Time For One More Story: THE FOG Is Getting A 4K Restoration This October
Possibly Controversial Take: John Carpenter's The Fog is a better Halloween movie than the slasher grandaddy that bears the holiday's name. There's just something about the cold, hazy campfire tale recounting Antonio Bay's horrific past coming back to claim its revenge (in the form of saber-wielding pirate ghosts) that captures the spirit of Samhain Season in a way even Michael Myers couldn't. That's not to say The Fog is a better overall piece of cinema than Halloween (because let's get fucking real, people), but I do tend to reach for it on my shelf once October 31st rolls around even before I do for the Horror Master's dead babysitter opus.
Well, now it looks like I'm going to be headed to the theater this Fall (instead of tossing in that superlative, Dean Cundey supervised Scream Factory Blu-ray again), as The Fog is getting the 4K restoration treatment from Rialto Pictures/Studio Canal and being dropped into auditoriums October 26th. The markets in this rollout include limited runs at New York's Metrograph Theater, Los Angeles' Landmark Nuart, and The Music Box in Chicago.
But wait! There's more! The Alamo Drafthouse will also be hosting screenings of this brand spanking new spooky DCP, so that you can feel the chilly ambiance swirl all around you (hopefully while sipping a frosty cider). Personally, after years of watching nothing but faded pink prints projected in rep houses, seeing The Fog with a totally clear picture and its ominous soundtrack cranked to 11 in a crowded movie palace sounds like absolute Heaven.
As a fan of 1980 horror movies, the fact that both Maniac and The Fog are both getting 4K clean-up jobs is just absolutely amazing. Hopefully, we'll be able to check both of these out on a double bill at certain locations (or maybe even Fantastic Fest can get it added to their slate? Hint, hint, Programming Team...). Either way, classic '80s horror aficionados are getting spoiled rotten with this sort of work, and Halloween '18 is gonna be one hell of a party.
