Our ongoing series reviewing the greatest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror movies. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
Directed By: John Carpenter
Produced By: David Foster, Lawrence Turman, Stuart Cohen (co-producer), Larry J Franco (associate producer), Wilbur Stark (executive producer)
Written By: Bill Lancaster, John W Campbell (story)
Starring: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, TK Carter, David Clennon, Richard Dysart
Original Release: 1982
Reviewed By: Aaron Hammonds
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Synopsis: The Thing stars Kurt Russell as RJ MacReady, an Army chopper pilot assigned to a US government research post in Antarctica. At the beginning of the film, a dog runs into camp being chased by two Norwegians in a helicopter. Both of the Norwegians are shortly killed (one by accident, one by the US base’s CO because the Norwegian shoots an American soldier), and the Americans figure it’s probably a case of cabin fever. To be sure, MacReady takes the camp’s physician, Copper (Richard Dysart) to the Norwegians’ camp to see if they need help. MacReady and Copper find the camp and all the Norwegians destroyed by fire; they also find that the Norwegians had discovered an alien life-form and ship buried in the ice. They bring the alien remains back to base along with videotapes of the Norwegians’ work. Shortly afterward, the Americans discover that their newly-acquired dog, as MacReady puts it, “ain’t what he appears to be.” Soon, the men are in a struggle for their lives against an alien creature that consumes and then perfectly imitates other life-forms, and they realize that, if the Thing reaches civilization, it will mean the end of all indigenous life on Earth.
Review/Commentary: In 1978 John Carpenter changed the face of cinematic horror with his signature work Halloween. He followed that up with another great work of low-budget terror, The Fog. After that, he showed an adeptness at the action/science fiction genre with Escape from New York. In no time at all, Carpenter was being courted by the major studios to make a big-budget film with his unique sense of style. In 1982 he did just that with a remake of one of his favorite films, The Thing from Another World (from 1951).
Carpenter has said on more than one occasion that his favorite filmmaker is Howard Hawks, the producer (and rumored “real” director) of the original The Thing; he even managed to work a reference to it into Halloween (it was one of the films being shown on television as Michael Myers was spreading terror from house to house). When Universal approached Carpenter about making Halloween II, he agreed to write the screenplay on the condition that he be allowed to shoot a remake of The Thing from Another World. The studio enthusiastically agreed and, as soon as the script for Halloween II was finished, Carpenter set to work on finding the right screenwriter to pen The Thing, eventually going with Bill Lancaster, son of the great Burt Lancaster.
Carpenter’s primary vision of the film (and the only directive he gave to Lancaster during the writing process) was a return to the original source material. The original film was a screen adaptation of a John W Campbell short story published in 1938 entitled “Who Goes There?” but took major liberties with the storyline: in the original film, the Thing (played by future TV star James Arness) is more of a Frankenstein’s Monster-type creature that the soldiers are trying to hunt down and contain. Carpenter saw much more interesting possibilities in the original story of a shape-shifting creature threatening to take over the expedition.
The performances in The Thing are among the best in science fiction cinema. Russell is great as the world-weary chopper pilot MacReady, thrust into a leadership role he clearly doesn’t want but seems born to do. Wilford Brimley (famed Cream of Wheat and diabetes testing supply spokesman) is brilliant as Blair, the biologist driven to the brink of insanity with the realization of the ramifications of the Thing reaching civilization. Keith David is his usual intimidating self as Childs, the intelligent yet hotheaded soldier ready to pounce on anyone once the light of suspicion is cast upon them. Donald Moffat is excellent as Garry, the camp head honcho who apparently went to the Henry Blake (M*A*S*H) School of Command. Richard Masur is noteworthy as Clark, the first member of the team to fall under suspicion and who plays the role with an understated ambiguity, leaving the audience as much in the dark as the characters. Unfortunately there are too many great actors in this film to mention them all, but trust me, there’s not a single bad performance in the bunch.
The groundbreaking special effects for The Thing were crafted by Rob Bottin (with minor assistance from Stan Winston), who had worked with Carpenter previously on The Fog as well as the original Piranha and The Howling. Bottin’s work was criticized at the time as excessive, but later re-evaluation has led to it being praised as some of the greatest effects work of the pre-CGI era.
If I had to describe The Thing with just one word, it would have to be paranoia. What makes it such a masterpiece of suspense is the pervasive feeling of paranoia felt throughout the film, a feeling inherent in the premise itself: a creature capable of reshaping itself into a perfect imitation of any life-form it consumes, even capable of imitating multiple life-forms simultaneously. How could one not be driven mad with paranoia if caught in this situation?
As for favorite scenes, I would have to mention the first appearance of the Thing in the kennel (“I don’t know what the hell’s in there, but it’s weird and pissed off whatever it is.”). I could also bring up the scene where Blair destroys the radio room (“You don’t understand; that thing wanted to be UUUUUSSSSS!!!”) Another great one is the blood test (“I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I’d rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!!!”).
I’ve already mentioned some great lines (this movie seems to have more great lines per capita than almost any other genre film), but at least two more bear mentioning:
MacReady: Childs, we’re goin’ out to give Blair the test; if he tries to make it back here and we’re not with him, burn him.
Garry: The generator’s gone.
MacReady: Any way we can fix it?
Garry: It’s gone, MacReady.
The Thing was blasted by critics upon its release in 1982, most of whom complained that the film was excessively gory and self-indulgent. Audiences weren’t interested in a downbeat alien creature feature when they could, within the same cineplex, see a far more uplifting version of first contact, Steven Spielberg’s ET: the Extra-Terrestrial. The film ended up being a box-office bomb and set Carpenter’s career back significantly, forcing him to take more commercial assignments such as the Stephen King adaptation of Christine, the science fiction romance Starman, and the made-for-cable Body Bags, not truly getting his career back on track until 1987′s Prince of Darkness. Once the film was released on home video, however, it found its audience and the re-assessments began. Now, both the film and Carpenter are given the respect they deserve, with The Thing routinely appearing on various lists of the greatest horror and/or science fiction films ever made.
If you haven’t seen The Thing, you definitely should. It’s a science fiction classic, and one of the creepiest movies you’ll ever see…
Check out Aaron Hammonds’ blog Aaron’s Movie Madness where he reviews his favorite movies.
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