Line #1 Film/TheFog


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_fog_1980.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:'''6 MUST DIE''']]
3
4	->''"Is all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream?"''
5	-->-- '''Creator/EdgarAllanPoe'''
6
7	''The Fog'' is a 1980 American horror film directed by Creator/JohnCarpenter (his first big-screen feature following [[Film/Halloween1978 a certain other horror film]], and like that one co-written with Debra Hill), starring Creator/AdrienneBarbeau, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis (and her mother, Creator/JanetLeigh), Creator/HalHolbrook, Nancy Loomis, Creator/CharlesCyphers, John Houseman and others.
8
9	The small coastal northern California town of Antonio Bay is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Among its denizens are Stevie Wayne (Barbeau), who runs her own radio station, and Kathy Williams (Leigh), who's in charge of the centennial celebrations. New in town is Elizabeth Solley (Curtis), an aspiring artist who has hitchhiked up from Santa Barbara. Everything seems peaceful enough in Antonio Bay, but on the night of the ceremony, a mysterious fog rolls in – and the fog wants victims...
10
11	[[TheRemake Remade]] in 2005 by director Rupert Wainwright, with Creator/TomWelling, Creator/MaggieGrace and Creator/SelmaBlair. The remake tries to create more connections between the characters and also tries to expand on a few plot points from the original.
12
13	No relation to Creator/JamesHerbert's horror novel [[Literature/TheFog1975 of the same name]], or Creator/StephenKing's novella ''Literature/TheMist'' and its film adaptation.
14
15	----
16	!!This film provides examples of:
17
18	* FiveFiveFive: The call number to Stevie's radio station.
19	* ActionMom: Stevie becomes one of these in the film's final few minutes as she has to fight off the ghosts.
20	* ActionSurvivor: None of the protagonists are trained fighters, and Nick is the only one with a hands-on occupation (he's a sailor). But they all fight off the ghosts in the church.
21	* ActorAllusion: Jamie Lee Curtis is the one who protects Andy from the horrors, you might say [[{{Film/Halloween1978}} taking on the role of a babysitter]].
22	* AdvertisedExtra: John Houseman was given prominent billing in the marketing (Debra Hill says he gave the film a sense of "legitimacy") but only appears in the first five minutes. Averted in the actual credits though, which just lists him as 'Special Appearance by' (distinct from the AndStarring credit Hal Holbrook gets as Father Malone).
23	* AssholeVictim: Averted. The conspirators who sank the ''Elizabeth Dane'' would qualify as this, but all of them are dead by the time of the film and the victims the ghosts do claim as revenge are all perfectly nice people who had nothing to do with it. The closest anyone gets to being one of these is Al Williams, and he's at worst a little gruff.
24	* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: The lack of blood in the film was to try and secure a PG rating. They still ended up with an R (as PG-13 had not been invented yet).
25	* AgeGapRomance: Elizabeth is a young twentysomething, striking up a fling with Nick, who's approaching middle age. The remake makes them closer in age.
26	* AmbiguousSituation: The ghosts are after six victims, and disappear [[spoiler: once Father Malone is killed and gives them back their gold]]. It's never stated whether their victims are descended from the conspirators or they just have to take six to move onto the afterlife (the fact that they go after the likes of Stevie and Andy suggest the latter).
27	* ArousedByTheirVoice: Stevie puts on this type of voice when broadcasting her music. One of the first scenes has the three sailors getting turned on by it. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness She drops the voice instantly when she has to make an emergency broadcast]].
28	* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: Stevie's generator is clearly a gas-powered one - so it should be outside the lighthouse instead of inside.
29	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Father Malone's grandfather, another Father Malone, was one of the town founders. Malone is an Irish – and presumably Catholic – name, and Catholic priests typically don't have children. There are Irish Protestants of course, but most of them have ministers, rather than priests. A Catholic man can also become a priest after being widowed, so it is ''technically'' possible for his grandfather to have been a priest, but it's more likely that John Carpenter and/or Debra Hill just hoped [[FridgeLogic nobody would notice.]] The family may have been Catholic originally and chosen to convert but his descendants became Catholic again, had children out of wedlock or left the priesthood after the events of the wrecking.
30	* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Father Malone offers himself to Blake's ghost to atone for what his grandfather did. A sacrifice Blake makes good on at the end]].
31	* AttackOfTheTownFestival: Subverted as Antonio Bay's birthday festival is cancelled due to power malfunction caused by the fog.
