KRUMBCO - Creative by Jordan Krumbine
  • KRUMBCO
  • Videos
    • Subscribe to Krumbine
    • Webcams (a video chat collab series)
    • Animated by Krumbine
    • Behind the Final Cut
    • Caffeine (a self-made feature film)
    • Portfolio
  • Emergency Creative
    • Blogs
    • Short Stories
    • Wattpad
    • Books on Amazon
    • Comics by Krumbine
  • Caffeine: A Feature Film

Surviving the Mist

6/28/2012

Comments

 
Picture
Stephen King's "The Mist" was on SyFy the other night. My Other wanted to watch it, but the DVR was fumbled and when we went back to watch it last night, the only thing that had recorded was the last two minutes of the previous show.

She wanted to watch it and I had never seen it (although I had seen the abysmal "The Fog" which has absolutely nothing to do with 2007's "The Mist" but with such similar core premises, it's understandable how my uneducated perception of the Frank Darabont film might have been pre-emptively tainted). After a quick check to confirm it wasn't on Netflix (surely if it was airing on SyFy it MUST be on Netflix, right??) we rented it from iTunes.

I hope you've seen this movie, because the reason I'm writing this blog is the mist-ifying ending (sorry). That being said: spoiler alert? I'm not sure if that even applies to a film that's been around for five years, but if I hadn't seen it until last night, maybe you haven't either.

To recap ever so briefly: while shopping at the small town supermarket, a mist rolls in and it is quickly revealed that there are some kind of inhuman monsters lurking within. This traps our heroes in the supermarket for the majority of the movie. I won't spoil where the creatures come from, but it is sufficient to say that the movie paints a bleak, depressing apocalyptic story .... from inside a supermarket.

It's like "Signs" in that respect, only better.

One of the cornerstones of the story (and certainly an element that appeals to me) was a crazy Christian lady going exceptionally crazy, converting anybody who would listen to her, and building to a sequence that reveals a true sense of desperation in humanity: desperately believing in a religion that makes no sense, prompting a mob mentality and the murder of innocents.

A couple of really good -- and enlightening -- quotes:

"He's a fucking kid. He's supposed to be stupid. What's your excuse?"

"As a species, we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up reasons to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?"

"We had damage at the school, wouldn't you know. That's what we get for not fixing that roof when we should've. But with funds being cut every year ... You'd think educating children would be more of a priority in this country. But you'd be wrong. Government's got be things to spend our money on. Like corporate handouts and building bombs."

With that "message" established, our shrinking group of heroes finally escape the supermarket and the clutches of the crazy Christian lady and drive off into the mist until they run out of gas. On their brief journey (which could have been several hours, although it certainly wasn't depicted that way) they witness complete destruction by the mist and the monsters within. In a defining fuck-you to humanity, a massive alien monster -- the beast's leg alone seemed to rival a small skyscraper -- ambles across the road, ignoring our heroes in their vehicle.

(Here's the bitter spoiler part.)

When the gas runs out, the vehicle stalls in the middle of the road. They're surrounded by the mist with no end in sight and are consumed with despondency and hopelessness. Four bullets remain in the gun and there are five remaining survivors. In an act of compassion (??) our lead hero shoots everyone else (including his own son) and exits the car to wait to be devoured by the monsters.

What happens next is irrelevant to my head-scratching confusion.

Why oh WHY did they all just give up when they ran out of gas? It's not like they couldn't make a run for another shelter. They had four bullets, probably a tire iron, and whatever else they could find in the immediate vicinity to use as a weapon. Sure, being torn apart by alien monsters probably isn't the most enjoyable way to go, but at least they would have TRIED. I don't know if it's all the zombie survival stories and movies or what, but I cannot wrap my head around five sane people collectively agreeing that eating a bullet is better than taking your chances punching a mutant tentacle-beast that wants to rape you in orifices that don't exist yet.

