Comment

DIRECTOR Frank Darabont completes his Stephen King hat-trick by following screen adaptations of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, with something more straightforward - a good oldfashioned monster movie.

Darabont has altered the ending to make it bleaker than in King's 1980 novella, which may account for US audiences' lack of enthusiasm for the film who like nothing better than a happy ending. After a violent thunderstorm, a mist descends on a small town community and is not unconnected, perhaps, with an experimental project being conducted at a nearby military base. A group find themselves taking refuge in the supermarket as various unpleasant creatures - deadly flying insects and beastly things with tentacles to name, but two - attempt to batter their way into the now-barricaded shop.

Commercial artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is a natural leader but these shoppers are an argumentative bunch, especially as religious nut Mrs Carmody (Maria Gay Hardern) cheerfully informs them that the end is nigh and incites them to make a human sacrifice. Drayton should beware the way she's casting her gaze towards him and his young son.

Before the end many of the cast will be picked off in a variety of gory ways by the marauding creatures, who cause more supermarket chaos than a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel. Darabont heartily embraces the old-style horror format as each fresh attack puts the survivors under more pressure until the final dash-for-the-car escape plan.

Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones, Andre Braugher, Frances Sternhagen
Running time: 126 mins
Rating: Four stars

4:56pm Thursday 3rd July 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login