The Mist (2007)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no major twists, big reveals, or character deaths**

After the Drayton family survives a fierce and devastating thunderstorm, David (Thomas Jane) takes his young son, Billy (Nathan Gamble) to the local supermarket to buy supplies and food. David leaves his wife, Steff (Kelly Collins Lintz) at the house to sort through the mess, and David prepares himself for a tense confrontation with his rival next neighbor, Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), a pompous New York lawyer, who continues to hold a grudge against David for property damages. But David is willing to ignore any bitter feelings, and he allows Norton to tag along for the ride to the supermarket.

At the supermarket, a harmless day of shopping turns into a chaotic fight for survival, when a bloodied Dan Miller (Jeffery DeMunn) runs through the front doors. Dan warns everyone about a malicious threat within the oncoming thick cloud of mist. In the receiving area of the supermarket, David, Myron (David Jensen), Jim (William Sadler), and a bag boy named Norm (Chris Owen), investigate a problem with the supermarket’s generator. Here, the group discovers a deadly monster.

David urges everyone to remain calm with some support from local residents. Amanda (Laurie Holden), Dan, Irene (Frances Sternhagen), and the supermarket’s assistant manager, Ollie (Toby Jones) join David in his fight to maintain civility and peace, but panic complicates the situation, when different species of monsters from the mist threaten the survivors. As the self-proclaimed prophet,  Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden)  uses her influence over those, who choose to follow her as a deadly weapon, so David and the others are forced to work on an exit strategy before it’s too late.

After a close call from an attacking group of monsters, David pushes Private Wayne Jessup (Samuel Witwer) to reveal the hidden details behind the mist and the monsters. David believes Private Jessup is apart of a botched military experiment, and the failed experiment unleashed the monsters. But Private Jessup is more concerned with fixing a failed relationship with Sally (Alexa Davalos), Billy‘s babysitter, and Sally works as a cashier at the supermarket, and a barrage of problems complicate the life-or-death dilemma. Ollie doesn’t receive the necessary support from Bud (Robert Treveiler), the store manager, David’s rivalry with Norton resurfaces, and a woman (Melissa McBride) with two children at home begs for an escort through the mist.

With their backs against the wall, David and his group are restricted to two unsavory choices. For the first choice, David and his group can stay inside the supermarket, with the hopes of outlasting the disaster, while taking some very slim chances on evading Mrs. Carmody’s wrath. The second choice? David can take a deadly chance to save Billy and reunite with his wife, but he needs his car in the parking lot. Will David risk everything to save Billy?

Thomas Jane is a competent leading man, and The Mist features an overall solid cast, but Marcia Gay Harden delivers the best performance here. Mrs. Carmody is a self-righteous and delusional nutcase. Harden pulls everything together with an eccentric and kooky performance, and Harden brings a believable nasty side to Mrs. Carmody. There’s a scene where Amanda catches Mrs. Carmody in the bathroom, and she’s praying for help, so Amanda reaches out to her as a friend. Mrs. Carmody’s cold response? “When I need friend like you, I’ll be sure to s*** one out.”


The Mist tugs on the viewer's “What would you do?” thought process. At first, you get the impression the survivors will constantly dismiss Mrs. Carmody as an annoying loon, but things change as the story progresses. After a series of attacks from the monsters, certain survivors are noticeably petrified. They fear for their lives, so they need someone to believe in. Enter Mrs. Carmody. Mrs. Carmody slowly convinces her followers to believe in divine intervention, because they’re looking for answers. They’re looking for anything to ease the pain, or calm their fears.

There’s a scene, where Ollie goes into an explanation about Carmody’s followers. Ollie says if you can scare people enough, they’ll believe in anything to make the boogeyman go away. The “Do you believe?” arguments provide some good food for thought. Considering the bizarre and deadly situation, you can understand the perspectives from different characters. When it comes to Carmody’s supporters, you can understand the need for them to trust and follow every word from their protector. On the flip side, you can understand the motivations for David’s constant pleas for peace. He’s just a father, who wants to protect his son, and ensure the safety of EVERYONE in the supermarket, because Mrs. Carmody handpicks the condemned and those worthy of survival.

