A nice, underrated ghost story directed by John Carpenter who was coming off the success of his horror masterpiece Halloween. Not so coincidentally, several of the actors from Halloween are also in this film, including Jamie Lee Curtis who is one of the main characters, again. Jamie's mother Janet Leigh also has a small role in the film.
It takes place in the fictional coastal town of Antonio Bay, CA, that we learn is having its 100 year founding celebration. A mysterious fog begins rolling in one night, accompanied by a series of mysterious happenings and then some gruesome killings follow at the hands of some dastardly looking ghosts. We learn that the town forefathers hid a twisted little secret that is the root of all this mayhem. Hal Holbrook really steals the middle and end of the film playing a scared priest who has discovered the town's "truth".
There are great shots of the coastline, and a lighthouse in which several scenes take place. I am still impressed how well the effects looked- namely the fog - which is in essence a character itself. Remember, CGI did not exist at this point, so everything was being done hands on, as it were. While some might say the soundtrack is dated - early 80's synthesizer, and very similar in feel to the Halloween soundtrack - I think is works well, and does not take anything away from the movie at all. It gives a good snapshot of the time period.
This movie is best seen in the dark...
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