While horror master John Carpenter is most famous for helming the original Halloween, his 1980 follow-up The Fog is also among his most beloved works, albeit in a cult favorite kind of way. Starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tom Atkins, and Hal Holbrook, the story follows the inhabitants of a small coastal town on the centennial of a mysteriously sunken ship. As the town's anniversary arrives, so does a sinister supernatural fog that begins terrorizing the townsfolk.
The Fog was released in the U.S. on February 8, 1980. Made for just over $1 million, the movie went on to gross more than $21 million internationally. As the film celebrates its 40th anniversary, here are 10 behind-the-scenes-facts about the making of John Carpenter's The Fog.
Many Things Inspired The Movie's Creation
John Carpenter has cited various sources of inspiration behind his desire to make The Fog. Among them are the EC Comics he read as a child, particularly their eerie ghost stories and tales of the Grand Guignol. Carpenter also listed the 1958 horror film The Crawling Eye (above, right) as an inspiration due to its depiction of monsters hiding in the clouds.
In addition, Carpenter cited his visit to Stonehenge, located in Southwest England, as a source of inspiration. When he and his producing partner Debra Hill visited the historic monument, it was drenched in an appropriately portentous fog.
The Movie Was Shot To Look More Expensive Than It Really Was
Although the movie was a cheaply-made independent production, Carpenter sought to make it appear far bigger and more expensive than its budget would indicate. As such, he opted to shoot the film in anamorphic widescreen Panavision (2:35.1 format).
The Fog was shot in various locations throughout California over the course of 30 days. The iconic lighthouse featured in the film was filmed at the Gulf of the Farallones, Point Reyes, Marin County California. Bodega Bay, made famous in Hitchcock's The Birds, was also used to film various scenes.
Stevie Wayne Was Written Specifically For Adrienne Barbeau
Although she'd been known for a slew of TV roles at the time, Adrienne Barbeau made her big-screen debut in The Fog. The role of local radio DJ Stevie Wayne was written specifically for Barbeau by Carpenter, her then-husband. The two eventually divorced in 1984.
The role led to Barbeau's decorated career as a new generation's scream queen. After appearing in The Fog, Barbeau would go on to star in such celebrated genre titles as Wes Craven's Swamp Thing, George A. Romero's Creepshow and his segment in Two Evil Eyes, Carpenter's Escape From New York, and many more.
The Original Cut Was Only 80 Minutes Long
John Carpenter's original rough cut of The Fog came in at just 80 minutes, which was too short for a legitimate theatrical release. Carpenter added more scenes as a result, including the entire wraparound narrative, to pad the runtime.
Specifically, Carpenter added the prologue to the film which includes the old sea captain Mr. Machen (John Houseman) scaring children with ancient ghost stories. Although Machen tells stories over a campfire, the scene was shot indoors on a controlled set.
The Movie Was Reshot To Be Scarier
In addition to Mr. Machen's campfire prologue, Carpenter and studio brass felt the need to reshoot several scenes after the film was deemed not scary enough. The decision was made after a poor test screening failed to scare viewers as intended.
The lengthy reshoots included grisly close-ups of death scenes (such as stab punctures), Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) facing the animated corpse in the morgue, and the lighthouse finale with Stevie stop the structure. All told, roughly one-third of the finished film came from the extensive reshoots.
The Finale's Fog Was Just Reversed Footage
Speaking of the film's finale in which Stevie seeks refuge atop the lighthouse structure, Carpenter resorted to some technical trickery to achieve what mother nature would not allow.
The scene entails Stevie waiting for help as the sinister fog rolls out to sea. Knowing it would be near impossibly to create the fog leaving the coast or to wait for it to occur naturally, Carpenter decided to shoot the scene as if the fog were rolling inward and simply play the footage in reverse. Barbeau performed the scene to accommodate the reversal.
Capt. Blake Was Portrayed By The Film's Makeup Specialist
The chief ghost in the film, Capt. Blake, is played by now-legendary makeup-specialist and special effects artist Rob Bottin. It's the second of three films he ever appeared in, and the only for which he is credited.
During production, the 20-year-old Bottin asked if he could play the role of the leprosy-ridden ghost Blake, John Carpenter immediately told him to stand up. Waiting for the director to tell him to leave the set on the spot, Bottin was surprised to learn that Carpenter was studying his height. Since he stood at nearly 6'5'' tall, Carpenter cast Bottin in the role as such a foreboding size was needed for the character.
Christopher Lee Turned Down The Role Of Father Malone
The role of Father Malone was originally offered to legendary British actor Christopher Lee, star of several Hammer Horror films in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. The idea was to have the character serve as a communal godfather that offers spiritual counsel to the terrified townsfolk. When Lee turned out to be unavailable for the film, longtime character actor Hal Holbrook was cast in his place.
This wasn't the first time Lee turned down a role in a Carpenter movie for one reason or another, as he also passed on the role of Dr. Loomis in the original Halloween due to the low salary. Lee has since said that skipping Halloween was one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
The Marketing Campaign Cost 3 Times The Movie's Budget
While the entire film cost roughly $1.1 million to make, the production company Avco Embassy spent roughly threefold that amount on the movie's marketing campaign.
Avco Embassy spent an estimated $3 million for print ads, TV spots, radio promotions, and even had fog machines added to various theater lobbies where the film was exhibited to drum up public interest. The cost of fog machines at the time was roughly $350 apiece.
The Movie Was Meant To Be The Start Of An Anthology
In an interview with Fangoria Magazine in the '90s, Carpenter confessed his desire to make a spinoff anthology TV series based on The Fog. The show would have little to do with the events seen in the film or to the patrons of Antonio Bay, but rather center on the titular fog as the primary menace in several other locations. Carpenter also inferred that the longer the series ran, the more organic ties to the original film would be revealed. Ultimately, the idea was scrapped in favor of the critically panned remake, which Carpenter produced in 2005.
Similarly, this idea was the original plan for Halloween, with Michael Myers' rampage being just one of many stories told in an anthology centered on the holiday. The first and only attempt at branching out was made in Halloween III: Season of the Witch (above) but since it flopped and confused viewers who wanted more Michael Myers, Halloween reverted back to more Michael Myers.