Worst Horror Remakes: “The Fog” (2006) Review

To me the worst remake is the remake of Psycho. Seeing that it has already been reviewed (and I couldn’t have said it any better than they did, haha), I’ll go with my next choice, the abomination that is The Fog remake.

The Fog is a remake of the 1980 film of the same name. It tells the story of Antonio Bay, a small town that is getting ready to unveil a statue commemorating the founders of the town. Nick Castle (Tom Welling), is one of the descendants of the men. When his girlfriend Elizabeth (Maggie Grace) returns to the town, Nick hopes they can re-spark their relationship. Things go horribly wrong however when an eerie fog rolls in with someone or something inside that begins killing the residents of the town. The only source the town can depend on for the fog’s direction is the radio host Stevie Wayne (Selma Blair), who also is trying to set out to save her son who’s trapped in the fog. What is the big secret about the fog?

The original film, directed by John Carpenter is an excellent and very creepy horror film. The remake basically does everything it can to take a huge dump on the classic. In the original for the ghosts of the fog, we actually have solid figures. In the remake the ghosts are made from shitty CGI. When it comes to ghosts in horror movies, solid figured ghosts are ALWAYS scarier than lame CGI, transparent ones. What also makes this a horrible film is the twist ending, this one basically kills it. We find out that Elizabeth is the Captain ghost’s long lost bride. The two end up kissing and she turns into a ghost. WTF?? Not only is it a stupid twist, but these are supposed to evil, revenge seeking ghosts. Not love sick, heartbroken ones.

I do however think the film had some decent acting, especially by Selma Blair. And like the original, the better scenes were the ones involving Stevie Wayne.

This movie was in no way scary or chilling, and it completely tore apart the original film. Yes, remakes are supposed to have differences, but not completely tear apart its inspiration. One word of advice to horror, producers, CGI is never always the answer, and is never as scary as something that appears real. I’m so glad my friend has never returned my copy of the movie to me after borrowing it to her back in 2006.

—Cody Landman

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