I'm still not a fan of the ending, but i can see why he did what he did. Had he left off the the calvary showing up, & just showed the mist lifting. Well to me that would have been an ending. Over all the movie was 8 out of 10 stars, IMO.

"Horrible" and "rocking" movie endings are all in the eyes of the beholder....

Rob wrote: "I might be slightly pessimistic when it comes to the human race, but I liked the ending because it was a huge sock to the gut that I wasn't expecting. I was rooting for them all to make it of cour..."

I agree Rob, it was a sock to the gut which is pretty refreshing in this age of predictable movie endings. I still felt like I needed a Prozac after though :)

Amen to that, Rob. I felt the same way when I saw it.....my stepdaughter was watching and was like, "that's horrible!" and I was going..."no way. That rocked!"

Lonnie wrote: ""Well, like alot of people have been saying in threads on this site, sex and horror tend to go hand and hand. I'm not saying I liked that scene, because I definitely didn't, but scenes like that se..."

Oh I don't know. Old people have sex too. :D

I might be slightly pessimistic when it comes to the human race, but I liked the ending because it was a huge sock to the gut that I wasn't expecting. I was rooting for them all to make it of course, but when they didn't...and it turned out to be all for naught...wow. I was stunned.

I love being stunned by a movie. All too often, a movie's end is predictable and boring. Especially a movie like The Mist. Kudos to the director for having the cajones to mess with my expectations!

No, I "like" the movie ending and i don't consider my self pessimistic. Ok , like might be the wrong word but i think the movie ending works with the rest of the story and King did set it up in the story as a possible outcome for the group.

Do you think people who like the movie ending tend to be more pessimistic than people who prefer the book ending?

Spoilers***************************************************************************

I finally saw the movie :) I thought the ending was... ok. It worked in context of the story, but I liked the ending of the novella better. Personal preference... I liked that the novella ended with the main character choosing to hope instead of give up.

I was shocked by the ending of the movie. I've read the story several times so nothing else happened in the movie that surprised me, but the ending---WHOAH!! I was watching it with the hubby and the stepsons. My husband's read it as well so he was equally amazed. But after a few moments we had to agree that we rather liked the movie ending. It was terribly ironic. The kids wanted to know how the written version was different and after we told them we had one of those interesting discussions that I always enjoy, when I realize that teenagers are smarter and more thoughtful than I generally give them credit for.

I like both endings. I’m not usually one for a open ending like the book as I think that’s a cop out by the writer who can’t think if a decent ending if his own. But with The Mist I think the open end worked quite well.

As for the film I loved the ending. I feel that the dreadfully twee Hollywood endings where the good guys survive and have triumphed through ‘doing the right thing’ etc is over done and sheer nonsense. Life’s tough and the good guys don’t always win. So to go with such a down beat ending was incredibly brave. It also gave a message, that as with real life, you should never give up hope.

i liked the movie so much but i hated the end more than any one it makes me sad depresed and want to cry i think not only because it is so dramitic but the idea of good people dies and bad people lives i hate that and a father shoot his little boy before the rescue by 5 seconds thats break my heart and to people who say that they love the ending because it is not perfect i say that there are other ways to be a sad ending but not like that it is a horrible ending

I'm with Tim on this one. I love the story, but they changed the ending for the movie. Should have left it alone.

Rob wrote: ""I actually felt unclean after viewing it."

That's the sign of a good movie to me. "

Ha! Guess that could go either way huh?

"I actually felt unclean after viewing it."

That's the sign of a good movie to me.

The Mist is by far my favorite short story/novella of King's. I highly anticipated the movie, and parts were quite cool. The ending was crap. In the book there is a question as to what the extent of the mist was- local, national, worldwide? In the movie they apparently drove to within a few blocks of the edge of the mist just in time to needlessly kill a bunch of people and have the army arrive seconds after that. Hard for me to remember when I have been more disgusted at a movie's ending. I actually felt unclean after viewing it.

