THE FOG

On the eve of the centennial of the small coastal town of Antonio Bay in Northern California, old Mr. Machen tells ghost stories to children by a campfire on the beach. One story is about a clipper ship that crashed against the rocks nearby, causing all of its crew to drown after mistaking a campfire for a lighthouse while sailing through an unearthly fog. Machen finishes the story as midnight strikes and paranormal activity begins occurring around the town. Town priest, Father Patrick Malone, discovers his grandfather's diary when a stone spontaneously falls from a wall in the church, revealing a hidden cavity behind. The journal reveals that a century earlier, on April 21, 1880, the six founders of Antonio Bay, including Malone's grandfather, deliberately wrecked a clipper ship named the Elizabeth Dane, so that its wealthy, leprosy-afflicted owner, Blake, would not establish a leper colony nearby. The conspirators used the gold plundered from the ship to establish the town.

Meanwhile, out at sea, a strange, glowing fog envelops a fishermen's trawler. The fog brings with it the Elizabeth Dane, carrying the vengeful revenants of Blake and his crew, who kill the three fishermen. The following morning, local radio DJ Stevie Wayne is given a piece of driftwood by her son Andy, who found it on the beach. It is inscribed with the word "DANE". Stevie carries it to the lighthouse, where she broadcasts her radio show. As she is listening to music on a cassette, the driftwood begins to seep water. As the water touches her cassette player, a man's voice is inexplicably heard on the tape, vowing revenge, and the words "6 must die" appear on the wood before it bursts into flames. Stevie extinguishes the fire and sees that the wood once again reads "DANE" and the tape is playing normally.

Town resident Nick Castle and hitchhiker Elizabeth Solley find the lost fishing trawler adrift and the corpse of one of the fishermen. Later, while Elizabeth is in the autopsy room alone, the fisherman's corpse briefly comes to life and accosts her before collapsing. Nick and coroner Dr. Phibes see that the now lifeless corpse has carved the number "3" on the floor with a scalpel. That evening, as the town begins its celebrations, local weatherman Dan O'Bannon is killed by the revenants at the weather station. The fog has returned and starts moving inland, disrupting the town's telephone and power lines. Using a backup electric generator, Stevie begs her listeners to go to her house and save her son. The revenants kill her son's babysitter, but Nick and Elizabeth rescue Andy.

Stevie advises her listeners to head to the town's church, but then finds herself trapped and under siege by the revenants when the fog envelops her lighthouse. Seeking refuge inside the church, a group of townsfolk finds a large gold cross in the wall cavity, fashioned from the remaining stolen gold from the Elizabeth Dane, just as the fog begins to envelop the church and the revenants begin their attack. Malone, knowing that the revenants have returned to take six lives to match the six original conspirators, offers the gold and himself in exchange for sparing the others. Blake's revenant seizes the gold cross, and he and his crew disappear in a blinding flash of light as the fog miraculously vanishes. Stevie, now alone again at the lighthouse, warns her listeners that the fog could come again and instructs any ships that can hear her to keep an eye out for it.

After everyone leaves the church, Malone remains inside and wonders why he was spared, given that there were five deaths. The fog then reappears along with the revenants, and Blake decapitates Malone.

The vengeful spirits, led by Blake, claim their final victim after being given back the stolen gold, but return once more to kill Father Malone, fulfilling their demand for six deaths.

The ending underscores the inescapability of past crimes and the cost of founding the town on betrayal and murder. Even after the gold is returned, the ghosts’ revenge is incomplete until their demand is fully met, emphasizing that some debts—especially those paid in blood—are not so easily settled. The film closes with a chilling reminder that the past can never truly be buried, especially when it’s lurking in the fog.