The Thing” is john Carpenter’s 1982 of the original 1951 film “The Thing From Another World”.
It recreates the premise of a group of scientists, stuck in the Antarctic, that find a hostile shapeshifting alien that has laid dormant for thousands of years in the Antarctic ice. As a shapeshifter, once it gets going, it learns to mimic the scientists that it murders, prompting wonderful scenes of confusion and paranoia.
Kurt Russell is the closest thing we have to a hero at least, he’s the one that seems to step up and take control. Russell would be Carpenter’s Anna Karina of sorts the director seems fascinated by Russell’s tough, brooding face, and it’s used to maximum effect here.
“The Thing” did rather poorly in its theatrical release, perhaps because of the vague title, but since then, the movie has found a ferocious audience among horror fans. It was a film that went all out for special effects while they might look dated compared to the CGI effects of today, I find the rubber and latex animatronics to be vastly superior.
The alien takes on some horrible forms and Carpenter gives it to us in a nightmarish concoction. There’ll be ooze and blood tentacles and gruesome deaths. This is definitely a movie for horror fetishists.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of “The Thing” is the movie’s halfway point, when the alien has successfully shapeshifted into one of the crew, and they’re all eyeing each other suspiciously.
At this point, the movie moves away from easy fright horror and elevates itself into allegory. We assume that Kurt Russell is not the alien because he’s presented to the audience as the protagonist, but what of the other survivors?
Naturally, though, Russell comes up with a plan to determine which crewmember is the shapeshifting alien, the setting for one of the all time classic horror moment, wrought with tension.
“The Thing” is one of those films that’ll never find its way onto lofty film journal pages, but is still a momentous achievement. It’s beautifully shot, timed to perfection and genuinely achieves a sense of dread. Horror never looked so good.
I say: “The Thing” was recommended to me, a long time ago, by Bryn from Horrorphile. He just came back from his honeymooon, so this review is my tip of the hat to the Orble master of horror. Cheers, Bryn, a fantastic recommendation!
See it for: There are several ‘infamous’ scenes, but the insane special effects of the ‘running head’ scene is unbelievable.
To watch more movies like The Thing 1982 visit hurawatch
Also watch: