In 1982 John Carpenter released a terror, a terror preserved in the ice making it effective still to this day. He released “The Thing.” Physical and mental horror come full circle in this classic, which I believe is too unknown for this generation. “The Thing” is a faithful adaptation of the novella “Who Goes There?” by John Campbell. The film stars Kurt Russell, who plays a helicopter pilot for an American Research station in the Antarctic. Coming across a neighboring camp destroyed, Russell realizes that the camp had found and dug up an alien life form frozen in the ice. All hell breaks loose and the alien thaws and wakes up not in the best of moods. It’s an alien life form that can take over any organism and imitate it perfectly.
The acting is great, a little cheesy at moments but great for the most part, and watching it for the first time, you’ll be left guessing throughout, shaking from suspicion during.
My favorite part is that there are only about two scenes using animated monsters. The rest is on the set and looks fantastic and not so fake either. It’s body horror at its best and gory. It’s just a good straightforward horror movie with little comic relief, which to me is the way true horror should be.
So if you’re a sci-fi fan, horror fan, gore fan, or a Kurt Russell fan even, then pick up “The Thing.” It could take you over.