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The Thing (1982)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
2/06, 1/24
2/06:
Want to understand why I always diss Wes Craven every chance I get?
It's because John Carpenter made so many outstanding horror movies that Wes Craven isn't even in his league. Among his top three
films of all time, The Thing is a bona fide horror classic that greatly improves on the original in every way possible.
The plot is terrific. It's very much like Alien which can be traced through Agatha Christie's
And Then There Were None. But this time, everybody dies because it's for the
sake of saving the world from this unstoppable monster. The movie is pure terror all the way to the end.
I love the underrated performance by Kurt Russell. What's special about it is his effortless display of leadership. When
he leaves everybody to themselves, the film feels empty. After he comes back, the pace is picked up, and
everything moves along briskly.
A lot of credit goes to Rob Bottin for his special effects artistry to make The Thing a scary picture. After learning the
craft from Rick Baker, he went on to work on various films such as Legend,
The Witches of Eastwick, Innerspace,
RoboCop, and Total Recall.
The latter earned him a shared Oscar for Special Achievement Award.
All in all, John Carpenter is a legend of the horror genre, and The Thing is among his masterpieces.
1/24:
The Thing is among the best films John Carpenter had directed.
Forget the original. It's obsolete. The movie starts in the first minute and never lets down thereafter. Most
of the credit goes to Rob Bottin for the special effects which is the game changer. Some of the smartest things John Carpenter
did were sticking to the original outline of the novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, having an all-male cast that's
reduced to twelve identifiable characters who are never annoying, and cutting down the verbosity of the script.
If anything, it's the ending that's somewhat sour. Has R.J. MacReady taken care of the problem? How do I know
Childs wasn't gotten? It's hard to believe the compound had to be destroyed. Can there be a more sensible
alternative? Obviously, one strategy is to stop separating the group. If everybody was forced to stay together all the time,
it would be easier to figure who the Thing might be, but the ingenious test came too late.
All in all, The Thing had bad reviews for a long time, and I completely disagree with them.