32	* AxeBeforeEntering: The ghosts have a habit of using their longshoreman's hooks to break through doors.
33	* AxCrazy: Implied with Blake, whose vows of revenge over the tape player quickly descend into WordSaladHorror.
34	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Most of the main characters survive, but poor Father Malone still gets killed by the zombie/ghost lepers for something his ancestor did. May also double as a DownerEnding.]]
35	* BloodlessCarnage: Just about every kill that happens on-screen doesn't show a single drop of blood. The closest the film shows is [[spoiler: what appears to be a stain on Al's shirt where he was run through with a cutlass]].
36	* BoleroEffect: Used to wonderful ominous effect in the score when the fog is rolling into town and reaching the lighthouse and the church where the protagonists are seeking shelter. The music starts off quiet and builds to a loud crescendo with a percussion and synth beat playing repeatedly over it.
37	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Kathy runs through her list of things to do to get ready for the festival - and the last thing is to go home and pass out.
38	* BrokenPedestal: Father Malone's image of his grandfather is shattered when he discovers the journal and the DarkSecret.
39	--> "The celebration tonight is a travesty. We're honouring murderers."
40	* ByTheHair: One of the ghosts grabs Sandy by the hair when trying to get through the church window.
41	* CastingGag: Mother and daughter Creator/JanetLeigh and Creator/JamieLeeCurtis. Also ''Halloween'' co-stars Nancy Loomis and Charles Cyphers in addition to Curtis. All three interacted a lot in ''Halloween'' but are almost completely separate in this.
42	* CatScare:
43	** Father Malone suddenly jumps out of his confessional booth in the silent church, scaring the bejesus out of Kathy.
44	** When Nick and Elizabeth are on the ''Seagrass'', tension is built up to a locker that's about to spill open (and the audience knows three people died on the ship). The door opens...and a pile of equipment falls out. [[DoubleSubverted Then Tommy's corpse falls on Elizabeth]].
45	* ChekhovsGun:
46	** Stevie's radio station becomes the only thing that can warn people about the dangers of the fog.
47	** Following on from the above, Nick playing her radio station at the start comes into play when he overhears her distress call to rescue her son.
48	** When reading the journal, Father Malone says he couldn't read past the night where the six conspirators murdered Blake's crew. [[spoiler: Had he read on, he'd discover that the gold the ghosts are after is hidden in the church walls]].
49	* ChillOfUndeath: Whenever the fog's influence takes hold in an area, characters will comment on how the air has suddenly gotten cold, such as when it [[spoiler:reanimates Tommy's corpse in the morgue]].
50	* CityMouse: Discussed by Stevie. She says that she'll likely remain working alone at the radio station unless she can convince someone "to give up city life for Antonio Bay".
51	* CoolOldLady: Mrs. Kobritz, who is like a second mother to Andy and protects him as best she can from the ghosts.
52	* CreatorCameo: John Carpenter appears early in the movie as Bennett.
53	* CuriosityKilledTheCast: [[spoiler: Dan wanting to check out the fog after hearing a knock at the door of the weather station quickly makes him the fourth victim.]]
54	* CutPhoneLines: Just as the sheriff is calling Stevie on her request, a pillar of fog climbs up a telephone pole and breaks off the cables.
55	* DangerousWindows: The ghosts/zombies break through the stained-glass windows of the church.
56	* DeadpanSnarker:
57	** Sandy, Kathy Williams's snarky assistant. Even during Father Malone's ominous warnings, she can't help throwing snarky comments in there.
58	---> '''Kathy:''' Sandy, you're the only person I know who can make "yes, ma'am" sound like "screw you".
59	---> '''Sandy:''' Yes, ma'am.
60	** Dan O'Bannon gets some snark in too.
61	* DroneOfDread: Used frequently in the score to marvelous and eerie effect.
62	* DrowningMySorrows: Father Malone is found drinking in his study on the evening of the festival. Kathy mentions that he is often "at his cups", so he may be an alcoholic.
63	* EverytownAmerica: Despite being a seaside town, what we see of Antonio Bay fits the trope. The festival even looks a bit like a 4th of July celebration.
64	* EvilDetectingDog: Mrs. Williams mentions that her dog kept barking and growling on the night of the ghosts' first appearance.
65	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The film takes place over the course of one day, beginning around midnight and finishing some time the next evening.
