Stephen King film The Mist leaves horror fans ‘feeling sick’ with one of the most ‘haunting’ endings

16 years since the bleak adaptation of Stephen King’s The Mist hit cinemas around the world, horror fans still claim the ending is one of the ‘most heartbreaking’ they have ever seen.

With Halloween taking place at the end of this month, people have been indulging in new releases such as Australian hit Talk to Me, but some have been revisiting some of the cult horrors that made waves over a decade ago, such as The Mist. .

Released in 2007 and based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name, it looks like The Mist still takes the cake for producing one of the most unexpected and ‘brutal’ endings in the horror genre, according to fans.

The plot focuses on a quiet Maine town that is hit by a massive storm – before a mysterious dense fog rolls in and envelops the community.

Several of the town’s residents, who have taken shelter in a supermarket during the storm, soon realize they must barricade themselves when a distressed local runs in to warn of a danger lurking outside, as citizen alert alarms sound.

As the residents are picked off one by one by the mysterious creatures prowling in the mist, the protagonist devises a plan to escape the supermarket and seek safety, together with his son, wife and some survivors.

The Mist has an impressive 7.1 rating on IMDB and a commendable 73 percent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, where it also has a 65 percent audience score.

One below clamp of the ending, uploaded to YouTube by user @THESSALONIAN31N in 2019, more than 3,000 people have since commented to express their unwavering shock at the conclusion.

In the ending, the main character takes the lives of both his young son and fellow survivors when they thought all hope was lost – only for himself without bullets.

The brutal moment is immediately followed by the fog clearing as groups of US Army soldiers appear, having begun exterminating the creatures and eventually restoring order to the city.

YouTube users who have rewatched the hit horror in recent years commented on their thoughts on the film, with most agreeing that the ending still precedes the endings of newer, more progressive releases.

One fan wrote: ‘One of the most terrifying endings ever put to film. ASTONISHING!’ while another said of the main character, “His anguished screams after killing his son and then seeing the army are perfectly behaved.”

Commenting on Stephen King’s approval of the ending, someone said, “When the author of the source material praises the ending for being better than what they originally created, you know it’s special.”

Another fan wrote: ‘The sheer irony blew me away when I saw this in the cinema. Not all endings are happy, this one was brutal and hopelessly realistic.’

A fellow horror enthusiast said: ‘The ending is like a punch in the gut. The whole build up to a perfect ending,” while another wrote: “Absolutely heartbreaking. How can a person live with himself after experiencing this. Unreal.’

Of their sibling’s movie experience, one person said, “My brother saw this in the theater, he told me afterwards during the credits that no one said anything, no one left, they were all open-mouthed in disbelief.”

A final fan discussed a possible alternate ending to the film, writing, “This ending is painful. If David had waited just a few more seconds, his wife, friends and son would have made it.

“That slo-mo where David falls to his knees and realizes what he’s done is absolutely heartbreaking to watch.”

According to IMDbdirector Frank Darabont’s “controversial” ending actually comes directly from the material in Stephen King’s book.

Written in the first person, David entertains this idea in his mind as a possibility, noting that there are three bullets and four people, but he closes his diary and leaves it in a restaurant where the survivors took refuge before the car runs out of power. petrol.

Darabont felt this ending was too ambiguous and wrote the story to its finite climax, an ending that, according to Darabont in the DVD commentary, was endorsed by King as the ending King wished he had thought of.

Because the film’s ending differs from the original written in King’s 1980 novel, horror enthusiasts argue that the film version destroys the original – which is reflected in the many award nominations and win the film has earned.

The Mist won Best Horror Film at the 2007 Fright Meter Awards, and Frank Darabont won Best Director.

The film was also crowned the winner of Best Horror or Science Fiction at the Internet Film Critic Society Awards.