The Thing – 35 Years Of A Horror Classic

Well known and respected upon viewers today, however, upon initial release via Universal Pictures in 1982, The Thing saw a less-than-warm reception from moviegoers, and some known-it-all critics left a downtrodden Carpenter feeling as if he had short-changed his fans. Little did they know that The Thing would take the form of an all-time Horror classic 35 years later. 

Sometimes brilliance needs time to be recognized. Thus, after The Thing was released on VHS, and eventually made its way onto television, it found a new audience that kept growing, and growing, and knitting, and knitting. As a result, there were new reviews praising the film, heralding it as one of the greatest Horror flicks ever made. Drastic turnaround in opinion, right? It was now that people were celebrating every nook and cranny of this slick and scary Sci-Fi flick, and because of such, The Thing became a cult classic. Which leads to the discussion, what makes Carpenter’s The Thing so good?

The story goes, Carpenter was approached to make a slightly big-budgeted film based on John W. Campbell, Jr’s 70-page novella, 1938 Who Goes There? Although a film already existed back in 1951 called: The Thing From Another World, it strayed from the actual story-line of the book. Was it a good movie?—yes, and indeed a well-acted, well-directed, and a very suspenseful one at that, but it became no match for Carpenter’s version, which would follow the book more closely.

 During the writing stages of The Thing, many different screenplay treatments were being considered, later shunned by the producers (including a script from Writer William F. Nolan of 1986’s Burnt Offerings). Then there were many directors considered to helm the movie before Carpenter had signed on, including John Landis (The Blues Brothers 1980, An American Werewolf In London 1981).

 

Interestingly enough, Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel, co-creators of the infamous 1974 Horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, had a script that came close to being green-lit, but it, too, was turned down. After all this, in 1981, Actor/Screenwriter Bill Lancaster (Bad News Bears 1976) presented a script that Carpenter instantly loved, which then set The Thing into full production. 

 

A compelling, yet dark story, The Thing followed an American research team based in Antarctica under siege by a shape-shifting alien that absorbs its host, then imitates it, using its new form to feed on another living creature, not unlike a parasite. Leading the research crew of twelve is R.J. MacReady was portrayed incredibly by Kurt Russell (Escape From New York 1981, Breakdown 1991). Joining him was the almighty Keith David (They Live 1988; Men At Work 1990) as Childs, T.K. Carter (Seems Like Old Times 1980, Ski Patrol 1990) as Nauls, and A. Wilford Brimley (The China Syndrome 1979, Cocoon 1990) as Blair, who are but a few of the characters along for the ride. When the attack of the shapeless, faceless being occurs, the entire crew is besieged by another parasite: Paranoia. Who’s who?—Nobody knows, but what a wonderful concept it is to watch as a Horror movie! 

 

The fact is, every scene in The Thing is painted by a crew of incredible actors, showing the viewer just how gosh-darned frightened these people are of this thing, and how equally afraid they are of one another. So much so, in fact, it begs one to ponder if there had really been an actual alien on the premises trying to devour Carpenter’s cast, all while he kept the cameras rolling.

 

Carpenter hired Rob Bottin (The Howling 1980, Robocop 1987) to handle the practical special effects needed to make the alien-abominations appear near life-like. Having worked on The Fog, Bottin proved to be a great choice because he made some of the scariest, most memorable things ever seen on the big screen. 

There were no computer effects and no fake-looking CGI used; just bona fide prosthetic effects, made by hand. That in mind, there are plenty of scenes in The Thing when the alien surfaces in many different slimy, contorted transformations. During these scenes, the actors look downright frightened by what they are up against. The fear showing in each of their faces can never be mistaken for acting. And while Bottin deserves a great deal of praise, because of being overloaded with work, SFX Artist Stan Winston (Terminator 1984, Aliens 1986) was hired to handle one truly terrifying dog-transformation scene, and it is one scene not to be forgotten. 

 

It would be impossible to run down every scene, but another worth mentioning mixes elements of incredible SFX, suspense, über-intensity, and straight-up horror is the “blood-test” scene. For any viewer, a word of advice, pay attention to each of the actors’ facial expressions, because there is a nightmare happening right before their eyes, and it shows. All in all, Bottin really outdid himself with his outstanding special effects and his work remains a fan-favorite helping make Carpenter’s The Thing in no way a remake of the 1951 film, but a re-do, done well.

 

Speaking of which, in 2011, Universal Pictures released a “prequel”/remake with the same title, but many would argue the film missed the mark and was dressed with lazy-looking CGI effects. As for John Carpenter’s The Thing, it is an incomparable classic that will be poorly imitated into mediocre replicas. It is an entity in and of its own nature, crafted in hard labor and dedication from an outstanding cast and crew. Despite any of the negative reviews from critics in the past, every little aspect of The Thing works: the gloomy, cold atmosphere; the growing paranoia between each member of the research crew; the fantastic (and inspiring) SFX work; right down to the eerie synth score lowly playing in the background from Composer Ennio Morricone.