The Thing (1982)
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The Thing, also known as John Carpenter's The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell novella, Who Goes There?, it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates and then imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them could be the Thing.
Summary
In the cold remote continent of Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot and the camp doctor lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.
Why It Rocks
- The film manages to be a brilliant remake of The Thing from Another World while having its adjustments to make the film more nightmarish for the 1980s.
- Brilliant and very convincing makeup designs and amazing practical effects for the Things.
- Much like Halloween, Escape from New York and Christine, John Carpenter has shown to have amazing skills as a director.
- Over 90% of the movie has no soundtrack which gives it a more spooky, claustrophobic feeling.
- The parts that do have music are amazing and fit the tone of the film very well. Especially the theme music.
- Many unexpected twists and turns, especially when it comes to finding out which character is a Thing.
- Unforgettable and interesting characters, especially R.J. MacReady and his mission to uncover the truth behind the strange happenings in Antarctica.
- Well-done cinematography.
- The acting is wonderful, especially from Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady.
- Tons of memorable scenes, such as when Windows sees Bennings being assimilated by the Thing, Dr. Copper's death, and the famous "blood testing" scene.
Reception
The film was heavily panned during its release, barely making back its budget domestically. Famous, acclaimed critics like Roger Ebert disliked the film for its violence and plot, which he considered foolish. Critics at that time strongly hated blood, gore, and violence in films, and regarded it as a brainless gore fest and Carpenter's worst work. People were not happy about the differences between it and the original film “Who goes there”. It was considered "Instant Junk" a wretched excess", and proposed as the most-hated film of all time by film magazine Cinefantastique. The fact that it was released just two weeks after the smash-hit friendly-alien movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial did not help. It was neither a box office success nor a failure, but the 42nd highest-grossing film of 1982. However, like Blade Runner, over the years the critical reception has been re-evaluated, it was re-examined and slowly went from a cult classic to being regarded as a milestone in the Horror genre, and one of the best science fiction and horror films ever made.
Trivia
- The original tagline for the film, "Man is the warmest place to hide.", was written by Stephen Frankfort, who wrote the Alien tagline, "In space no one can hear you scream." The tagline was later changed by Universal Studios, to "The ultimate in alien terror.", trying to capitalize on Alien's audience.
- Carpenter attempted to make a last-minute change of the film's title to Who Goes There?, to no avail.
- This movie somewhat inspired The Impostor for the game Among Us.
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