66	* EyeScream: Dick Baxter gets stabbed right through the eyes.
67	* FatalFamilyPhoto: Al Williams is a rare case where we get to meet his family, or in this case his wife.
68	* FogOfDoom: It's in the title, folks. Notably, it moves against the wind, glows with an eerie light and can short out electricity.
69	* ForgottenFallenFriend:
70	** When Andy is rescued from his house, no one asks about the fate of [[spoiler:his babysitter Mrs. Kobritz. [[DownplayedTrope He does briefly mention her towards the end as one of the victims though.]] Justified, since his rescuers, Nick and Elizabeth, have no idea who she is, and have more pressing matters to deal with, like avoiding being killed by the ghosts.]]
71	** Otherwise averted, since Nick’s motivation is finding out what happened to his friends on the ''Seagrass'', and Stevie is appropriately horrified and saddened when she heard [[spoiler:Dan]] being killed over the phone.
72	** Double subverted when it comes to [[spoiler:Kathy's husband Al.]] After finding out he's dead, she's clearly devastated, but chooses to put on a brave face for the sake of the festival. He doesn't get mentioned after that again. They do admittedly say they haven't found him yet, so she may still be imagining that he's just missing.
73	* FourGirlEnsemble: Elizabeth is the NaiveNewcomer and youngest person in the cast (Jamie Lee Curtis had only just turned twenty). Stevie is the sexy one, playing MsFanservice over the radio and getting flirted with by the weatherman. Sandy is the DeadpanSnarker. Kathy Williams is the wise older figure who becomes TheLancer in the third act (although ironically, it's Stevie who's the actual mother of the group).
74	* GenderBlenderName: Stevie Wayne. Also a case of TwoFirstNames.
75	* GhostShip: Three examples. The ''Seagrass'' and the ''Resa Jane'' (the brig Nick talks about, [[spoiler:which also seems to have fallen victim to the ghosts. Alternatively it may have just been that this WAS the Elizabeth Dane and the name got garbled over the story being retold countless times]]) are examples of the trope, and the ''Elizabeth Dane'' is a rather literal example.
76	* GhostStory: The film's [[TheTeaser opening prologue]] has old sea captain Mr. Machen (John Houseman) relating the tale of the wreck of the ''Elizabeth Dane'' exactly 100 years prior (and the legend of her perished crew returning with the fog at midnight) to a group of children at a beach bonfire.
77	* GhostlyChill: The ghosts cause the nearby temperature to drop sharply when they appear (the thermometer on the ''Seagrass'' was stuck at twenty degrees).
78	* GhostlyGoals: Plain old revenge. They also declare "six must die" to stand in for the six conspirators who sank their ship - though it's left open if any six will do or if it's the descendants of the conspirators.
79	* GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath: Blake and the rest of the ghosts have [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] in the final showdown in the church.
80	* GoryDiscretionShot: Most of the murders. In fact, there is no blood spilled on-screen in the movie.
81	* HauntedTechnology / ElectromagneticGhosts: The ghosts' presence is first experienced when various technology goes haywire.
82	* TheHecateSisters: The three principal female characters. Elizabeth, the youngest and the newcomer in town, is the Maiden. Stevie, the only mother in the cast, is the Matron. Kathy, the eldest and sharp-witted, is the Crone.
83	* HeroicSacrifice: Father Malone tries this. [[spoiler:It doesn't work at first, but results in him getting killed later.]] Stevie arguably does this also, remaining at her post to warn the townspeople (despite not knowing if her son is alive or dead) and fighting to the last against the zombies who besiege her lighthouse.
84	* HollywoodDensity: For a man his age, Father Malone sure is strong [[spoiler:to be able to carry a large solid gold cross]].
85	* HollywoodHealing: [[spoiler:Stevie takes a ghost's fish hook in the shoulder, is able to pull it out and use it to fight off the ghosts. She reappears in the epilogue no worse for wear]]. This is partly a result of re-shoots to make the scene more impactful.
86	* HooksAndCrooks: Most of the ghosts are armed with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_%28hand_tool%29 longshoreman's hooks]], although at least one wields a dagger, and Blake himself carries a sword.
87	* HopeSpot: When Blake is given the cross [[spoiler:it glows brightly and dissipates the fog, saving Stevie and the others.]] However, in the final scene, [[spoiler:the ghosts return to the church, and Blake himself delivers the deathblow to Father Malone - the sixth and final victim.]]
