There are few filmmakers out there who’ve seen their back catalogue cannibalized for remakes and reboots more often than John Carpenter, but do-overs like The Fog – especially when he takes a producer’s credit – arguably do more harm than good to his legacy.
Of course, when you’re the brains behind a string of all-time classics, certifiable cult favorites, and under-appreciated gems, there’s no harm in allowing your filmography to be given a fresh coat of paint, because nobody in their right mind can possibly deny that Carpenter is one of the most important and influential directors of the last half a century.
Conversely, when 2005’s update of the misty favorite finds itself pummeled into oblivion by critics to the tune of a four percent Rotten Tomatoes score, and proves equally reviled by its target audience thanks to a 19 percent user rating, then maybe it isn’t such a good idea after all to simply pluck a well-known title from the master’s resume and then go to town on running it into the ground.
Horror is always big business on-demand regardless of what the critics say, though, meaning that not even The Fog‘s well-deserved reputation as one of the most abysmally atrocious reimaginings of the genre’s 21st Century obsession with reinvention has put Netflix subscribers off the idea of diving in.
Per FlixPatrol, the ominous tale of a century-long plot for revenge has floated towards the top end of the platform’s most-watched rankings, but you’re infinitely better off simply watching the original instead.