John Carpenter’s The
Thing is one of the Scariest Horror Movies of the
80s.
The Thing plays on uncertainty,
and when there is not a definable villain the tension is thick and
nobody can be trusted.
Written by: BHM Editor Don
Sumner January 14, 2007
Release:
1982 Directed by: John Carpenter Written by: John W. Campbell Jr. (story Who Goes
There?) and Bill Lancaster (screenplay)
Starring:
Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady A. Wilford Brimley as Dr. Blair T.K. Carter as Nauls David Clennon as Palmer Keith David as Childs
The foreshadowing is brief and to the point in the opening
seconds of The Thing. A space craft erratically
heads through space toward earth. There is a bit of flame upon entry to
earth’s atmosphere and then the craft descends to land on our
planet’s surface.
Beautiful and peaceful snowscapes fill the screen as The Thing
continues – peaceful and isolated. The chopping of
a helicopter shatters the silence as it streaks across the
snow-covered landscape and engages in a desperate hunt for…a
dog.
The dog
avoids capture and enters a camp of scientists with the helicopter
occupants in hot pursuit. The crazy behavior and
foreign tongue of the dog-pursuers along with explosions and gunfire
result in the destruction of the helicopter and both occupants. The dog
survives.
These opening sequences of The Thing give a hint to
the action-packed experience the next 90 minutes or so will bring. The
dog, you see, is actually an alien that has the
ability to assume the shape and personality of any life-form it comes
in contact with. And this alien is deadly.
John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of the
most well-loved horror movies there are, and with good reason. The
acting is great, led by Kurt Russell as the forever-drunk frustrated
action hero R.J. MacReady. A. Wilford Brimley also does a great job as
the kindly Dr. Blair that sees a potential global threat in the
alien…and then loses his marbles and
goes nuts.
The
effects in The Thing are fantastic. Keep in mind
this was 1982, before many of the technological advances in FX, so the
effects were primarily done manually through make-up and
animatronics. Dreamstate was the company that provided the
effects, and a crew of almost 40 effects artists worked on The
Thing including Lance Anderson (Shocker, Pet
Semetary, The Serpent and the Rainbow), Brian Wade (Blade,
The Omen (remake), Van Helsing) and David
P. Kelsey (The Craft, Mission Impossible: II, Bruce Almighty)
among many others.
John
Carpenter’s direction and interpretation of the story are
absolutely flawless. The moods are cast just right, the build-up to sheer
panic and insanity is smooth and appropriate and the story is
told expertly.
Now, the guys in The Thing are a bit
“rough and tumble” to be scientists in my
book…but I let that part slide. The Thing
was so well-made for 1982 that modern technology does not render the
film silly or obsolete. In those days the $10 Million budget
was pretty high for a horror flick (compared to $700K for Friday
the 13th and $375K for Halloween), and it
shows.
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These opening sequences of The Thing give a hint to
the action-packed experience the next 90 minutes or so will bring. The
dog, you see, is actually an alien that has the
ability to assume the shape and personality of any life-form it comes
in contact with. And this alien is deadly.