88	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The ghosts strike on the town's 100th anniversary celebration. Which is also the 100th anniversary of their own mass murder.
89	* HystericalWoman:
90	** Subverted. Stevie's panic slowly starts to increase but she keeps her act together long enough to warn people about the fog and to fight off the ghosts. This is a JustifiedTrope--she is trapped in a lighthouse while her home and her son are left at the mercy of undead ghosts and all she can do is spread warnings over the radio, with no guarantee that she'll be heard.
91	** Also subverted with Elizabeth. She's initially in justified hysterics when a corpse falls on her and it then appears to come back to life to carve a threatening message into the floor. But when the fog causes more trouble, she drives the car to the church, helps fortify the windows and keeps Andy safe.
92	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: [[spoiler: Andy is in danger when the ghosts attack his house, but he's rescued by Nick and Elizabeth]]. No other children ever appear to be in trouble when the ghosts attack.
93	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: The opening credits call it "John Carpenter's ''The Fog''".
94	* IronLady: Kathy Williams, even though she's just the chairwoman of the town committee. When she hears her husband may have been lost at sea, she still continues with her work in the celebration. TruthInTelevision, many people react to such situations by going about their daily routines or even burying themselves in work - it both helps give you something else to think about/focus on, and gives you the feeling that it is an ordinary, routine day. As the body hasn't been recovered, she may also be choosing to believe he's just missing (and when she confirms he's dead later on in the church as they list all the victims, it's hardly the time to start angsting about it).
95	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: When the title weather phenomena (and the zombies inside of it) are approaching the home where Mrs. Kobritz and Andy are staying, the frogs suddenly stop croaking, resulting in complete silence.
96	* KillTheLights:
97	** During the attack on the weather station, the ghost fog (or the zombies) cut the building's power supply, causing the man inside to open the door and get killed.
98	** Later on the ghost fog enters the town's main generator and shorts it out, cutting off power to the entire area.
99	* LightIsNotGood: The fog is accompanied by a bright glowing light.
100	* LighthousePoint: Stevie's radio station is located in the cupola of an abandoned lighthouse.
101	* MamaBear: Stevie tries anyway. When she sees the fog heading towards her house, she desperately screams into her radio for someone to rescue Andy. But she also defies this in a way; on the radio she apologises to Andy for not coming herself, because she needs to warn the rest of the town.
102	* MeaningfulEcho: Sandy sarcastically responds with "yes ma'am" whenever Kathy Williams says something. Later on after [[spoiler: hearing that her husband has been killed]] she asks Sandy to take her home, and Sandy says "yes ma'am" affectionately.
103	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: The ghosts kill [[spoiler: six people]]. Only one is female. There is a considerable amount of tension when Andy is potentially attacked by the ghosts but being a child grants him that exception. They do attempt to pull Sandy out the church window in the climax, and Stevie is injured with a hook, but of course they survive.
104	* MisplacedRetribution: The Fog Zombies are acting out of revenge against the town that murdered them, seeking to kill six people specifically, but kill indiscriminately. They then leave after their kill count is satisfied, and even slay the grandson of the conspiracy ringleader, [[UngratefulBastard even after]] [[TheAtoner he willingly returned the stolen gold to them]].
105	* MissingChild: Stevie realises that her son is in danger and, trapped in the radio station, there's nothing she can do except send out distress messages in the hope that someone will hear and go to help. Even by the end of the film, she still has no idea if Andy has made it to safety.
106	* TheMockbuster: Oliver Krekel's ''Fog 2 - Revenge of the Executed''.
107	* MustBeInvited: If the fog can't come inside, the ghosts can't either unless you let them. [[spoiler:Of course, at the climax, the ghosts start getting impatient, as they just plain ''smash'' their way into the church and the lighthouse]].
108	* MythologyGag: Many of the characters are named after notable people John Carpenter has worked with, such as Nick Castle (who played Michael Myers in ''Halloween''), Tommy Wallace (the film's editor), and Dan O'Bannon (a fellow screenwriter).
109	* NothingIsScarier:
110	** The slow build-up at the beginning of the film where, after midnight, things inexplicably start to go crazy as a bad omen. There's no cause given and no explanation and the incidents in question just... happen.
111	** Blake and the ghosts are never fully shown onscreen and are always shrouded in too much fog and shadow make out anything other than a dark silhouette. When Stevie is cornered on the top of the lighthouse by one, she gets a glimpse of its face, and what little we see of its cheek is puke green and riddled with worms. Even when more of Blake can be made out at the very end, the only really discernible thing about him are his stringy hair and GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath.