The Mist is by far my favorite short story/novella of King's. I highly anticipated the movie, and parts were quite cool. The ending was crap. In the book there is a question as to what the extent of the mist was- local, national, worldwide? In the movie they apparently drove to within a few blocks of the edge of the mist just in time to needlessly kill a bunch of people and have the army arrive seconds after that. Hard for me to remember when I have been more disgusted at a movie's ending. I actually felt unclean after viewing it.

Lisa wrote: "Most movie audiences don't like a cliffhanger ending, either. "

I have to say that I am one of those types that isn't overly thrilled with cliffhangers. To me it's kind of like ending a game in a tie. Why bother playing it to begin with? We were tied before we started.

King's Colorado Kid was that way for me. I enjoyed the story but when it didn't end I felt a little ripped off.

I liked both endings -- I liked the uncertainty of the text ending, and while, at first, I didn't care much for the film's ending, it grew on me. It was just so heart-wrenching!

I totally agree with Lonnie -- movies are made to pull a reaction from their audiences and this certainly did just that. Most movie audiences don't like a cliffhanger ending, either. I think most people can watch the end of the film and think, "Yeah, sure; I may very well have done the same thing."

LinBee wrote: "But see, the calvary is what brings on the irony. If they had waited maybe 5 minutes, they would have been saved! That means the sacrifice was for nothing, and he gets to suffer. If he just was ..."

exactly. I liked the ending because it pulled an emotion out of me. No it wasn't a happy emotion but I didn't go to see a comedy either.

It's kind of like the twist ending in the 6th Sense. If the movie had been about a doctor treating a kid that saw dead people and his wife was cheating on him... how would it end? Boring! I like that OH! feeling I got from that movie as well as I actually liked the silent gut renched feeling the entire theatre audience had after the Mist.

If a director can have an entire movie audience walking out of the theatre in silence it means he did his job. Maybe not the happy ending some would like to have but the art of the movie did it's job... and did it well I might add.

But see, the calvary is what brings on the irony. If they had waited maybe 5 minutes, they would have been saved! That means the sacrifice was for nothing, and he gets to suffer. If he just was standing there at the end doing nothing...we wouldn't get such a wonderful thrill of oh hell, wtf?!

I liked the movie just fine till the end. If the calvary had not shown up it would have been very good indeed.

That last sacrifice.

Something else... I can't think now what exactly Mrs. Carmody had said but it also had to do with the film's ending... something regarding atonement and how someone had to pay the price. Just as Paul Edgecomb in the Green Mile was left behind... and had a price to pay.

I liked the ending in the movie too. What's the point of going to see a movie adaptation if it's EXACTLY like the book? I like it when a witer/director puts his own little spin on things.

You're right. Frank Darabont thought the original ending of the story was too open-ended for a visual viewing, he knew, and Stephen King agreed, that the audience needed something more substantial.

Though, in the story, it was only suggested. Not actually done.

Funny, I just watched The Mist last night - the black and white director's cut - and thought the ending was awesome and appropriate. The director, Frank Darabont, chose the ending straight from the short story itself.

From Chapter XI of The Mist: I checked the gun and then put it into the glove compartment. Ollie had reloaded it after the expedition to the drugstore. The rest of the shells had disappeared with him, but that was all right. He had fired at Mrs. Carmody, he had fired once at the clawed thing, and the gun had discharged once when it hit the ground. There were four of us in the Scout, but if push came right down to shove, I'd find some other way out for myself."

I agree as well. The Mist was one of my favorite short stories long before the movie ever came out. I guess the ending on the movie adaptation was more for non-King fans who hadn't or wouldn't read the story. They had to have a closure. I prefer the ending in the story, but I can understand why they did what they did.

I`m inclined to agree with you on that one. I watched the movie right after reading the story & must say that I prefered King`s ending. It left it up to yourself as to what you thought happened in the end. Having said that, I thought the movie was quite good in general.

I like most other King fans enjoyed the movie but absolutely hated the ending. In fact, I've gone so far as to edit out the ending of the movie and just have it end when after they see the large monster walk across the road.

