Director Frank Darabont’s two previous Stephen King adaptations were the multiple Oscar nominees “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” but their latest collaboration steers clear of prison melodrama. Instead, “The Mist” might be considered more along the lines of what you’d expect from King: a classic creepy-crawly horror film as scary as anything that’s hit theaters this year.

Several dozen characters find themselves trapped in a grocery store after a military experiment gone bad unleashes a deadly mist that gives cover to giant flying insects and even scarier, bloodthirsty creatures.

But the movie isn’t all loud noises and big bad bugs.

The drama inside the store is riveting too, as ordinary people struggle to make sense of the situation and a fearsome extremist begins preaching about the apocalypse. Although the film is clearly a work of fantasy, many of the themes it raises seem to speak directly to current events of social and political significance.

Metromix spoke with the talent involved on both sides of the camera to get their views on why “The Mist” is more than just a horror movie.

Toby Jones [the store’s assistant manager Ollie Weeks] on the film’s real life parallels…

"We live in a world where we’re told to be scared all the time, where the army is proposed as the only solution, where the environment is being shifted and we’re asked to take responsibility for that. As individuals we’re going, 'when we recycle, is it this or is it that?' And we’re told the glaciers are melting while we make that decision.

We don’t know how to operate on that scale. We’re told these huge things are affected by these minor things, and we don’t know what our place is amongst it. I do think that’s the context in which this film arrives."

Laurie Holden [heroic school teacher Amanda Dumfries] on what drew her to the project…

"I think it’s such an interesting morality tale about human nature. The monsters are really the ones inside of the store, not the creatures outside."

Andre Braugher [aspiring politician Brent Norton] on the symbolism of the mist…

"Part of the mystery of the film is what’s happening in the mist. [My character says] there’s nothing out there, and he’s willing to stake his life on that. It’s the beginning of the madness in people when they feel instinctively that this is the end. [My character] is in denial that this is going to be the end.

As opposed to a fog of war, there’s a fog of life. The mist blows away and then it’s reconstituted. It’s the fabricant that we live in, fear and ignorance."

Marcia Gay Harden [angry zealot Mrs. Carmody] on how she would react to the creatures in the mist…

"I think I would say it’s the end of world. I would be bereft of definition and say, 'in the Bible, right there, it says locusts as big as a house.' But you have the logical reaction, 'hey, let’s just hunker down and figure out what’s going on' and the human [reaction] 'let’s help each other,' and then you have [my character] with an apocalyptic vision, the end of the world vision."

Frank Darabont on audience reaction to Mrs. Carmody…

"I think we have stumbled on a truth here. I expected a certain amount of catharsis, but I didn’t expect people to hate [Mrs. Carmody]. I think that [comes from] more than what’s on the screen. I think it’s what’s all around us.

I think we’re really sick to death of extremists. I’m not saying that for a good one liner or sound bite. The lion’s share of the community, the reasonable people who are always willing to have a conversation, are tired are being battered by these pricks, whether it’s political, religious, whatever.

Marcia’s character is striking deep with people."

Harden on Mrs. Carmody’s rise to power…

"Surely we see that this fear-based leadership allows people to step outside of their known ethical and moral place and commit human atrocity and justify it because of fear. In the name of religion, or safety, or country, or superpower or a myriad of things that we justify atrocity with."

Stephen King on the politics of “The Mist”…

"I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, that if you’re trying to do your best work these things are going to come up, they’re going to become part of the story, and people are going to ask questions about it. Is 'The Mist' a political story? Is 'The Mist' a story that has to do with the dangers of entrenched religion, fundamentalist religion? Is 'The Mist' a story about red vs. blue? I’m not going to answer any of those questions. You go see the movies, and those questions will come up and maybe you’ll discuss them. If it serves as a springboard, that’s great."