112	* OhCrap: Most of the second half of the movie is full of moments like this such as [[spoiler: Andy being trapped by the ghosts in his home after they kill Ms. Kobritz]] and later [[spoiler: Stevie being trapped by the revenants in the lighthouse]].
113	* OminousFog: The premise of the film. It moves against the wind and causes electricity and phone lines to go dead.
114	* OminousKnocking:
115	** When the fog and the zombies reach the weather station, one of them knocks on the door. Dan the weatherman opens the door and looks out, allowing a zombie to enter and kill him.
116	** While Mrs. Kobritz and Andy are trapped in a house by the fog (and the zombies ''in'' the fog), one of the zombies pounds on the front door for admittance. Mrs. Kobritz foolishly opens the front door to see who's there and is killed by the zombie.
117	* OneSteveLimit: Averted. One of the protagonists is called Elizabeth, and the ship that Blake captained was called the Elizabeth Dane. [[spoiler: There's no connection - except in the remake]].
118	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: These ones are fully corporeal and capable of stabbing people, with the appearances of rotting corpses. They can only travel through the fog, and don't appear capable of communication. They only appear once it's midnight on the hundred year anniversary of their deaths, [[spoiler: and vanish once a debt is paid and they've claimed six victims]].
119	* PeekABooCorpse: Elizabeth is sitting around in the abandoned fishing boat when the corpse of a fisherman tumbles out of the overhead compartment.
120	* PlotTriggeringBook: An eerie fog rolls in from the ocean as the city of Antonio Bay prepares to celebrate its centennial. A part of the wall falls away in the church at midnight, revealing to Father Malone a diary that belonged to his late grandfather, which details a conspiracy to kill a group trying to start a leper colony nearby and steal their gold. At the climax, Father Malone learns from the journal that his grandfather, in a fit of guilt, stole the gold from his co-conspirators and buried it in the church walls so that no one would benefit from it.
121	* PluckyComicRelief: Dan usually drops a few funny lines whenever he appears on screen.
122	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Stevie's radio station plays jazz music, because it was more affordable than rock music on such a low budget.
123	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Blake, the leader of the murderous zombie ghosts, has red GlowingEyes.
124	* SceneryPorn: The gorgeous coastline of Marin County, California.
125	* ScreamingWoman: Elizabeth does a bit of screaming when the bodies of the fishermen are involved. Other than that though, she keeps a cool head.
126	* ServileSnarker: Sandy, who is Kathy's assistant.
127	--> '''Kathy:''' Are you going to give a benediction tonight, Father?
128	--> '''Father Malone:''' This town has a curse on it.
129	--> '''Sandy:''' Do we take that as a 'no'?
130	* SexSignalsDeath: Almost pointedly averted -- perhaps due to Carpenter's [[Film/Halloween1978 last film]] having arguably established the trope, which [[https://aiyonna.wordpress.com/2018/11/18/john-carpenter-returns-to-usc-for-40th-anniversary-of-halloween/ baffled him]]. [[spoiler:One of the first scenes involves two characters having anonymous casual sex after knowing each other for about an hour, which in another horror movie would instantly mark them as future victims. It's barely dwelled upon and both characters survive unharmed.]]
131	* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler:[[PluckyComicRelief Dan]]]] is killed by the ghosts/zombies just before the fog begins to directly attack the town.
132	* ShoutOut:
133	** TheCoroner's name is [[Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes Dr. Phibes]].
134	** Mr. Machen is an homage to Welsh fantasy writer Creator/ArthurMachen (mispronounced, mind you).
135	** There are Franchise/CthulhuMythos references in the place names "Arkham Reef" and "[[Literature/TheDunwichHorror Whateley Reef]]".
136	** The overall story is reminiscent of "Literature/TheNightWire", albeit with the news-wire FramingDevice updated to a radio show.
137	** Nick Castle is named for the regular Carpenter collaborator who played Michael Myers in ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}''.
138	** The town of Bodega Bay, famous as the setting of Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'', is mentioned.
139	** Stevie's message to "look for the fog" through the radio is a reference to the final scene in ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld'', where the reporter character grabs the radio and tells the world to "watch the skies" for extra-terrestrials.
