‘Fog City’ Review: A Rage-Fueled Bloodbath Bogged Down By Bad Performances
It’s not necessarily distasteful to say that Fog City is a certain brand of horror movie made for a particular kind of audience. Director Steve Wolsh’s previous efforts, Muck and Kill Her Goats, have earned him a small but dedicated following that’s allowed him to make his most ambitious indie thriller to date.
To be clear, the title shouldn’t lead to confusion for fans assuming that Fog City may have something to do with John Carpenter’s atmospheric classic starring Adrienne Barbeau as DJ Stevie Wayne. There isn’t any connection to Greg Lamberson’s slime punk NYC cult flick Slime City, either. Instead, Fog City blows its own horn and works best when it focuses on brutal action over played-out group dynamics between a bunch of trapped teens stuck inside together during a mysterious natural phenomenon.
Kicking things off, best friends Georgia Paige (Victoria Konefal) and Reegan (Cody Kennedy) speed off in a high-end yellow Lambo, scantily clad in schoolgirl uniforms that would make the waitresses working at Twin Peaks Bar and Grill look conservative. They arrive at Georgia’s family home which reeks of old money acquired through dubious means. Georgia’s father was the owner and operator of a mysterious factory on the outskirts of town that’s become something of a local legend over the years. Even Georgia doesn’t really know what they made there and, as a result, isn’t sure how the family amassed their sizable fortune.
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When a strange fog begins to envelop the quaint Cape Cod town of West Craven (get the reference?), Georgia and Reegan batten down the hatches along with Georgia’s boyfriend (Connor Weil), his aggro best friend Blake (Reese Mishler), and another couple from school. Supposedly, the orange fog works like a chemical agent that unleashes some kind of unexplained rage virus. As the night goes on, the group starts to turn on each other and start to suspect that whatever’s been unleashed is coming from the nearby factory.
But what is the fog in Fog City, really? That’s never fully addressed for most of the movie. It’s just the catalyst that drives these preppy co-eds to begin dismantling their already paper-thin friendships. Blake starts waving a gun around as he votes to go into full-on lockdown mode, Reegan hooks up with her BFF’s boyfriend, and Georgia inexplicably turns into an unstoppable killing machine.
On the page, the dialogue between everyone as they start to unravel is perfectly serviceable. In fact, it’s downright funny and clever in moments. The problem comes when it’s time for the actors to deliver those lines, and unfortunately, their performances largely fall flat. In some scenes, it’s almost like they’re infecting each other to fall into some of the bad habits of acting together. Even when actor Juliette Goglia (Easy A) shows up with her boyfriend later on, she isn’t able to push the cast to new heights. The over-the-top performances may have been an attempt to delve into B-movie hokiness, but ultimately they wind up coming across as overly serious.
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And Fog City is not a serious movie. Thankfully, as Georgia starts to go on a rampage, the action sends Wolsh’s film into another gear. As the lead, Victoria Konefal may not be the next Meryl Streep, but she could be the next Zoe Bell. Her brutality and physicality take Georgia’s prim and proper introduction and transform it into a rather intimidating force of nature that’s just as formidable as the creepy mist outside. She becomes a different character entirely, going from a shy debutante to a drive-in starlet who now finds herself inside a blood-soaked exploitation movie. Why else would she suddenly unbutton her blouse at the most ridiculous moment possible? For the poster, of course!
The sex in Fog City is undeniably gratuitous and so is the heightened level of violence. The “T and A” here seems more like a box to check instead of having any real, concrete reason for being there. Personally, the cleavage on display isn’t meant to offend. Wolsh just probably wanted to have a sorority girl swinging a bloody axe around murdering all her friends for no apparent reason. Again, there’s always an audience for that.
There is a reveal at the end of Fog City that’s worth sticking around for. And Georgia’s unhinged final girl channels a little bit of George Clooney’s character Seth Gecko once he manages to survive the night after murdering a pack of vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn. Make sure to stay through the end credits if there’s any part of you that may want a sequel. Maybe it will be called Fog City Massacre?
If you’re so inclined, head over to the film’s website to purchase the limited edition SteelBook just in time for Christmas.
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Fog City
Summary
A mostly underwhelming teen horror that chooses mayhem and massacres over mystery and atmosphere.
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