The Mist is an eerie and frightening sci-fi/horror film, with a malevolent sense of wonder. There’s enough bloody gore, and disgusting gruesomeness to pull a reaction out of you, and The Mist delivers a hard gut punch with one of the most shocking and devastating finales you’ll ever see. Strap yourselves in for a mysterious, haunting, and bloody ride, because The Mist is an engrossing film, and it‘s one of the rare Stephen King adaptations that’s worthy of remembrance.

Rating: 8/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Mist (2007)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

After the Drayton family survives a fierce and devastating thunderstorm, David (Thomas Jane) takes his young son, Billy (Nathan Gamble) to the local supermarket to buy supplies and food. David leaves his wife, Steff (Kelly Collins Lintz) at the house to sort through the mess, and David prepares himself for a tense confrontation with his rival next neighbor, Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), a pompous New York lawyer, who continues to hold a grudge against David for property damages. But David is willing to ignore any bitter feelings, and he allows Norton to tag along for the ride to the supermarket.

At the supermarket, a harmless day of shopping turns into a chaotic fight for survival, when a bloodied Dan Miller (Jeffery DeMunn) runs through the front doors. Dan warns everyone about a malicious threat within the oncoming thick cloud of mist. In the receiving area of the supermarket, David, Myron (David Jensen), Jim (William Sadler), and a bag boy named Norm (Chris Owen), investigate a problem with the supermarket’s generator. Here, the group discovers a deadly monster.

David urges everyone to remain calm with some support from local residents. Amanda (Laurie Holden), Dan, Irene (Frances Sternhagen), and the supermarket’s assistant manager, Ollie (Toby Jones) join David in his fight to maintain civility and peace, but panic complicates the situation, when different species of monsters from the mist threaten the survivors. As the self-proclaimed prophet,  Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden)  uses her influence over those, who choose to follow her as a deadly weapon, so David and the others are forced to work on an exit strategy before it’s too late.

After a close call from an attacking group of monsters, David pushes Private Wayne Jessup (Samuel Witwer) to reveal the hidden details behind the mist and the monsters. David believes Private Jessup is apart of a botched military experiment, and the failed experiment unleashed the monsters. But Private Jessup is more concerned with fixing a failed relationship with Sally (Alexa Davalos), Billy‘s babysitter, and Sally works as a cashier at the supermarket, and a barrage of problems complicate the life-or-death dilemma. Ollie doesn’t receive the necessary support from Bud (Robert Treveiler), the store manager, David’s rivalry with Norton resurfaces, and a woman (Melissa McBride) with two children at home begs for an escort through the mist.

With their backs against the wall, David and his group are restricted to two unsavory choices. For the first choice, David and his group can stay inside the supermarket, with the hopes of outlasting the disaster, while taking some very slim chances on evading Mrs. Carmody’s wrath. The second choice? David can take a deadly chance to save Billy and reunite with his wife, but he needs his car in the parking lot. Will David risk everything to save Billy?

Thomas Jane is a competent leading man, and The Mist features an overall solid cast, but Marcia Gay Harden delivers the best performance here. Mrs. Carmody is a self-righteous and delusional nutcase. Harden pulls everything together with an eccentric and kooky performance, and Harden brings a believable nasty side to Mrs. Carmody. There’s a scene where Amanda catches Mrs. Carmody in the bathroom, and she’s praying for help, so Amanda reaches out to her as a friend. Mrs. Carmody’s cold response? “When I need friend like you, I’ll be sure to s*** one out.”

 After a while, David realizes escape is the only viable option for survival. Using his car, David plans to burn every drop of gas in his tank for a long drive. Clinging to a fool’s hope, David plans to drive until the group is clear of the mist. Mrs. Carmody convinced her followers to sacrifice Private Jessup to the monsters after a savage attack. Mrs. Carmody is holding a grudge against Amanda for a slap across the face, and Mrs. Carmody knows David is forming a group against her, so Mrs. Carmody plans to eliminate the opposition with more sacrifices to the monsters. During a frantic struggle, Ollie shoots and kills Mrs. Carmody with Amanda‘s gun. Mrs. Carmody’s death (and the gun) give David and his group a clear path to exit the store.

