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The Ghosts are the main antagonists of the 1980 horror film The Fog and its 2005 remake of the same name. In both the original movie and the remake, the crew are played by extras and crew members. William Blake himself is portrayed by Rob Bottin (who also provided the physical make-up effects) in the original and by Rade Šerbedžija in the remake.
History[]
Captain William Blake, a wealthy captain with leprosy was sailing with his crew in his clipper ship (clippers are considered to be the fastest type of ship at the time: carrying crews numbering from eleven to fifty, but generally between twenty and thirty. But there are a few modified clippers meant to be passenger ships that can carry crews up to 100) the Elizabeth Dane were sailing near the coast of Northern California on April 21, 1880 at night in a dense fog in search of a place to establish a colony near Antonio Bay.
He leads the ship to a beacon they see. However they discover too late that it was a simple campfire set to lure them towards the shore. The ship crashes into the rocks and sinks, killing everyone on board. The group responsible (the town's founders) plundered the ship, and through their greed and disgust, the church and the town was founded with the stolen gold.
100 years later, Father Malone finds the journal that belonged to his grandfather after a large piece of stone falls. Malone discovers that his grandfather was one of the plunderers of the Elizabeth Dane. Meanwhile, radio DJ Stevie Wayne is informed of a fog bank heading in the direction of an out at sea fish boat which is seen by the fishermen manning it. They discover that the fog contains a clipper ship and unknowingly the ghosts of Blake and his crew wishing revenge on the 100th anniversary of their deaths. Blake and his crew claim three fishermen's lives. Later, one of the ghosts attempts to kill Nick Castle though fails as the clock hits 1 AM as Nick finishes unlocking the door.
The next morning, Stevie Wayne, a woman who runs the town's local radio, is given a piece of driftwood by her son, Andy. The wood has the word "DANE" on it. Stevie then takes it to her radio station in a lighthouse and sets it right next to a tape recorder and she begins to record her broadcast.
The wood begins to mysteriously seep water, which in turn causes the tape recorder to short out, much to Stevie's surprise. Suddenly, the recorder plays Blake's voice, in he states he wishes revenge. The wood then says "6 MUST DIE" before bursting to flames. Stevie manages to put out the fire, but the wood once again says "DANE".
Blake or one of the other ghosts later manages to posses the corpse of Baxter, one of the fishermen who scares Elizabeth Solley, a hitchhiker who screams for Nick. Nick and the coroner examining Baxter's body return to discover the number "3" etched into floor with a scalpel. Blake and his crew attempt to kill the final three the next night. They successfully cut off power, and telephone communication to prevent people from calling for help.
The ghosts manage to kill Andy's babysitter and Dan, who is Stevie's fellow DJ. Blake himself heads to the church with several crew members to confront Malone who is the descendant of one of the original six murderers of Elizabeth Dane's crews.
Malone, Nick, Solley, and Andy (who each survived their attacks from ghosts) along with Kathy Williams and Sandy Fadel, discovered earlier that the part of the stolen gold was turned to the cross. Meanwhile, Stevie was at the lighthouse, waging her own life-or-death struggle against a pair of fog ghosts. Malone confronts Blake with the cross, offering both it and himself in order to appease Blake and his crew. Blake grabs the cross, which causes it to glow. Nick grabs Malone and pulls him away from the cross at the last second as Blake and his crew disappear.
The four are relieved that the killings are over and Solley, Nick, Fadel, Kathy, and Andy leave. Stevie, having survived the attack from the pair of fog ghosts at the nick of time, broadcasts assuringly to Antonio Bay residents; shaken, wounded and traumatized. Malone, however, questions why he was spared before turning and seeing the fog and ghosts have come back. He turns again to see Blake raising his cutlass, quickly realizing that Blake intends to complete his goal. Blake then decapitates Malone as the screen goes black, fulfilling their curse.
Quotes[]
“ | December 9: Met with Blake this evening for the first time. He stood in the shadows to prevent me from getting a clear look at his face. What a vile disease this is. He is a rich man with a cursed condition, but this does not prevent him from trying to better his situation and that of his comrades at the colony. December 11: Blake's proposition is simple, He wants to move off Tanzier Island and re-locate the entire colony just north of here. He has purchased a clipper ship called the Elizabeth Dane with part of his fortune and asks only for permission to settle here. I must balance my feelings of mercy and compassion for this poor man, with my revulsion at the thought of a leper colony only a mile distant. April 20: The six of us met tonight. From midnight until one o'clock, we planned the death of Blake and his comrades. I tell myself that Blake's gold will allow the church to be built, and our small settlement to become a township, but it does not soothe the horror that I feel being an accomplice to murder. April 21: The deed is done. Blake followed our false fire on shore and the ship broke apart on the rocks off Spivey Point. We were aided by an unearthly fog that rolled in, as if Heaven sent, although God had no part in our actions tonight. Blake's gold will be recovered tomorrow, but may the Lord forgive us for what we've done. | „ |
~ From Patrick Malone, one of the six conspirators who contributed to deaths of Elizabeth Dane's crews |
“ | Something that one lives with like an albatross around the neck. No more like a millstone. A plumbing stone by God. Damn them all!! | „ |
~ From Blake, spoken through Stevie Wayne's Tape recorder. |
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Trivia[]
- Blake and his crew's goals in both the original and the 2005 remake are slightly different as in the original, it's only simply stated Blake and his crew wanted to kill the descendants of the original six founders whereas the remake adds the additional goal of Blake wishing to reunite with his wife via her reincarnation as Elizabeth Williams (who while a supporting character in the original is one of the descendants of the conspirators in the remake).
- Blake is only fully shown in the 2005 remake version, due to the advancement of technology and bigger budget.
- Though the face of one of the crew members in the 1980 version is briefly seen revealing a rotten, worm infested look.
- Blake's eyes never glow on the DVD covers of the film.
- Blake is similar to Freddy Krueger due to the fact they take their revenge on a later generation of the families responsible for their deaths.
- Blake is the only ghost to speak. Albeit through a tape recorder.
- With the exception of Elizabeth Solley, Stevie and Andy Wayne, the ghosts only go after naturalized citizens of Antonio Bay, who may be descended from the 6 conspirators.
- The novelization of the original film confirms that all the victims of the Fog were descendants of the conspirators.
- Initially for the 1980 version, the ghosts had little screen time. However more scenes featuring the ghosts were shot in reshoots due to Carpenter and Debra Hill wanting make the film more violent and scary to help it compete with other horror films also releasing at the time.