The Thing

(1982)

By Jason Marsiglia

Out of 4

The story has become something of Marsiglia lore in my family. A brilliant, calculated move on my dad’s part that shook my foundations about just what a horror film was capable of doing to an unassuming viewer. I had just started getting into horror films and was still rather naively trekking through the genre, but I had very little to go on at the time. Having really only seen George A. Romero’s Creepshow, I guess I had it in my head that “this is what horror movies are”. It was my first “real” horror film, so it served as a template. That said, I wanted something “like that”, and pestered my dad to rent more horror films.

He ran out and rented 1931’s Frankenstein because it was something that frightened him as a kid and he wanted to share it with us. We watch it, and my brother and I are absolutely howling with laughter. It was so cheesy! Now, a father myself, I dread that day – when I pop in something I find exciting for my kids and it’s promptly laughed out of the room. Only now do I realize what kind of a blow that must have been for dad. We essentially pissed on something beloved from his childhood, and then when the laughter subsided, we said, “Dad, seriously, rent something scary next time, okay?”

Now, obviously, Frankenstein is a wonderful film and I adore it. But I was a dumb kid back then, so I rather obnoxiously assumed my dad didn’t “get” what kind of “scary” I was talking about or asking for. So the next weekend, he quietly brought home John Carpenter’s remake of the 1951 Howard Hawks classic The Thing From Another World. My brother and I snickered. The Thing? Even at that age, it sounded cheap and like a B-grade sci-fi disaster. A monster so cheesy they couldn’t even classify it with a suitable title – just “the thing”. Okay, right, sure. This will be scary.

Dad didn’t mind. He let us laugh, let us get it all out. But when he popped that tape into the VCR, his two obnoxious, snickering kids shut the fuck up – real quick.

The “kennel scene” alone made my skin go ashy. My brother was done. His towel was thrown in. Dad, having chalked himself up a HUGE victory for himself, had gotten his revenge, and it landed hard in that living room. He casually asked me if I wanted to finish the film, adding in a justifiably condescending tone, “that is, of course, unless you’re too scared…”

Never one to back down from a challenge, I agreed to finish the film. Not only wasn’t I going to leave my dignity on the floor (where my jaw had dropped in horror), but this was an opportunity to put my money where my shit-talking mouth was. Dad did, after all, meet my challenge to “rent something scary”, after all…

The following 109 minutes were some of the most harrowing, terrifying cinematic experiences of my life.

The basic premise, about a research team in the Antarctic running across a malevolent creature from space, is the same as the 1951 film it’s remaking. However, John Carpenter and company have decided to adapt the John W. Campbell Jr. story “Who Goes There?” in a much more literal sense. Shying away from what’s become standard of alien or monster movies at the time (people in scary – or not so scary – rubber suits), they create the creature described in the tale – a vicious alien that can consume and mimic its prey to the smallest detail. When a Norwegian lands a chopper at their camp taking shots at a fleeing Alaskan Husky, it’s the Norwegian who’s considered crazy and shot dead when he starts waving the gun and screaming incomprehensible threats (which, ultimately, were desperate warnings to save the puzzled Americans).

The dog is ushered into a kennel with the other dogs, and immediately begins to split apart and consume the other frightened dogs in what could possibly be one of the most frightening sequences in film history, and certainly one of the most complex and ghastly in special effects by far. And it’s just the first of many, as the creature escapes the kennel, and now neither the team – nor the audience – has any idea who “the thing” is.

Up until this point, Carpenter’s films were expert examples of mood and dread over style and effects. With The Thing, Carpenter hired on the budding young effects artist Rob Bottin, who created the werewolf make-up and transformation effects for Joe Dante’s The Howling. Not a penny went to waste on the screen as all manner of grotesque, gruesome, blood-spraying, tentacle-sprouting monstrosities will emerge with an inhuman scream and crawl toward us when the “imitation” is caught by the paranoid group of researchers.

It’s scary enough not knowing who is who anymore, but the sheer dread of knowing that someone will eventually be revealed as the creature and that a new, horrifying manifestation of the creature will explode from the person and make an attempt to escape is almost unbearably suspenseful.

