Review of The Thing from Another World (1951) by Will D — 01 Nov 2009
Along with Don Siegel's Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this is probably my favourite of the 50s Sci-Fi horror movies I've seen to date. Watching it again, what impresses me most is the sheer volume of dialogue crammed into these 90 minutes.
Produced by Howard Hawks, with uncredited screenplay contributions from Ben Hecht, The Thing from Another World is like the His Girl Friday of the sci-fi era. Not only does the sophisticated, overlapping, bantering dialogue keep the movie fresh, it also ensures that there is insufficient time for us to snicker at the usual cod-scientific technobabble without being left behind.
It is a measure of how well made the film is that it can dispense with the strongest idea in John W Campbell's original story, namely that The Thing is able to mimic other life forms, and still manage to be a masterpiece!
This review of The Thing from Another World (1951) was written by Will D on 01 Nov 2009.
The Thing from Another World has generally received positive reviews.
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