I think the concept of humans being the true monster of the horror film is a very interesting concept to explore with in film. I think what makes it so interesting is we know going into it that it’s at least partially true. We can watch the news or look out into the world and see the evil existence is human naturally. This film just gives us an avenue to explore how far that evil goes.
I Really like Dawn of the dead. I really like how it ramps up the scope from Night of the living dead. I really like the depiction of the zombies in the movie. I personally am not a fan of fast or strong zombies. I think zombies work best when they are only strong in numbers. The zombies on an individual level aren't that much of a threat in this movie. It's not until there’s a big crowd of them that they become dangerous. I think this setup lets the zombies still be scary, but allows them to be a backdrop to the end of society, which is what zombie movies are really about. I love the mall setting. I think it's a fun location that allows our protagonist to have a lot to play around us. It also lets us have a time where our heroes try to live out a normal life and just have fun. I think this part is interesting because we see the illusion start to break as Roger gets sicker and sicker. They want to avoid the problems of the real world, but they can't just live the lie. This comes crashing down even more when the biker gang takes over the mall and forces them to leave. I think this is the point where they really realize that the world has gone to hell. I really like the ending where Peter contemplates taking himself out, but can’t give up hope and make it the helicopter last minute. It's a hopeful ending, and contrasts good to the ending of Night of the Living dead where no one makes it out alive.
The Mist is a very bleak movie, there really is little hope left at the end. But in my opinion that's kind of what the movie is about. It’s about having hope and faith, and how important that can be, but how it can be manipulated. We see this as most of the store starts to hold onto the wild idea of this being a holy rapture and they can make it out if they hold onto faith. The other group hold onto the hope that if they can make it to the car they could drive out of the mist, but when they run out of gas they give up faith of making it out just moments before they are about to reach salvation. That might be the only problem I have with the ending. I feel that the mist dissolves almost comically soon after they take themselves out, like you think you would hear an army of soldiers and tanks traveling a few minutes behind you. It is not a huge issue but, I think it could be improved slightly. Another part I really like is the depictions of the mist monsters. They’re not really evil, or even that interested in the humans. They are very animal like in their behavior. I think they does a good job to not set them up as the true evil of the movie. The last issue I have to say on the movie is I don’t like how the mist is explained to come from a government experiment that is open to another dimension. I think this over explains the mist and take a chunk of the mystery surrounding it away.