Kurt Russell, in his third collaboration with Carpenter, is a peculiar hero, as most of his are in John’s films. The “reluctant” hero, who has initiative forced upon him in dire circumstances. He’s terrified, as terrified as anyone else here – but he maintains his cool, and isn’t too clumsy with a flame-thrower either. The odds against him are worse. Alien aside, he’s got a camp full of people he can’t entirely trust, and certainly don’t have a good reason to trust him either. Couple that up with the blizzard that’s effectively snowed them in with the creature, and the situation is positively claustrophobic. Russell is fantastic here, and the role has gone on to become one of his most celebrated and revered – certainly not to discredit the performances by everyone else. There isn’t a person here who doesn’t effectively project their fear or paranoia about him or anyone around them. It all culminates in one of the classic ambiguous final shots, not letting us off the hook for a second, even as the end credits roll.

The Thing is a landmark film in the world of practical effects, and continues to triumph over computer generated creatures to this very day with its horrifying details and otherworldly designs. Carpenter also proved here that even with a cadre of talented special effects teams behind his film, that he was still as effective as ever in bringing true terror to audiences, whether the scares are as subtle as Halloween or The Fog, or not. Effects films like this are as “in your face” as they get, but few generate the true, overwhelming sense of terror and dread that this film does. It remains a true horror and sci-fi classic – and certainly the scariest extraterrestrial film I’ve ever seen, rivaling even Ridley Scott’s Alien. It bears such an aggressive and relentless rolling thunder of pure terror, that aside from maybe James Cameron’s 1986 sequel Aliens, I haven’t seen or experienced anything like it since.

C: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Donald Moffat, David Clennon. D: John Carpenter. Sub genre: Aliens. Time: 109 minutes. Ratio: (2.35:1) Widescreen. Rated R: Strong creature violence and disturbing imagery, strong language, drug content and gore.

The Best Digital Bang For Your Hard-Earned Buck:

First up is an Audio Commentary with director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell. A Carpenter commentary is always a blast – add to that Kurt Russell, who always delivers some great anecdotes about the production, and you’ve got yet another great Carpenter/Russell commentary. Further evidence? Check out the commentaries for Escape From New York and Big Trouble in Little China.

Next is an awesome 82-Minute Documentary called “The Thing: Terror Takes Shape” that chronicles everything about the production – from inception to completion and even a look back at the film’s meager success upon release and how it’s become a classic through home video. What’s great about this is that it covers everything, but pays extra special care in detailing the special effects by Rob Bottin. Let’s face it – the performances, writing and direction are top notch, but it’s the grisly creature effects that will resonate you, if they haven’t already. Lots of good stuff here, and it compliments the commentary nicely.

There’s also some rough Behind the Scenes footage, which includes a couple of Stop-Motion effects sequences that weren’t used in the film. Clearly they were cut because the stop-motion doesn’t jive with everything else, but it was cool to see anyway.

We also have a series of Outtakes, which is funny because they’re not “outtakes” at all, but rather Deleted or Unused scenes. No goof-ups, line-flubs or practical jokes, so don’t go in expecting a chuckle.

Image galleries containing storyboards, concept art, and promotional material line out several of the film’s galleries, including the film’s premiere with horror hostess Elvira, which is cool.

A theatrical trailer and some production notes round off this Collector’s edition, which should contain more than a few hours to digest. As a die-hard fan of the film, this wasn’t just a “must-own”. It’s a crown jewel in my collection.

Sequels: Though it’s been largely written off as a remake (for it’s similarities, and less because of the title), 2011’s The Thing was a prequel that chronicled the creature’s discovery in Antarctica, and how it subsequently attacked the Norwegian camp we see briefly in Carpenter’s film. It all leads up to Carpenter’s film rather cleverly.

Fans of the film might also be interested in a 2002 video game that was produced by Konami and Universal Interactive that takes place several weeks after the events of this film, as a search and rescue team are sent into the outpost to find out why communication has been severed. Though it’s no film, the story continues the film’s mythology, answers a few unanswered questions and contains a great detail of continuity.

Remakes: Again, the 2011 prequel is not a remake, and this film has not been remade in any capacity.

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