Review of The Thing (1982) by Ben L — 24 Nov 2014
As a horror movie hater naturally I'm not going to dig all the gore effects in John Carpenter's The Thing. I must say they are impressive, and clearly a lot of thought and effort was put into each one.
The different grotesque mutations that the Thing goes through are intense and really add to the feeling of impending doom since even a small piece can infect another being. However, what interested me more was the tone they created where all these guys were suspicious of one another.
That kind of creepy dread that comes from not knowing who might be a Thing and who is still human is not used enough in film. I thought the writers did a great job of holding back just enough information from the audience so we have no idea who is safe either.
In fact, I wish they would have drawn that out more. The bickering about who is and who isn't can be infinitely more interesting than just having a simple blood test (although, to be fair, the tension in the blood test scene was superb.
) I liked the cast a lot too, and was surprised how they did a fairly good job of creating 12 distinct characters that I could easily tell apart from one another. But because the movie leaned more towards gory horror and less towards suspense, I just can't see myself ever wanting to see The Thing again.
For those that enjoy this kind of movie it is great, but it's just not for me.
This review of The Thing (1982) was written by Ben L on 24 Nov 2014.
The Thing has generally received very positive reviews.
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