The Thing (1982) Movie Review

The Thing (1982)

Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Kurt Russell, Keith David

Summary

Based on the novella Who Goes There?, by John W. Campbell, Jr (Check it out) and it is a remake of the black and white The Thing from Another World (1951). This is one of those book adaption remakes which are a rare breed to come around. It is also probably the BEST horror remake compared to the dozens that have been coming out. I’m not talking strictly about the last 10 years, I am also referencing the Hammer horror remakes from the 60s. John Carpenter is one of the horror masters with Halloween and The Fog already under his belt. This one stars Kurt Russell who is leading a cast of all males. This is huge for a horror movie when most of them focus on teens and female leads. The story is about a group of scientists stationed in the Antarctic when their camp is visited by a running dog being chased by a Norwegian man who can’t speak English. The Norwegian fires his rifle and is killed by the station commander. The dog is placed with the other dogs and kills them. The dog becomes a creature and they have to burn it to kill it. When they perform an autopsy on the body they believe the creature copies the cell structure of its victims and the cells are still living. The group investigates the Norwegian camp to discover everyone is missing and a lot of it has burned to the ground. The find a flying saucer that the camp had recovered and they realize this creature came from space. As the film goes on the paranoia of if the creature is among them begins to break the group a part. No one can be trusted if the creature can take their identity. When the monster attacks it takes many different forms. They do a blood test theory to prove if anyone is actually the monster. When they figure it out many of the group is killed and it’s up to Kurt Russell to blow the creature up. They have to kill it because if it would ever make it to civilization it would mean the end of humanity. The process of this burns the camp to the ground and Kurt Russell and Keith David are left still believing either one of them could be the creature as they stand by drinking into the cold.

The Good

Awesome special affects! The stop motion animation was great and gruesome! My favorite was the severed head that grows spider legs. It was creepy and disgusting. Carpenter and team did a great job. The prequel that was made (Same name 2011) used all CGI and took all the fun out of what made this movie so great.