Fog, The [French Import]

The real problem for me was that Carpenter's afterthought additional violence doesn't really make the story any the more scary, just more violent. I suspect the film may have relied more on suspense than on shock before the director started tinkering around with it, which is why I would have loved seeing the first edit. Now, the film seems a bit too heavyhanded to be frightening.

"The Fog" compares easily to Carpenter's "Halloween" in its initial mood, thanks in part to the very similar music Carpenter composed for both films. It also compares to both "The Birds" and "Jaws" in design as it slowly builds toward a horrific outcome. Finally, I don't think the late Gene Siskel would have approved of the film's child-in-danger angle, but how could Carpenter resist?

Video:
The Studio Canal engineers do a good job retaining most of the film's 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio, and the video quality is far better than MGM's rather soft, blurred image. However, since the movie was something of a low-budget affair, and the story is set mostly at night, it's very dark most of the time, and the HD reproduction tends to emphasizes the inevitable grain that comes with nighttime shooting. Colors in broad daylight are excellent, though, and close-ups, especially, are finely detailed. Hues are rich, deep, and vibrant, although maybe too intense in some scenes for ultimate reality, noticeable in facial tones, mainly, that are sometimes too reddish. This could be a condition of the original print as well, as Carpenter uses a variety of weird lighting techniques in the film. Aside from the grain inherent in the original print and a couple of instances of minor moiré effects, the screen is exceptionally clean and sharp. Indoor set shots are near perfect, and the coastal photography is beautiful.

Audio:
The sound on MGM's standard-definition disc was nothing to write home about, but it showed up somewhat better than what I heard here. The problem as I see it is that the HD DVD's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tends to overemphasize everything I disliked about the SD's sound in the first place. The main issue is that the upper midrange is too forward, giving the sonics a bright, hard, edgy feeling, with voices often pinched and sour. The forward midrange, a tonal balance that too greatly favors the high end, a general lack of deepest bass, a narrow stereo spread, and hardly any surround information produces a mediocre result at best. Fortunately, things are somewhat salvaged by the rear channels finally coming to life toward the end of the film with some wind noise and a climactic cataclysm.

Extras:
As usual, Studio Canal offer little in the way of extras on their HD DVD. For them, the movie is the thing. Perhaps it has something to do with their getting the rights to the movie but not the rights to any bonus items. In any case, what we get are English and French spoken languages; English, Danish, Swedish, German, Finnish, French, and other subtitles; a pair of audio and video calibration tests; some on-screen information; twelve scene selections, but no chapter insert; and a studio promotional trailer.

Parting Thoughts:
Frankly, I was more attracted by Dean Cundey's splendid photography of the Northern California coastline than I was by the movie. It was filmed in a few of my wife's and my favorite spots: Point Reyes, the Point Reyes lighthouse, Point Reyes Station, and Inverness, CA, on Tomales Bay in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. This is a short drive from Bodega Bay, where Hitchcock filmed "The Birds," and wouldn't you know it, Carpenter includes at least one shot of the former Tides Wharf on Bodega Bay. A trip up California's Highway 1 makes for some rewarding film history, by the way. Besides "The Fog" and "The Birds," there have been many other films made along the Northern California coast, including "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," made in Fort Bragg; "Same Time, Next Year," in Mendocino; "Foul Play" in Stinson Beach; and the Bruce Willis-Billy Bob Thornton comedy, "Bandits," filmed in part at Nick's Cove and other areas near Tomales Bay.

But I digress. As I was saying, "The Fog" is a mildly entertaining ghost story with a few moderately gruesome but effective scenes. It relies mainly on atmosphere for its chills, which is a good thing, but it doesn't quite deliver as many genuine moments of fright as the true horror fan might like.

Let me conclude with two tips for the day: (1) Never, ever, leave a beautiful young woman alone in a room with her back turned on a dead body; and (2) when somebody tells you to stay away from the door on a foggy night, for heaven's sake, stay away from the door! "The Fog" may not be the greatest horror movie of all time, but it is definitely instructive, and its HD picture, at least, is worth watching.

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