David eventually discovers Steff’s corpse entangled in the monster’s web at the house. David is distraught, but he can’t afford to waste any gas, so he continues the search for a safe haven. But David’s car runs out of gas, and the group is stuck in the mist. Inside the car, Billy is sleeping in Amanda’s arms, and the group can hear loud rumblings outside. Mind you, all of this is happening after the group spotted a gigantic monster with tentacles. Collectively, the group agrees on a mercy killing, because they can’t handle the thought of a torturous death……but there’s a big problem: The gun doesn’t have enough bullets to finish off everyone. The gun is one bullet short, so David agrees to be the trigger man. David fires three shots, and as Billy opens his eyes, David shoots and kills Billy.

Devastated and distraught, David leaves the car, screaming. He doesn’t care anymore. David is tired of running, and he’s ready to die. David is waiting for the next monster to finish him off, but instead of a monster, David spots a passing military convoy. That’s right. The rumblings came from an army of approaching soldiers, not a monster. A vast army of soldiers accompany the convoy, and the woman from the supermarket, who went into the mist alone to save her children is safe and sound with her children, as a passenger on one of the convoys. The soldiers use their flamethrowers to kill the creatures and clear the mist, and a broken David drops to his knees in agony.

Thomas Jane did a good job of selling David’s heartbreak in this scene. It’s an earth-shattering shocker, because everyone had a chance to live, if David waited a few more minutes. David murdered his own son and three other people, because he believed he was doing the right thing, but he needlessly killed everyone before the long awaited rescue. It’s a gutwrenching and stunning finale, and I can honestly say The Mist features one of the best shockers I’ve ever seen.

The Mist tugs on the viewer's “What would you do?” thought process. At first, you get the impression the survivors will constantly dismiss Mrs. Carmody as an annoying loon, but things change as the story progresses. After a series of attacks from the monsters, certain survivors are noticeably petrified. They fear for their lives, so they need someone to believe in. Enter Mrs. Carmody. Mrs. Carmody slowly convinces her followers to believe in divine intervention, because they’re looking for answers. They’re looking for anything to ease the pain, or calm their fears.

There’s a scene, where Ollie goes into an explanation about Carmody’s followers. Ollie says if you can scare people enough, they’ll believe in anything to make the boogeyman go away. The “Do you believe?” arguments provide some good food for thought. Considering the bizarre and deadly situation, you can understand the perspectives from different characters. When it comes to Carmody’s supporters, you can understand the need for them to trust and follow every word from their protector. On the flip side, you can understand the motivations for David’s constant pleas for peace. He’s just a father, who wants to protect his son, and ensure the safety of EVERYONE in the supermarket, because Mrs. Carmody handpicks the condemned and those worthy of survival.

The Mist is an eerie and frightening sci-fi/horror film, with a malevolent sense of wonder. There’s enough bloody gore, and disgusting gruesomeness to pull a reaction out of you, and The Mist delivers a hard gut punch with one of the most shocking and devastating finales you’ll ever see. Strap yourselves in for a mysterious, haunting, and bloody ride, because The Mist is an engrossing film, and it‘s one of the rare Stephen King adaptations that’s worthy of remembrance.

Rating: 8/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Alien Raiders (2008)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no big reveals, twists, or character deaths**

Five days before Christmas, a group of raiders invade Hastings Market in Buck Lake, Arizona. Within the quiet little town holding a small population of 25, 012, the citizens of Buck Lake are used to living peaceful and harmless lives, but on this one night, the raiders will change everything forever.

Led by Aaron Ritter (Carlos Bernard), the group of raiders include Sterling (Courtney Ford), Kane (Rockmond Dunbar), Spooky (Philip Newby), Ulrich (Joseph Steven Yag), and Logan (Tom Kiesche). During the calamity, a local police officer named Chambers (Keith Hudson) quietly lurks inside, waiting for the right opportunity to take out the bad guys. With their motives unclear, the remaining hostages beg for answers. As Hastings’ employees, Benny (Jeffery Licon), Whitney (Samantha Streets), and Manny (Derek Basco) try to devise a plan for an escape together, while the store manager Mr. Tarkey (Joel McCrary) constantly whines about everything.

