Darabont stays fixed in the store and lets the pull on the rope tell the story.

CNN: Review: 'The Mist' is bold and frightening

Never a filmmaker to run when he can walk, Darabont lets the horror build through unease, incredulity and mounting suggestion.

CNN: Review: 'The Mist' is bold and frightening

But such reservations have to be weighed against a mind-blowing ending, so bold I can hardly believe Darabont got away with it.

CNN: Review: 'The Mist' is bold and frightening

Darabont's focus is always squarely on the humans, who quickly splinter into competing factions reflecting their own racial, class and educational prejudices.

CNN: Review: 'The Mist' is bold and frightening

Pleasingly tight in scale (Darabont brought over the production team from TV's "The Shield"), "The Mist" shoots itself in the foot with a couple of clumsy episodes.

CNN: Review: 'The Mist' is bold and frightening

If you've seen writer-director Frank Darabont's films (including two King adaptations, "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile, " that earned him Oscar nominations), you'll know he's an old-time Hollywood classicist at heart.

CNN: Review: 'The Mist' is bold and frightening