‘Why don’t we just wait here for a little while… see what happens…’
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Charles Hallahan, Richard Masur, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat
Plot: The scientists at a remote US outpost in Antartica stumble upon the seemingly unoccupied Norweigan frontier that holds evidence of a mysterious extraterrestrial existence. Upon the return to their own camp, they appear to have unknowingly brought along this mysterious shape-shifting alien that is able to manifest itself into any being it kills…
Horror Highlights: From the top-notch performances and the foreboding sense of dread (in part due to Ennio Morricone’s intimidating score), there is so much to marvel at (and terrify) during the THE THING’s running time – Albert Whitlock’s seamless matte paintings, Dean Cundey’s claustrophobic cinematography, that chilling, if somewhat, brave downbeat ending, what more’s needed to impress? Oh, yes – Rob Bottin’s groundbreaking and frankly still-astounding practical effects (f**k you CGI) – hideously disgusting yet ingenious and unforgettable, settting the bar for the genre in general, even now!
Biggest Scare: There is the first (close) encounter as THE THING devours the team’s huskies after taking the shape of the Norweigen’s surviving pup (‘I dunno what the hell’s in there, but it’s weird and pissed off, whatever it is.’). Also, there’s the notorious ‘blood test’ scene as Russell’s MacReady tries to unearth which of his crew have the ‘creature’ hiding in plain sight (‘I’d rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!’). But the scene that stands out more than any is the one in which Richard Dysart’s Doc takes a defibrillator to the collapsed Norris (Charles Hallahan), only to get a rather fierce bite from his pal’s quivering corpse that renders him armless. It doesn’t stop there, as Norris (or rather THE THING) loses his head (literally), which quickly sprouts legs and antenna and scuttles away (‘You gotta be fucking kidding!’).
On its initial release in 1982, John Carpenter’s remake of Howard Hawkes’ THE THING (FROM ANOTHER WORLD) was a box-office disaster. Audiences preferring Spielberg’s cuddly, kid-friendly sci-fi masterpiece ET: THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL and its little doe-eyed bicycle-riding midget, as opposed to the HALLOWEEN legend’s paranoia-fuelled, skin-crawling creature-feature. It’s not hard to see why, but THE THING is now cemented as an absolute classic amongst genre fans, cinephiles and critics alike. The film also spawned a prequel of the same name, released a couple of years ago, which, whilst not being perfect, still had its moments (granted, familiar) but was no where near as dire as many expected.
We’ll have another terror for you tomorrow at THN and you can view them all here
Dan Bullock
Oct 3, 2012 at 1:19 pm
The Thing is just a tremendous piece of cinema.
Great call, awesome write-up. YES.