The Fog (1980)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (written by) and
Debra Hill (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

8 February 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

What you can't see won't hurt you... it'll kill you!

Plot:

A Northern California fishing town, built 100 years ago over an old leper colony, is the target for revenge by a killer fog containing zombie-like ghosts seeking revenge for their deaths.

Plot Keywords:

Fog | Leper | Bay | Ghost | Revenge

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Adrienne Barbeau	...	Stevie Wayne
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Elizabeth Solley
Janet Leigh	...	Kathy Williams
John Houseman	...	Mr. Machen
Tom Atkins	...	Nick Castle
James Canning	...	Dick Baxter
Charles Cyphers	...	Dan O'Bannon
Nancy Kyes	...	Sandy Fadel (as Nancy Loomis)
Ty Mitchell	...	Andy
Hal Holbrook	...	Father Malone
John F. Goff	...	Al Williams (as John Goff)
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Tommy Wallace
Regina Waldon	...	Mrs. Kobritz
Jim Haynie	...	Dockmaster
Darrow Igus	...	Mel
John Vick	...	Sheriff Simms (as John Vic)
Jim Jacobus	...	Mayor (as Jay Jacobs)
Fred Franklyn	...	Ashcroft
Ric Moreno	...	Ghost
Lee Socks	...	Ghost (as Lee Sacks)
Tommy Lee Wallace	...	Ghost (as Tommy Wallace)
Bill Taylor	...	Bartender
Rob Bottin	...	Blake
Charles Nicklin	...	Blake (voice)
Darwin Joston	...	Dr. Phibes
Laurie Arent	...	Child
Lindsey Arent	...	Child
Shari Jacoby	...	Child
Christopher Cundey	...	Child
John Strobel	...	Grocery Clerk
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Carpenter	...	Bennett (uncredited)
Debra Hill	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
John Carpenter

Writing credits
John Carpenter		(written by) and
Debra Hill		(written by)
Edgar Allan Poe		quotation (uncredited)

Produced by
Barry Bernardi	....	associate producer
Charles B. Bloch	....	executive producer
Pegi Brotman	....	associate producer
Debra Hill	....	producer

Original Music by
John Carpenter

Cinematography by
Dean Cundey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Charles Bornstein
Tommy Lee Wallace

Production Design by
Tommy Lee Wallace

Art Direction by
Craig Stearns

Costume Design by
Stephen Loomis		(as Steven Loomis)
Bill Whitten

Makeup Department
Rob Bottin	....	special makeup
Tina Cassady	....	hair stylist
Dante Palmiere	....	makeup artist
Edward Ternes	....	makeup artist (as Ed Ternes)
Erica Ueland	....	makeup artist
Steve Johnson	....	special makeup effects assistant (uncredited)

Production Management
Don Behrns	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Larry J. Franco	....	first assistant director
James van Wyck	....	second assistant director (as James Van Wyck)

Art Department
Kathleen Hughes	....	props
Randy Moore	....	assistant art director (as Charles R. Moore)

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Gregg Barbanell	....	supervising sound editor
Joseph F. Brennan	....	boom operator (as Joe Brennan)
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
Craig Felburg	....	sound mixer
Ron Horwitz	....	supervising sound editor
Bob Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bob Newlan	....	assistant sound editor
Frank Serafine	....	special sound effects
William L. Stevenson	....	sound designer: Stevensound Inc. (as William Stevenson)
Richard Tyler	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dick Tyler)
Elliot Tyson	....	foley mixer
Ray West	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Richard Albain	....	special effects: A. & A. Special Effects (as Richard Albain Jr.)
Rob Bottin	....	effects: Blake
Dean Cundey	....	effects: Blake

Visual Effects by
James F. Liles	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
James Winburn	....	stunt driver (as James Windburn)
Mags Kavanaugh	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Scott Buttfield	....	electrician (as Scott Butfield)
Tim Doughten	....	grip
Steven Fierberg	....	electrician (as Steve Fierberg)
Kim Gottlieb	....	still photographer
Ben Haller	....	key grip
Steve Mathis	....	best boy electric
David Michels	....	grip (as Dave Michels)
Krishna Rao	....	second assistant camera
Dylan Shephard	....	best boy (as Dylan Shepherd)
Stephen St. John	....	first assistant camera (as Steve St. John)
Raymond Stella	....	camera operator
Raymond Stella	....	director of photography: second unit
Mark Walthour	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Richard Bloore	....	wardrobe master

Editorial Department
Joe Woo Jr.	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jim Cypherd	....	music mixer
Bob Walters	....	music coordinator (as Bob Walter)
Dan Wyman	....	electronic orchestrator

Other crew
Donald P. Borchers	....	production accountant (as Don Borchers)
Mary Francis Flynn	....	production assistant
Alexandra Hawler	....	production assistant
Burke Mattsson	....	title designer
Steve McMillian	....	production assistant
Ed Pine	....	unit publicist
Jeanne Rosenberg	....	script supervisor
Katy Sweet	....	unit publicist
Dan Wyman	....	electronic realization
Randy Zook	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• AVCO Embassy Pictures (present) (as AVCO Embassy)
• EDI (present) (as E.D.I.)
• Debra Hill Productions

Distributors

• AVCO Embassy Pictures (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1980) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Entertainment Worldwide Inc. (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1980) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Magnetic Video (1981) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Nelson Entertainment (1981) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• CBS / Fox Video (1982) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• BMG Video (1997) (UK) (VHS)
• Pioneer (1998) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Best Buy Movie GmbH (BBM) (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Momentum Pictures (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (Canada) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (HD-DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (198?) (UK) (theatrical)
• Kamras Film Agency (1980) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Globo Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Nordic Video (1980s) (Finland) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• TV3 (1992) (Finland) (TV)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2009) (Finland) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2009) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• A&A Special Effects (as A. & A. Special Effects)

Other Companies

• Bowling Green-Warren County Chamber Orchestra, The  music performed by
• Get Set  sets
• Mag City  special sound effects (as Mag City, Hollywood)
• Mag City  supervising sound editing (as Mag City, Hollywood)
• Maslansky Koenigsgerg  publicity (as Maslansky-Koenigsberg)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles and opticals (as MGM)
• People of Inverness, California, The  our thanks to
• People of Pt. Reyes Station, California, The  our thanks to
• Samuel Goldwyn Studios  post production sound
• Sonoton Musik-Verlag  music
• Sound Arts  music recording studio
• Steven Sound  sound design (as Stevensound Inc.)
• Workroom 27  costume design

Also Known As:

"John Carpenter's The Fog" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (re-rating) (2002) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Denmark:15 | USA:R (Approved No. 25792) | Netherlands:16 | Italy:T | Spain:12 (re-rating) (2010) | Spain:13 (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivia:

When Father Malone first discovers the journal he glances at the title page, then flips to an open page of text that is partially blocked, and seen only for a split second. The visible portion reads (with spelling errors): "[something something] my college education to work writing dumb shit in this fucking movies props, Being one. It's time to bring in the the words guide or the big tits, tatoos and shaved beavers. I know horny [blocked]s would go [blocked] some of that".

Goofs:

Continuity: Early in the movie, when Father Malone is drinking at his desk, he pours a glass of wine. Before he realizes that Bennett has left his radio the wine bottled is uncorked. When the camera moves to the other angle and he picks up the radio to chase Bennett down, the bottle is uncorked.

Quotes:

Stevie Wayne:I don't know what happened to Antonio Bay tonight. Something came out of the fog and tried to destroy us. In one moment, it vanished. But if this has been anything but a nightmare, and if we don't wake up to find ourselves safe in our beds, it could come again. To the ships at sea who can hear my voice, look across the water, into the darkness. Look for the fog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Scream: The Inside Story (2011) (TV)

The Fog Keeps Rolling!

"Scary then and still scary now." That's what a lot of people say about this movie, and I have no argument against that. I'm not particularly a fan of "ghost stories" but this is well done and still looks good, which is why they keep coming out with DVDs on this film and a recent re-make. It's a classic.

Unfortunately, the re-make didn't have the cast this film had. Ladies go first in this "original" with Adrienne Barbeau in the lead as "Stevie Wayne," a small- town disc-jockey whose studio is a lighthouse. "Wayne" has a sexy voice that complements the story and adds a nice touch to it. Then there's the real life mother-daughter duo of Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis. The male lead is played by someone I am not familiar with, Charles Cyphers, but he does a fine job. John Houseman gets good billing here but he's only in the film the first three minutes!

The "star" of this film, however, is the silvery, luminescent fog....a special-effect that was eerie 25 years ago and still has that effect. The films only lasts 90 minutes to the story zips by, the violence is effective but not overdone and the suspense is terrific. The only annoying aspect of the film is the typically-weird theology mumbo-jumbo with another weak priest (Hal Holbrook, in this case) shown. Hollywood loves showing priests who are pathetic. The rest of the movie is fun to watch.