PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The horror film, The Fog, was released 4 decades ago on February 8, 1980 to critical success. This cult classic comes from one of the masters of horror, John Carpenter. He directed, co-wrote the screen play, and created the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau (Creepshow 1982 – read our retro review here, Swamp Thing 1982), Halloween III: Season Of The Witch’s (1982) Tom Atkins (read our interview with him here), Halloween’s (1978) Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Loomis and Charles Cyphers, Janet Leigh (Psycho 1960) and John Houseman (Rollerball 1975). Let’s dive into some movie trivia and talk to one of the film’s stars.
Let’s first talk about Tom Atkins. There’s a nod to another John Carpenter film, Halloween, as Tom’s character’s name is Nick Castle. Does that sound familiar? Well, it should! Nick Castle is the actor who played Michael Myers in the original 1978 film.
The next bit of movie trivia deals with the ladies of the The Fog. The film treated viewers to three scream queens in one movie. That is right, three for one! The first is Janet Leigh, who was in the horror classic, Psycho (1960). Then, there is her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, an iconic cult film star known for the original Halloween franchise, Prom Night (1980), Terror Train (1980), and Knives Out (2019). Finally, there is Adrienne Barbeau who starred in Creepshow (1982), Swamp Thing (1982), and Escape from New York (1981).
The British are coming! Okay, not really. But, both a British movie and location provided the inspiration for the film. John Carpenter co-wrote script for The Fog, along with Debra Hill, during their trip to Stonehenge where they were taken by the fog and eerie atmosphere of the place. Additionally, the film, The Trollenberg Terror (1958), has creatures that hide in the mist just like the sailors in The Fog.
Finally, we talked to the legendary Tom Atkins who provided some movie trivia.
“First of all, I have been in four films with Adrienne Barbeau. She is my oldest and dearest friend in the business. I have known her since the beginning. Although we have been in four films together we have never been on screen together; The Fog [1980], Creepshow [1982], Escape from New York [1981], and Two Evil Eyes [1990].
“We all had a wonderful time shooting in Northern California for The Fog (1980). It is just gorgeous country. The lighthouse from the film you had to go down 150 steps to get to it. Most of Adrienne’s scenes she did on a set in Los Angeles, but I know they have a shot of her going down those steps. It was so beautiful there and you could actually see the gray whales migrating in the water at the bottom. Just beautiful.”
It might be time to revisit this horror classic! Stay tuned to PopHorror for your horror news, reviews, and interviews.
