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 | Mystery | Thriller

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 | Revenge | Ghost

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Feb. 19

4:00 AM

AMC

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 Ulland	....	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 Doughton	....	grip (as Tim Doughten)
Steven Fierberg	....	electrician (as Steve Fierberg)
Kim Gottlieb	....	still photographer
Ben Haller	....	key grip
Steve Mathis	....	best boy electric
Dave Michels	....	grip
Krishna Rao	....	second assistant camera
Dylan Shepherd	....	best boy
Raymond Stella	....	camera operator
Raymond Stella	....	director of photography: second unit
Stephen St. John	....	first assistant camera (as Steve St. John)
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.)

Distributors

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

Special Effects

• A&A Special Effects (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

Color:

Color (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 | 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:

Kurt Russell was offered a role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As the ghosts break through the windows in the church, some of the mutton bars break away but not the glass between them. Instead of being made up of separate panes as those of that period would be, they seem to be solid sheets.

Quotes:

[referring to Stevie Wayne's voice on the radio]
Al Williams: Boy, would I like to meet her.
Dick Baxter: I saw her in the supermarket once.
Al Williams: Yeah?
Dick Baxter: You *would* like to meet her.

Movie Connections:

Featured in John Carpenter: Fear Is Just the Beginning... The Man and His Movies (2004) (V)

A Glowing Review

I watched The Fog for the first time since the early 1980's the other night. John Carpenter and Debra Hill did a fine job with this one.

The good points of the movie deal with the overall story and the setting of the film. The story is explained fully during the movie and the setting in California is superb and creepy. The music is also disturbing. The background music coupled with the uneasiness and lonliness of the town, Antonio Bay, is very effective. No gore whatsoever in this one so the whole family may watch this movie together. When I was about 10 or 11 years old this movie did scare me quite a bit. The only negative was the characterization. No character development at all but that was probably intended. Jamie Lee Curtis's role is strange. Some references to Halloween are also found in the film. i.e. Look out for the name of one of the main characters.

Overall a good movie. Not great but good. 6 out of 10.