It was terribly disappointing because out of all SK's novelettes The Mist was by far my favorite.

And the pointed look that she gives him. It's great irony.

Exactly. Patrick, I also enjoyed the irony of seeing the woman and her kids on the truck at the end.

Ha! Kind of like Jack Ketchum's character being shot by the calvary rather than being saved in Off Season except the father gets run over by the tank.

I liked the novelette's ending with the word, 'Hope' but it seemed Stephen King wanted something different and I thought it was an ironic end that the woman who went out in the mist looking for her kids ended up being saved. In the book, the reader would assume that she had been eaten by these pesky monsters.

I would have liked the ending more if the dad had thrown himself under the tank that rolled by after he realized what a horrible and tragic mistake he had made.

Yeah, I love that about his books, too. How he'll mention a character from another book. It really keeps his books bound together. You have an easier time feeling like Castle Rock is an actual place.

I love when they like to throw little references to his other works into the movies. I think King likes to make cameos in his movies as well. It's like playing "Where's Waldo?" What can you spot next?

That was cool with the picture of Roland! I caught that right away. As far as the ending goes, I wasn't a fan of it, but the story ends so open-ended they just couldn't do that with the movie! And I don't think a "happy ending" would've been right for that movie. It was frustrating how quick he seemed ready to do that. I didn't think they had gotten to that level of desperation yet. I loved the movie, though, I really did!

I loved the movie. I actually adored the ending - it was so breathtakingly depressing and badass all rolled up together....the effects of the mist and the monsters behind it - wow...dismal ending of humanity; what's not to love?

My favorite part of it all though was near the beginning when he was painting a portrait of Roland the Gunslinger....

I told friends of mine not to watch it because of how disturbing I found the ending. As a parent of 2 little boys I was just so pissed that I wanted to throw something at my tv. Worst movie ending ever!

Well I can see how if someone is terrified and afraid they might be going to die they might want some comfort or release. I think someone made the comment about sex and funerals which apparently is rather common. I think death makes us feel extra vulnerable.

For me it depends on the context it's in. If it's realistic then I don't have a problem with it. It just bothers me when it's thrown in there for the sake of having sex in it.

I have no problem with sex in horror movies, but in The Mist...here you have this happily married man and as soon as he is faced with a dangerous situation.....lets hook up with the closest female in the office. It didn't make sense to me. But like I said before, maybe if faced with a similar, scary situation.....I would think differently.

Is it really ever necessary to actually SEE sex going on as part of a story? I mean...you could get the basic gist by cutting away right before the woman's clothes fall off. In older movies like The Apartment, you knew there was a lot of sex going on, but they never showed it. If you get right down to brass tacks...almost every sex scene is gratuitious. Except MAYBE in a movie/book like Crash (Cronenberg) or The Unbearable Lightness of Being (hated both of those BTW).

LOL. I like sex scenes when they fit the story

You mean I'm the only one who doesn't mind sex scenes every so often?

Lonnie wrote: ""Well, like alot of people have been saying in threads on this site, sex and horror tend to go hand and hand. I'm not saying I liked that scene, because I definitely didn't, but scenes like that seem to find their way in alot of horror."

Oh this is horrible! I have been contemplating on doing a horror story that takes place in a retirement home. Guess I am going to have to rethink that setting if I have to have a gratuitous sex scene in it.
..."


Lonnie, that would be disturbing!

"Well, like alot of people have been saying in threads on this site, sex and horror tend to go hand and hand. I'm not saying I liked that scene, because I definitely didn't, but scenes like that seem to find their way in alot of horror."

Oh this is horrible! I have been contemplating on doing a horror story that takes place in a retirement home. Guess I am going to have to rethink that setting if I have to have a gratuitous sex scene in it.

Its definitely worth seeing!

I wouldn't not watch the movie because of the sex scene might be in it. If anythig I would just fast forward that scene and still watch the rest of the movie.