140	** Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) comments that weird things always happen to her, that she seems to attract them and seems incredibly reluctant to talk about her past. It has been the subject of much fervent speculation that she is actually Laurie Strode from the Halloween films trying to put her history behind her.
141	* SinisterMinister: Father Malone's grandfather, who participated in the murder of the leper colony (though it should be noted he felt ''some'' remorse for it). Father Malone himself is more of a GoodShepherd.
142	* SinsOfOurFathers: [[spoiler: The ghosts in the fog want revenge for having been lured to their death so the town's founders could steal their gold]].
143	* SophisticatedAsHell: Kathy Williams jumps when Father Malone grabs her and exclaims "Jesus!"...then immediately apologises, realising she both said it to a priest and in the church itself.
144	* SoundOnlyDeath: [[spoiler:Father Malone, the third guy on the Seagrass and Mrs. Kobritz]]
145	* TitleDrop: ''...look for the fog.''
146	* TomboyishName: Stevie Wayne.
147	* TownWithADarkSecret: Although the townspeople did not know about the crime committed 100 years ago until Father Malone finds the journal on anniversary day.
148	* UngratefulBastard: [[spoiler:Father Malone, seeking to atone for his grandfather's crimes (despite having no hand in them), gives the gold to Blake's zombie in exchange for sparing the townsfolk's lives. Blake retreats...then comes back and kills him anyway to satisfy the kill count.]]
149	* WeHardlyKnewYe: We're introduced to three sailors – Al, Dick and Tommy – who listen to Stevie's broadcast and get a few lines and development... until they become the first three victims of the ghosts. Each of them has a connection to another protagonist: Al is the husband of Kathy Williams, Dick is a friend of Nick's (and searches the boat for him), and Tommy's brother plays in Little League with Andy.
150	* WeatherDissonance: The [=titular=] fog moves against the wind.
151	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Early in the film, Father Malone tells Bennett, who has just asked to be paid, to come in at 6 instead of 4. Malone, [[HeelRealization realizing he'd been a dick to Bennett, was trying to call him back, presumably to apologize]] when the stone fell, revealing the hidden journal. Now, having just read about his Grandfather's sins, one might assume that Father Malone might be eager to avoid them, and pay Bennett for his services promptly when he returned. However, we never do see Bennett return, despite several scenes taking place at the church the next day. Did he simply decide not to show up, believing he'd never be paid for his work? Or was he paid by a contrite Father Malone off-screen?
152	* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve: At midnight before the anniversary of its founding, things start to go a little crazy in the town of Antonio Bay. TV's, machinery and car lights turn on, chairs move by themselves, church bells start ringing, a dog barks at the ocean, and a car alarm goes off for no reason. Later the audience learns that many years earlier six conspirators met from midnight to 1:00 a.m. to plot a mass murder.
153
154	----
155	!!The remake has examples of:
156
157	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the 1980 film Nick is played by Tom Atkins. In the remake he's portrayed by the very handsome Tom Welling.
158	* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: The addition of a pre-credits DistantPrologue, in which Blake and his undead pals are implied to have killed the four men who torched their ship ''immediately after their crime'' rather detracts from the notion that they're TragicVillain-types: if, after all, they ''already did'' avenge themselves upon their actual killers, it's a lot harder to sympathize with their retribution against townsfolk who know nothing about a century-old atrocity, and whose ancestors probably didn't even live on the island at the time.]]
159	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Elizabeth Williams, played by Maggie Grace, is revealed to be the reincarnation of the woman Blake loved when he was alive, and she becomes her ancestor at the end and disappears into the fog with Blake while her lover Nick can only watch in horror. He lives on with all the other survivors, but the woman ''he'' loved is gone.]]
160	* CondensationClue: One of the girls on the first boat to be engulfed draws a set of scales on the fogged-up window in a trance. Presumably this is to foreshadow the ghosts' desire to even the score against the town.
161	* RelatedInTheAdaptation:
162	** Unlike in the original, where it wasn't known if any of the characters attacked by Fog Zombies were even connected to the founders/murderers, [[spoiler:the remake has the conspirators be the ancestors of the main characters. This, of course, leaves them dealing with the same AwfulTruth as Father Malone]].
163	** Subverting the RedHerring from the original, Elizabeth Williams, who was a drifter that came to Antonio Bay just before the Fog Zombies attacked and just happened to have the same name as their ship [[spoiler:here, she is the reincarnation of Blake's love]].
164

Context Film / TheFog