Review of The Thing (1982) by X X — 08 Oct 2013

John Carpenter's The Thing is one of the best horror movies of all time as well as one of John Carpenter's crowning achievements and that is saying a lot. Yes, I think this film is better than Halloween. The Thing is probably my second favorite John Carpenter film, with the first being The Fog. I liked The Fog a bit more because I liked the characters a bit more but this film is a very close second. The Thing has a great cast, fun characters, amazing effects, great location, and terrific atmosphere.

The Thing is actually a remake of an old horror film from 1951 called The Thing from Another World which was an adaption of John W. Campbell's story "Who Goes There." I have not seen the film so I cannot say much on it, but from what I have seen I can probably say that this film is better. John Carpenter wanted to do things that the old film did not have the budget for and do a more accurate adaption of "Who Goes There." Most remakes are unnecessary and are not even close to as good as the first film. To me, a remake is only warranted if the original did not have the budget or writing talent to execute its premise or ideas to the fullest extent. The remake of the Blob is an example of a remake that is warranted, because the original did not have the resources to execute its premise well. This film is another example of a good remake.

The story is as follows. An alien space ship crashes into Antarctica thousands of years ago. Cut to present day a band of Norwegians in a helicopter are chasing a dog until it comes to the American outpost. There you meet the star characters: MacReady (Kurt Russell), Blair (Wilford Brimley, Childs (Keith David), Palmer (David Clennon), and many other characters. MacReady then decides to go to the Norwegian outpost to see what is happening. He then finds everyone dead, a bunch of deformed bodies burned, and a giant ice block that they seem to have dug up that seemed to have encased something. The dog turns out to be an extraterrestrial shape-shifting creature aiming to assimilate everything. This creature can also take on the appearance of any of them. MacReady and the rest face total isolation with the creature capable of being any one of them.

The film has great atmosphere and tension. This is helped by the great location. Antarctica provides complete isolation which adds to the dread and the direness of the situation. The idea of the creature being able to be anyone of them provides much tension and dread for not just the characters but the audience as well. Throughout the film you are with these characters and you find more of the mystery as they do. The characters are also quite likable or at least relatable. The characters can act irrational many times, but if you were in that situation you would act the same way. Everyone gave a great performance as well. Kurt Russell is a great actor and I think that this is one of his best roles. Keith David also does great. Keith Davis is amazing in anything he does whether it sucks or not.

The effects are mind-blowing. This film came out in 1982 and the effects still hold up phenomenally well. In fact, the effects are as good or better than effects in many films today which is amazing and honestly pretty sad. They went through hell to get these effects work because this was before CGI.

Overall, The Thing is an amazing horror and an instant classic. I think it is criminal that this film did poorly in theaters when it first came out. 1982 was the year of E.T., meant bad news for any futuristic alien film that is not like it. Thankfully the film has become a classic at home which is great. Actually, most John Carpenter film does not do well in theaters, but becomes a classic at home. If you have not seen the thing yet, go and see it. If you are a fan of horror then you owe it to yourself to see this film.