But then I thought: maybe that's the point of the movie (and the novella it was based upon): to question that which drives us to complete hopelessness. I personally can't fathom the notion, but when I consider how they witnessed what surely was the final remnants of humanity turn on one another  over religion and the idea that mist had permeated the entire world -- a world that no longer belonged to humanity -- I guess I can appreciate that sense of total loss.

But even then ... there's a spark. Or maybe just an ember. We must survive. At all costs. No matter what it takes. Let all the crazy people kill each other -- we. will. survive.

From a storytelling perspective, I have mad respect for killing everybody at the end of the story. Or just killing off a character an audience is particularly invested in. That takes guts. But the more I think about it, the more it seems like the point was to question the definition of hope.

Or, as someone on IMDB point out: was the crazy Christian lady right along? Our heroes scoffed at the insanity she spewed early on and at the start of the penultimate third act, the crazy Christian wanted to sacrifice our hero's young son. In the end, he killed his own son out of "mercy". The actions of our heroic survivors -- in the end -- weren't that much different from the people who followed the crazy Christian, they just got around to it from a different angle.

Certainly there's humanity in a mercy killing -- the one saving grace to these final scenes -- but I think it's far more human to keep trying to survive, especially when you're fully capable of doing so (inasmuch as that you're not critically wounded and you can still at least run).

Have you seen the movie? What do you think? Or is it all just entertainment at the end of the day?
Comments

Explorers of the Unknown: Disastergeddon!

6/3/2012

Comments

 
Picture
My second Explorers of the Unknown novel (and the fourth book to take place in the City of Greenville) is now available in the Amazon Kindle store.

Here's the official description:

Based on the epic summer blockbuster that Hollywood never produced, "Explorers of the Unknown: Disastergeddon!" is an apocalyptic adventure that puts disaster-porn cinema everywhere to shame!

After a trio of paranormal investigators discover a living, breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex in the backyard of a suburban home, their reality begins unraveling at a rapid pace. Matter is manifesting mysteriously and our heroes must unlock a secret that will take them to the heart of the galaxy and the edge of imagination.

Fast-paced and funny, "Disastergeddon!" is a follow-up to "Explorers of the Unknown: Vampires!" and takes place in the same universe as Krumbine's "Zaphod Zombie: Living Impaired Among the Unimpaired Living" and "BORC-9: A Story About a Boy and His Trash Can". This book introduces new characters (including the stunning new assistant with a surprising second-act twist) and a villainous alien species called Zangledorfs.
Comments
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    KRUMBINE.NET
    Jordan Krumbine's Blog

    The anguished musings of a jack-of-all trades creative professional based out of Longwood,  Florida. Find out more about him here. You know, if that's your 'thing'.

    Most of my production music is original but if I need something extra-special, I usually get it from AudioNautix.com:
    Picture

    Picture

    Jordan Krumbine's Seminal Works
    (Jordan's amazingly creative webcomic. Click to read.)


    Books by Jordan Krumbine:

    Picture
    Max Nebula and the Time-Tripping Damsel in Distress by Jordan Krumbine
    Religiously Roasted Every Goddamn Day -- a novella by Jordan Krumbine
    Explorers of the Unknown: Vampires! a novel by Jordan Krumbine
    BORC-9: a story about a boy and his trash can. A children's novel by Jordan Krumbine

    Jordan made a feature film, too? You betcha.

    Picture

    Archives

    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008


    RSS Feed

    Google+

All content © 2009-2021 Jordan Krumbine (unless otherwise noted)
Photo used under Creative Commons from jm3
  • KRUMBCO
  • Videos
    • Subscribe to Krumbine
    • Webcams (a video chat collab series)
    • Animated by Krumbine
    • Behind the Final Cut
    • Caffeine (a self-made feature film)
    • Portfolio
  • Emergency Creative
    • Blogs
    • Short Stories
    • Wattpad
    • Books on Amazon
    • Comics by Krumbine
  • Caffeine: A Feature Film