On the outside, Seth Steadman (Matthew St. Patrick), the lead detective and a former hostage negotiator, tries to work out a deal with Ritter, so he can secure the safety of the hostages. But the situation becomes more complex when Ritter reveals the details behind his mission: Ritter is the leader of a secret alien hunting group. Ritter and his team search the United States in a never ending mission to exterminate the alien threat with Logan recording everything. Ritter and his team believe the king of the alien species, who is capable of possessing any human, is hiding somewhere in Hastings Market.

Spooky possesses a unique ability as a clairvoyant, because he’s capable of sensing the alien’s presence, but time is running out, as the alien terrorizes the helpless victims within the supermarket.

Unfortunately,  Alien Raiders features a set of generic characters. Benny is the shy nerd, who’s chasing the dream girl (Whitney), who’s out of his league. Mr. Tarkey is the slimy boss. Ritter is the conflicted leader, who struggles with the dilemma of doing the right thing for his cause, and not crossing  moral boundaries. And Kane is your typical snarling tough guy. No real complaints about the consistent set of decent performances, but the generic characters drove me nuts most of the time.

Alien Raiders feels like a mix of The Thing and The Mist (2007). Survivors are trapped in a tight isolated death trap, while a sneaky alien wreaks havoc. Although, if you remember John Carpenter’s version of The Thing, MacReady and others used blood tests to sniff out the alien, but in Alien Raiders, they use a pinky test. Sterling uses a very big kitchen knife to chop off the test subject’s pinky. If the test subject simply bleeds out, then they’re a normal human, and the severed pinky is placed in a container of ice. BUT the aliens are capable of regeneration, so if the pinky grows back, then there’s another alien to worry about. Sounds like a primitive way of testing, huh?

I’ll admit, Alien Raiders took me by surprise, but this film is not without its problems. I mentioned the generic characters earlier, and this film featured one too many corny moments for my taste. A prime example would be the mushy “I’ll do anything for you!” stuff between Whitney and Benny. I’m not trying to sound like a macho tough guy, but the “moments” between Whitney and Benny are too contrived and fake.

Still, Alien Raiders is a nice little low budget sci-fi horror treat. You’ll see a few creepy moments here and there, and there’s enough blood and nasty carnage to satisfy the gore fiends. Plus, the jaw-dropping twist and the cliffhanger at the end pack a powerful punch. I was prepared to go with a lower score, but the twist and the cliffhanger changed my mind. Yeah, the double-whammy at the end is THAT good. Alien Raiders isn’t perfect by a long shot, but it’s worth a try, if you’re a fan of sci-fi horror.

Rating: 7/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets-

https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mitch-Macready-2/439846799459035?ref=hl

Alien Raiders (2008)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

Five days before Christmas, a group of raiders invade Hastings Market in Buck Lake, Arizona. Within the quiet little town holding a small population of 25, 012, the citizens of Buck Lake are used to living peaceful and harmless lives, but on this one night, the raiders will change everything forever.

Led by Aaron Ritter (Carlos Bernard), the group of raiders include Sterling (Courtney Ford), Kane (Rockmond Dunbar), Spooky (Philip Newby), Ulrich (Joseph Steven Yag), and Logan (Tom Kiesche). During a firefight, Ulrich and Spooky are shot to death by a local police officer named Chambers (Keith Hudson). With their motives unclear, the remaining hostages beg for answers.

On the outside, Seth Steadman (Matthew St. Patrick), the lead detective and a former hostage negotiator, tries to work out a deal with Ritter, so he can secure the safety of his stepdaughter, Whitney (Samantha Streets), who also works at Hastings as a cashier. But the situation becomes more complex when Ritter reveals the details behind his mission: Ritter is the leader of a secret alien hunting group. Ritter and his team search the United States in a never ending mission to exterminate the alien threat with Logan recording everything. Ritter and his team believe the king of the alien species, who is capable of possessing any human, is hiding somewhere in Hastings Market.

Benny (Jeffrey Licon), a lower level employee at Hastings Market, is determined to protect Whitney at all costs, while ignoring his whiny store manager Mr. Tarkey (Joel McCrary), and trying to devise a plan with another co-worker named Manny (Derek Basco).

