On the 20th night of Halloween, my true love gave to me, a shape-shifting alien in the Antarctic.
1982’s “The Thing,” ranks with “Alien” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (reviewed earlier in this series) among the scariest sci-fi horror flicks. Although considered a remake of 1951’s “The Thing from Another World,” “The Thing” bears more resemblance to “Alien,” which came out just a few years before. Lacking the depth of characterization of “Alien,” and ending rather ignominiously, the film still deserves high praise for its sheer intensity and fantastic special effects.
Directed by John Carpenter, "The Thing" came out a scant few years after his mega-classic masked killer masterpiece “Halloween” and remains one of the director’s crowning achievements. Kurt Russell stars as MacReady, a helicopter pilot investigating strange occurrences at a research station in the Antarctic. This location provides the perfectly isolated setting inherently necessary to build tension. Although the movie charts a fairly predictable course, “The Thing” heightens suspense through The Thing’s shape-shifting ability, which prevents the characters from knowing who is and who isn’t The Thing, thus leaving them unable to trust anyone.
[SPOILERS] The film includes incredibly creepy and cool special effects sequences. For example, while a doctor is checking an unconscious man’s stomach, the stomach opens up as a big mouth with huge teeth which immediately bite off the doctor's hands and forearms. The Thing then devours the doctor entirely, and the two then morph together as a new iteration of The Thing. In the next sequence, after the doctor’s head gets severed, the head takes on a life of its own, growing tentacles out of its neck. Although the idea of the alien coming out of the stomach was surely lifted from "Alien," "The Thing" took the concept and expanded it with a satisfying outcome.
The film, based on the novella “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell, Jr., was adapted by actor Burt Lancaster’s son Bill. An alternate happy ending was filmed at the prompting of film editor Todd C. Ramsay, but never released.
One of the most effective stand-alone episodes from the "The X-Files," entitled Ice, drew inspiration from "The Thing." A 2011 prequel, also entitled "The Thing," garnered poor critical response.
