Day 26: The Thing

26. The Thing (1982)
Dir: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russel, Keith David, Wilford Brimley...

The remake of a film previously included on this list, John Carpenter's 1982 Sci-Fi/Horror film is not only a more faithful adaptation of John W. Campbell's short story, but also one of my personal favorite movies of all time.

A team of Antarctic researchers discover the remains of a shape-shifting life form who starts to infect certain members of the group. With the flawless ability to imitate life, the paranoia of who's human and who's not soon enough pits the group against each other in a gruesomely graphic and highly horrific free for all. Starring a talented ensemble cast with few big names, The Thing is a very character driven horror story.

Continually unpredictable, The Thing keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through. The sets and visual of the research base create strong feelings of isolation accompanied by a brilliantly chilling score from master composer Ennio Morricone. Rob Bottin provides the creature effects, along with effects consultant Stan Winston, for some of the most twisted abominations you'll ever see in a movie. You got a dog mutating into some bizarre flower shaped monster, a human head sprouting spider legs and tentacles aplenty in these deformed creatures which still look pretty impressive by today's standards.



Originally overlooked as just another violent horror movie upon it's release, a strong following for the film formed years later when it was released on VHS and DVD, and now it's considered to be one of horror master John Carpenter's best films. I went ahead this season and watched both the original and remake and I have to say there's no comparison. The themes, effects, mood and atmosphere of Carpenter's version are definitely more compelling and elaborate (I got to give props to Bill Lancaster's script) than anything in the original. Carpenter's version as well provides a significantly more terrifying edge with Bottin's grotesque effects and the highly psychological elements of isolation and paranoia faced by the characters. Hawks version has some clever dialogue and some nice vintage scares but it no where near leaves the same impact as Carpenter's 80s classic.

Fright Fact: Richard's Dysart's extra for the scene where he loses his hands, was performed by a double amputee given fake hands.

Horror Highlight: Norris becomes The Thing