power throughout a small town, citizens are forced to flee a giant most bank that envelops everything and holds unspeakable creatures within it. Holding up at the local grocery store, a hunch of survivors huddle together, wondering if the bigger threat lies among themselves, or in the unknown blankness that is the mist.

In the past 14 years (the "Director's Cut" didn't hit home video until a year after the film was in theaters) there have been a handful of films that have done the shift from color to none, with various results.

Yet, none of them matter more than a passing curiosity, regardless of fanbase fervor or overall preference. The unique case of THE MIST isn't just tied to the nostalgic vision of the director themselves, but one that enhances the overall experience in how it ties back to cinema history as a whole.

Sometimes being first DOES make you best by default—even if the imitators try to push you out of the limelight.

"Black & White doesn't look real," Darabont passionately states in the movie's introduction on blu-ray "film is a heightened recreation of reality and B&W takes that even further." It's a notion that's hard to argue with, as the director doubles down moments later, adding that the shift to a blank state helps things re-capture the spirit of Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, we well as the effects work of Ray Harryhausen. While there's an indication of that spirit in the theatrical version, it more than comes through when everything is drained of color. Sometimes less is indeed more.

In the interceding years since its release, several other movies have followed THE MIST’s path, releasing post-converted Black & White versions of their own. Yet where Darabont's film naturally lends itself to this chance and was its intended or hoped-for vision, the others come up lacking. Not just because of the stench of "cash grabs" in some cases, but a general "why?" as a whole. George Miller's MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, an eruption of action and spectacle highlighted by astounding visuals, got a “Black & Chrome” edition. Spurred on by dailies he saw during THE ROAD WARRIOR, Miller at least brought several decades worth of baggage to his tinkering. James Mangold's final stamp (at the time) of Hugh Jackman's tenure as Wolverine, LOGAN, got its own take thanks to promotional photos. Trying to give LOGAN NOIR more credence, Mangold talked up the new look's ability to better capture the western spirit of the film. Then there was Bong Joon-ho's study on capitalism and the classes with PARASITE. While out of the three films it's the one that lends itself best to the drained look, adding an air of timelessness to the drama, it too doesn't come off as necessary, merely fun alternate glimpses.

In most cases, the switch to black & white for a new release was born out of great initial success. Each of the aforementioned films left its mark on the year they came out, either critically, commercially, or walking away with the most coveted of awards—the Oscars. This brings things to perhaps the most confounding of experiments: Zack Snyder's “Justice Is Gray.” Putting aside the conversation on where one falls with Snyder's recut JUSTICE LEAGUE in general, this third variation is the most perplexing. Partially due to Snyder simply stating that it's the most definitive and fan-centric version of his movie.

Compared to the other examples, it feels like an exercise in vanity, rather than a reflexive look at stripping the film back to its barest elements.

The most basic argument would be that it's supposed to call back to the comic strips of old. In the same way that THE MIST calls back to that bygone era of filmmaking.

Though where Darabont's version lifts and accentuates the best parts of his work, Snyder's comes off as more of a distraction than anything, in a film filled with a litany of distractions at any given moment.

Regardless of where you fall on all the other iterations of post-release black & white movies, The Mist is different not just in how early it came along, but in the construction. It's one thing to say "here's what our intention was" and another to see it play out so succinctly. FURY ROAD, JUSTICE LEAGUE, and LOGAN may have their special qualities, but they're regular movies, through and through. Even on an ideological level, THE MIST fits the mold in not just the tone and spooky feel, but also in the writing and the way that characters interact and are framed. This is a chamber piece of grand proportions with a large cast of impressive character actors who make what's going on in the story just as compelling as the horrors happening outside it.

Of course, an added benefit that comes alongside the black & white conversion is what it does to the special effects. At 5 years a lot of middle to low-budget mainstream films start to show their age in the CGI department. The same goes for THE MIST, although some of the close-up monster work has always benefited from the sheer amount of detail present. The spider and wasp creatures take the cake, with so much fine work on their face and bodies. The shift to black and white not only ups the eeriness factor but captures the spirit and charm of Harryhausen's creatures of old.

Doubling back to the main pieces that separate and celebrate THE MIST, it's the human element that elevates it. All the monsters in the world can't account for the actions of other people. It's an area that is also improved merely by the can't itself. There is no major major "movie star" among the talented cast here. Just character actors who understand exactly what world they are existing in. Proving that while you could go for the most marketable star in the world, it in no way can eclipse the power of casting a Thomas Jane, Marica Gay Hardin, Toby Jones, William Sadler, or Andre Braugher.

Those actors are essential to why the film worked at the time and manages to remain relevant. Embodying how fear can shape and distort even the most well-meaning of people. What at the time was working as a post-9/11 allegory for people questioning and turning against their neighbors for being different, is still frighteningly pertinent in the social-media-led, QAnon, and "woke vs. Right" era.

Whereas the trend of the mid-’00s was attempting to post-convert 2D movies as 3D films in theaters, B&W transfers have never become the norm. Only seemingly offered when certain directors deem it necessary or a studio who craves a re-release, lets them put out their "definitive edition." The problem is, regardless of how enjoyable they might be, they come off as superfluous. An exercise in doing something because they can, as opposed to actually accentuating or enhancing what makes the work special, to begin with. It might heighten action to a certain degree, and draw out depth in facial performances, but in most cases, the conversion process still never strips away that "gimmick" veneer.

With THE MIST, Darabont envisioned something different. A film displaced in time, while accurately capturing a bygone era. Not only did he create the definitive version of his work by converting it to black and white, but he created the work that all others that walked that road would be judged against in the future.