The Thing Reviews

A Genuine Classic

Set in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, 1982, John Carpenter brings us a genuine ?re-imagining? of Howard Hawkes? 1957 classic, ?The Thing From Another World?. The premise is the same - a group of scientists working at a remote outpost discover the frozen remains of the titular ?thing?, an alien creature which has been buried in the ice for 100,000 years. When the specimen is brought back to base, havoc ensues as it goes on a ravenous rampage.

Yet here is where Carpenter takes an audacious detour, deftly abandoning Hawkes? Frankenstinian tall-man-in-a-suit, and employing the considerable talents of FX whiz-kid Rob Bottin. Gone is the lumbering bi-ped, shuffling down the corridors like some geriatric basketball player. In comes a shape-shifting terror which assimilates its host and imitates it to perfection, revealing its identity only when survival is threatened. It?s a bold move by Carpenter, extraordinarily executed through restrained performances from the cast and an eye-poppingly gruesome turn from the thing itself.

The movie kicks off with a lone dog running franctically through the snow and into the US outpost, pursued relentlessly by a Norwegian helicopter. When the crew suddenly pull out a rifle and start shooting, the Yanks suddenly twig that all is not well. One misplaced grenade later and the Norwegians are history. So is any hope of an explanation. The US team take their own helicopter out to the Norwegians base, where a grim discovery is made?

This is a movie about survival and perhaps works so well because the characters (all male) don?t suffer from stupidity syndrome. These are not nubile teenagers, butchered to death because they were daft enough to wander semi-naked into the basement unaccompanied. These are scientists, thrown into a terrifying scenario as they battle against an unseen intruder.

Shot with a genuine sense of mounting claustrophobia and paranoia (the camera frequently weaves silently through empty corridors), Carpenter avoids the usual bag of horror cliches and instead allows the concept itself to chill. What if man is the warmest place to hide (as the tagline says) and the creature you?re most afraid of is impossible to find?

Kurt Russell is well cast as the reluctant leader of the team, a man with little to lose and enough attitude to take this creature apart. He?s supported by a competent array of actors who play it straight and react believably to Rob Bottin?s mesmerisingly grotesque ?thing?. The level of imagination here is mind-blowing, particularly when the thing takes every conceivable step to preserve itself. Be prepared to catch your jaw when you get to the operating room scene ? it?s one of cinema?s finest.

The Thing is a tremendous effort from a director who?s sadly gone the way of the dogs in recent years. Hailing from a pre-CGI era, the special effects are streets ahead of anything you will see today (sincerely) and the action cracks along at a relentless pace. A must-have addition to anyone DVD collection.

what a cult classic

Even though i have seen this film many times over the years. im still surprised how it seems timeless.

a classic that deserves a five star rating....excellent!!!

Horror, fear & 'edge of your seat' suspense

I had seen the original 1950's film but never this 1982 classic version, brilliantly directed by John Carpenter ("The Fog" and "Halloween"). So often I find that re-makes are never as good as the original, but not in this case.

'The Thing', set in the cold, icy wastes of the Antarctic, is a marvelous mixture of horror, fear and 'edge of your seat' suspense. You get the urge to run from the room on several occasions. Carpenter takes you through the scientific quarters, sharing every uncomfortable moment with the men, until you begin to feel as if you are in there with them. How long will it be before you are The Thing's next victim?

The score to the film is skillfully provided by Ennio Morricone, setting exactly the right mood throughout the film's phases. The acting is also superb, led by Kurt Russell and Wilford Brimley. They start out as good scientists but soon become paranoid with themselves and each other, as The Thing goes about its business of removing them one by one.

Technically the DVD is pretty good. The print from which this disc was cast was unfortunately a little dirty, made more obvious when out in the white backdrops of the Antarctic. The sound track is a good 5.1 re-mix, bringing an extra dimension to the frightening drama.

This is a fantastic movie and is well worth renting for your DVD player.

However, don't expect to get any sleep if you make it a late night viewing, as I did!

In Antarctica no one can hear you scream..

To begin with, the whole premise of The Thing is very similar to Alien - a group of people isolated with no chance of rescue, with a malevolent alien being wandering around, obviously intending to pick them off one by one.

But The Thing very quickly becomes its own film and a very good one at that, thanks to strong leading cast members, a good script and some truly horrible special effects. It's been said before, especially by me, but it's another film that proves that hand-made effects can look better than just relying on CGI.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a remake of this some time soon, but it'd be hard to improve on the work of Russell, Carpenter and effects man Stan Winston (Terminator, etc).

Classic film, with the genuine scares you don't get in supposed 'horror' films these days.

A quality Sci-Fi treat

The Thing is a classic Sci-Fi movie that everyone who is a fan of this genre should watch.

Although it is an old film the special effects for the time are groundbreaking.

Kurt Russell is excellently cast as the serious but keep-it-together lead.

The movie builds up to a great climax that will keep you hooked right up until the end.

Excellent work from dir John Carpenter.

A+

[Highly rated reviewer]

Quality. A fantastic plot submerged in once state-of-the-art but now funny monster effects. Without doubt Carpenter's best, from an age when Kurt Russell was cool. Although, that said, in the last year or two, he's cool again now with a couple of recent cracking films, but I digress.

The poster tagline: "Man is the warmest place to hide".

Come on, tell me that doesn't rock?

I'm starting a campaign to get them to remake this again.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Extremely off-putting...

Extremely put-off by its dated look. Nothing made me want to watch it...!

Supposedly classic horror movie....

Not scary at all and frankly quite pathetic. It was all so predictable and the story line was so erratic. Just for their information, winter in Antartica means there is no daylight... typical american b.....t

Man Is The Warmest Place To Hide

Its hard to believe this film is now over twenty years old. Its an absolute classic which is still scary and will still make you jump.

Set in an Antarctic research station the film follows the story of the ten or so men based there, as they are killed one by one by an alien. But the alien can change shape and hide in the bodies of anybody. Tension and paranioa is built up superbly, as the survivors begin to accuse each other of being the alien.

One of the outstanding things about this film is the special effects, which were acheived the old fashioned way, without the use of any CGI. They still look amazing. In fact, some of it looks all the better for not being CGI, as it has a more organic look to it. Watch, and you'll see what I mean.

I always like a film that avoids an obvious happy ending, and this film certainly does that.

Claustrophobic Terror!

This film is all about tension -and it has it in spades. The claustrophobia generated by the (alarmingly small) Antartic research outpost is immense -there is just no escape. Go out into the subzero temperatures and live an hour at most or risk being absorbed by a chameleonic alien which is indistiguishable from your normal colleagues. The scene where Kurt Russell's character has the others tied to chairs and he is testing their blood for alien infection is sublime in its execution of building anticipation and then shock. The acting is fine -if a bit wooden from some less well established actors, but Kurt Russell shines -it's as if his character has been so bored (playing chess with a computer) that an alien infestation is a welcome antidote! Excellent.