The Thing, 1982.
Directed by John Carpenter.
Starring Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, and David Clennon.
SYNOPSIS:
The crew of an American research facility in the Arctic is forced to battle with a shape-shifting alien life form that is able perfectly to mimic the appearance and characteristics of any living thing it comes into contact with, including various members of the crew themselves.
For horror fans, John Carpenter is a legend. From the pioneering slasher horror of Halloween to the cult hits of Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China, Carpenter has crafted an eclectic career of numerous cinematic cult classics (and let’s face it, more than few duds).
I heaped praise on his iconic Halloween in last year’s October Horrors, and this year I thought I’d continue the trend, so this time around we’re going to be spotlighting a whole heap of films from one of the masters of cinematic horror. And let’s get this party started by taking a look at his chilling 1982 classic The Thing.
Opening two weeks after Spielberg’s mega-successful E.T. (a film which I very much dislike) and on the same day as Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic Blade Runner (a film which I’m very much split on), The Thing was virtually ignored at the box office and received rather negative reviews from critics in 1982. However, this is one of those classic cases of a panned film finding its audience, and like the titular monster, it just had to wait to be discovered.
While often viewed as a gruesome sci-fi monster film (and it’s certainly that), The Thing is actually something of a “whodunit” mystery story. Well, less “whodunit” and more “whoisit”. With the titular monster able to take the shape of anyone and anything it touches, we, like the main characters, are forced to suspect everyone of being a possible monster in disguise. Well maybe except for Kurt Russell.
This atmosphere of paranoia makes for an intense and unnerving watch, one that leaves you positively crapping yourself every time it looks like someone might just turn out to be the “Thing” and turn into a gruesome monster. Even our relief when we find that it’s not them is short-lived, because if it’s not one person that’s the “Thing” then it’s the person next to them.
Of course the most iconic and the scene most likely to cause almost fatal levels of buttock-clenching is the “blood test” scene, in which Kurt Russell’s MacReady ties everyone up and dips a hot wire into a sample of each of their blood, reasoning that an infected person’s blood would try to save itself. The tension of the scene is so thick that not even a tank could pierce it, as people protest at being tested, raising your suspicions that they are the infected one. However, this is a perfect example of Carpenter messing with the viewer’s expectations, because it’s often the quietest person in the room that’s really the monster.
The setting of the film is also perfect, with it taking place entirely within the confines of an Arctic outpost surrounded on all sides by nothing. Too cold to run away from and too far from anything to run to, the men are trapped with only each other and the “Thing” for company. A hopelessly bleak situation which Carpenter uses to masterfully heighten the already paranoid and claustrophobic atmosphere.
You’ll notice that, unlike most of my reviews, I’m not talking too much about the characters of the performances of the actors. Well, that’s mainly because the actors, who despite all doing good work (Kurt Russell is always great) aren’t really the stars of this film.
The real stars of the film are Rob Bottin and his crew (with some help from Stan Winston), the crazed geniuses whose special effects work bring to life the most horrific Lovecraftian creatures that previously only lived in the darkest recesses of our minds.
The effects are outstanding in their complexity and creativity with each iteration of the titular “Thing” being a nightmarishly beautiful sight to behold.
We have dogs turning into a tentacled spider creature which, in turn, transforms into some angry mass of flesh and appendages that really doesn’t like to be disturbed. We have a man’s chest that opens up into a gigantic sharp-toothed mouth, biting the arms off the poor sod trying to resuscitate it, and to make matters worse said mouth then spews up a freaky multi-headed monstrosity with that looks damn angry. My descriptions really don’t do justice to the work of Bottin and his team – just go watch the film and be amazed at the horrors on display.
And the best part of all this nightmare fuel? It’s all real. Through clever use of animatronics, puppets, an amputee and lots of fake blood and goo, this film is the perfect example of why CGI, while useful in big-budget blockbusters, will never be to be able to conjure horrors quite as terrifying as those accomplished with practical effects.
With a terrifying premise, a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere that grows thicker with every passing minute and some of the finest special effects work ever committed to film, The Thing easily ranks as one of John Carpenter’s best films.
While the pace might be a tad slow for some viewers, I urge everyone to watch it regardless, the special effects are of such high nightmare inducing calibre that they have to be seen to be believed.
The Thing represents the first installment in Carpenter’s unofficial “Apocalypse” trilogy, a series of narratively unconnected, but thematically connected horror films that deal with a potentially apocalyptic scenario. And this is only the beginning because “I have a message for you and you’re not going to like it.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m tired of talking and I just want to get back up to my shack and get drunk.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
