Monster of the Day #32

11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story. One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm. In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April. One hundred years ago on the 21st of April, out in the waters around Spivey Point, a small clipper ship drew toward land. Suddenly, out of the night, the fog rolled in. For a moment, they could see nothing, not a foot in front of them. Then, they saw a light. By God, it was a fire burning on the shore, strong enough to penetrate the swirling mist. They steered a course toward the light. But it was a campfire, like this one. The ship crashed against the rocks, the hull sheared in two, mars snapped like a twig. The wreckage sank, with all the men aboard. At the bottom of the sea, lay the Elizabeth Dane, with her crew, their lungs filled with salt water, their eyes open, staring to the darkness. And above, as suddenly as it come, the fog lifted, receded back across the ocean and never came again. But it is told by the fishermen, and their fathers and grandfathers, that when the fog returns to Antonio Bay, the men at the bottom of the sea, out in the water by Spivey Point will rise up and search for the campfire that led them to their dark, icy death.”

  • I can’t drive through the fog without thinking of Blake and his crew. The ending of this movie will haunt me forever.

    And the remake will never stop being a source of irritation.

  • The Rev. D.D.

    Lucky me, I haven’t seen the remake.

    The original has its moments, and almost all of them involve that glowing-eyed chap and his friends.

    Seconding Cullen on the ending.

  • David Fullam

    Oh hell yeah. Captain Blake ranks with Molasar as my favorite red eyed monster.

  • Pip

    Two #31s?

    FINALLY I have something to add to this thread! These movies are older than baseball.

  • Rock Baker

    I saw this on TV when I was a kid, and I actually felt ripped off! The idea of a Living Fog sounded cool to me, but instead I got a ghost story. (I was never big on ghost stories until I saw Tormented! and fell in love with that movie) Looking at it again as an adult, it’s a pretty cool ghost story. However, I still don’t consider it to be Carpenter’s best work. Somehow the build up is better than the payoff. Some great visuals though, I can’t deny that!

    Don’t remember too much about the remake. I remember thinking at the time that it echoed the EC hooror comics more than it did the first film.

    Baseball is an American tradition, just as 50s monster movies are the cornerstone of monster movie fandom.

  • Gristle McThornbody

    A nice, atmospheric, creepy film. I still haven’t seen the remake; unless someone straps me down and forces me to watch it Ludovico-style, I don’t believe I ever will.

  • Jimmy

    I didn’t rate the movie too highly but I did think the ghosts themselves were pretty cool and as with most Carpenter movies there were some nifty visuals.