THE FOG (1980) (***)
I happened to see the remake of this film before the original. Often in context a flawed movie will seem much better when compared to a similar, but inferior, production. This is the case when viewing THE FOG of 1980 against the remake. The original has an E.C. Comics, Stephen King, campfire ghost tale vibe. The redux takes all the good elements of the original and abandons them for pseudo-slick scare moments. Cool effects don't make things naturally better.
The Northern California fishing town of Antonio Bay was founded on the plundered wealth of a rich leper sailor naked Blake. As the town celebrates its centennial, an eerie fog moves into town carrying with it the zombie-like specters of Blake's vessel the Elizabeth Dane. The ghosts have come looking for the descendants of the six original conspirators against them. Sucked into this otherworldly game of revenge are: Stevie Wayner (Adrienne Barbeau, CREEPSHOW), a DJ who works out of the town's lighthouse; Nick Castle (Tom Atkins, LETHAL WEAPON), a local fisherman, who picks up pretty, young hitchhiker Elizabeth Solley (Jamie Lee Curtis, PROM NIGHT); Kathy Williams (Janet Leigh, PSYCHO), an aging socialite, who is planning the town's celebrations; Sandy Fadel (Nancy Loomis, HALLOWEEN), Mrs. Williams' assistant; drunk Father Robert Malone (Hal Holbrook, WALL STREET); and Dan O'Bannon (Charles Cyphers, THE ONION FIELD), the weather station operator, who has a thing for Stevie.