Stephen King’s Most Lovecraftian Adaptation Can Show Mike Flanagan How It’s Done

Stephen King's most Lovecraftian movie adaptation seems to set an incredibly high bar for one of Mike Flanagan's most ambitious upcoming projects. Since H.P. Lovecraft has always been one of Stephen King's key horror influences, it should not be surprising that many of his stories include traces of cosmic horror.

From Revival to The Dark Tower series, quite a few Stephen King books have clearly drawn elements from the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. Even his most iconic villain, Pennywise, has been established as a cosmic being whose true identity is beyond humanity's understanding. Just looking at him in his true form is enough to drive one insane.

His novella, N., is perhaps his most direct homage to H.P. Lovecraft's brand of horror, but The Mist feels like his most explicitly cosmic horror story. Frank Darabont's take on The Mist gave the original Stephen King story an even more Lovecraftian edge, which can show Mike Flanagan how it's done before he sets out to adapt it again.

2007’s The Mist Is An Incredible Adaptation Of Stephen King’s Most Lovecraftian Story

What makes The Mist one of Stephen King's most Lovecraftian stories is that, despite adopting a rather simple premise about a group of survivors, it leans into H.P. Lovecraft’s core horror philosophy:

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

Like most Lovecraftian stories, Stephen King's The Mist gradually shows how human sanity and reasoning begin to break when confronting the unknowable. Frank Darabont's take on the story succeeds because it truly embraces the original story's Lovecraftian elements. Instead of watering down its source material's cosmic horror, the movie takes things a little further to show how insignificant its human characters feel.

It even features a horrifyingly bold ending where its established hero is left with is left with nothing but despair and grief towards the end. Unlike the original story, the movie also avoids explaining the origins of the central monsters. Instead, it only captures their mysterious nature and how they see humans as mere specks in a vast and indifferent universe.

With a subplot, the movie even questions the inner-workings of religion and humanity's faith in god by showing how certain people manufacture a punitive God to give meaning to chaos.

Since Frank Darabont's The Mist set a high bar for all Lovecraftian and Stephen King adaptations, Mike Flanagan's upcoming adaptation of the same Stephen King story faces a massive challenge. Like Darabont's take, he will have to embrace The Mist's Lovecraftian underpinnings. At the same time, though, he will also have to bring something new to the table instead of merely emulating Darabont's vision.

Mike Flanagan's The Mist Will Be Nothing Like The 2007 Movie

Mike Flanagan has confirmed (via Bluesky) that since he, too, loves Frank Darabont's take on The Mist, he does not see the point of remaking the same film. Owing to this, he intends to create a complete "retread" of the original Stephen King story where the "differences start page 1." Through his official Bluesky handle, the director even assured fans that "if there wasn’t an excellent answer to ‘why,’" he wouldn't be doing the project.

Flanagan's confidence in his vision makes it hard not to believe that he has something excellent in store for both Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft fans. His long line of success with other Stephen King and horror adaptations also spells promise for The Mist's upcoming remake.

The director has also previously dabbled with Lovecraftian storytelling in movies and shows like The Fall of the House of Usher and Oculus. This, too, is a positive sign for the upcoming Stephen King adaptation. Hopefully, Mike Flanagan's new take on The Mist will be as incredible as expected and eventually gain the same cult following as Frank Darabont's adaptation.

The Mist

8/10

Release Date November 21, 2007