The group runs into some serious trouble, when a hostage is exposed as an alien after a routine pinky test. As the group’s clairvoyant, Spooky was the only one, who could use his telepathic powers to sniff out an alien without harming anyone. With no other options left, Ritter agrees to release one hostage, if Steadman releases Charlotte (Bonita Friedericy), another clairvoyant, from jail to help. But the alien parasite quickly infects members of the hostage group one by one, and time is running out for Charlotte to answer one crucial question: Who is the king?

Unfortunately,  Alien Raiders features a set of generic characters. Benny is the shy nerd, who’s chasing the dream girl (Whitney), who’s out of his league. Mr. Tarkey is the slimy boss. Ritter is the conflicted leader, who struggles with the dilemma of doing the right thing for his cause, and not crossing  moral boundaries. And Kane is your typical snarling tough guy. No real complaints about the consistent set of decent performances, but the generic characters drove me nuts most of the time.

So we’re in the final stages of the film, and we’re all lead to believe Chambers is the one, who’s carrying the alien parasite as the king. But there’s a twist! Ritter puts himself in the line of fire, while holding the alien in place, so the cops can have a clear shot to kill the alien once and for all. The alien is shot to death, and Chambers is dead. Ritter is bleeding to death from bullet wounds, so he begs Sterling for a mercy-killing. Sterling agrees, but it’s not over yet.

After a careful inspection, Charlotte realizes Chambers wasn’t carrying the king. Instead, it was Whitney all along. For the final scene of the movie, Benny and Whitney are sitting in a cop car by themselves, and after Seth’s pleas on a walkie-talkie, Benny FINALLY realizes Whitney is carrying the dominant alien. Benny tries to shoot Whitney, but Whitney transforms, and she murders Benny as the screen fades to black.

Amazing swerve. Throughout the movie, Whitney is this panicky mess, and Benny does everything he can possibly do to defend the girl of his dreams, including sacrificing his pinky (more on that later). There’s no way you could suspect Whtiney as “The One,” because Alien Raiders does a good job of throwing you off the trail. Using hindsight, I was able to pick up on a few obvious clues for Whitney being the dominant alien. For starters, Whitney avoided the pinky test, because Benny stood up and took her spot. And on top of that, Whitney went out of her way to play this innocent victim, who NEEDED protection. It’s a genuinely shocking twist with an ironic and tragic ending, because throughout the movie, Benny risked everything to save and protect Whitney, but in the end, Whitney turned on Benny to brutally murder him.

Alien Raiders feels like a mix of The Thing and The Mist (2007). Survivors are trapped in a tight isolated death trap, while a sneaky alien wreaks havoc. Although, if you remember John Carpenter’s version of The Thing, MacReady and others used blood tests to sniff out the alien, but in Alien Raiders, they use a pinky test. Sterling uses a very big kitchen knife to chop off the test subject’s pinky. If the test subject simply bleeds out, then they’re a normal human, and the severed pinky is placed in a container of ice. BUT the aliens are capable of regeneration, so if the pinky grows back, then there’s another alien to worry about. Sounds like a primitive way of testing, huh? Well, Sterling and the others had no choice after Spooky’s death, because Charlotte and Spooky are the only ones, who possess the ability to sense an alien presence without dismembering.

I’ll admit, Alien Raiders took me by surprise, but this film is not without its problems. I mentioned the generic characters earlier, and this film featured one too many corny moments for my taste. A prime example would be the mushy “I’ll do anything for you!” stuff between Whitney and Benny. I’m not trying to sound like a macho tough guy, but the “moments” between Whitney and Benny are too contrived and fake.

Still, Alien Raiders is a nice little low budget sci-fi horror treat. You’ll see a few creepy moments here and there, and there’s enough blood and nasty carnage to satisfy the gore fiends. Plus, the jaw-dropping twist and the cliffhanger at the end pack a powerful punch. I was prepared to go with a lower score, but the twist and the cliffhanger changed my mind. Yeah, the double-whammy at the end is THAT good. Alien Raiders isn’t perfect by a long shot, but it’s worth a try, if you’re a fan of sci-fi horror.

Rating: 7/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

And don't forget to like both of my Facebook pages, because the Mitch MacReady 2 Facebook page includes quotes from both ebooks that can't fit into Tweets-

https://www.facebook.com/mitch.macready

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mitch-Macready-2/439846799459035?ref=hl