The Thing Still Lives...

You may discover "The Thing" in the science fiction section of the video store. Do not be fooled. Even though it involves a being from outer space, even though the first shot is of a flying saucer approaching Earth, the purpose of this film is to scare the sweet bejesus out of the viewer. It's a horror movie, directed by a man who knows the genre. John Carpenter made the first "Halloween" film; he's well aware that the reason we have film clich?s is because, if done properly, they always work. And Carpenter does them properly, to say the least. "The Thing," which stems from a 1950's Howard Hawks movie and an original short story by John W. Campbell, is a landmark horror classic that has not grown dated in over two decades. The premise -- an alien visitor can absorb humans and mimic them perfectly -- leads to a nightmare of confusion, dread, and paranoia. The Hawks version was a parable for McCarthy-era suspicion, but Carpenter's Thing contains no message or allegory. It is simply terrifying, and brilliantly so.

The setting is Antarctica, that loneliest of places, where an American research station sits forlornly in the middle of pure desolation. The opening UFO shot has led us to expect some big ol' aliens right away, but instead we get the mysterious image of a large husky being chased across the tundra by a helicopter. The dog makes for the American station, the chopper crashes, and the one survivor attempts to shoot the animal while babbling in Norwegian. One of the researchers kills him, because he's obviously a dangerous psycho, right? Right?

There are twelve rather stir-crazy men at the station, whiling away the endless days. Clearly, this is the first interesting thing to happen in some time. They take the dog into the buildings, despite the fact that this dog is way too quiet and regards the humans as if trying to decide which one runs the slowest. The American pilot, MacReady (Kurt Russell) takes a group to the nearby Norwegian station, only to discover the place in ruins and its team dead/missing. Evidence suggests that they found and excavated an object buried in the ice. And something tells us it wasn't a husky. Exactly what the Norwegians unleashed is made clear when the "dog" is penned up with the other dogs and reveals its true colors in a moment of brutal, squirmy horror. The special effects are by Rob Bottin (except, ironically, for the dog transformation, which was done by an uncredited Rick Baker), and Bottin's work is superbly icky, a gruesome explosion of deformed human/dog parts, alien appendages, blood, and slime. "The Thing" is not for those with weak stomachs, nor should you watch it if you love dogs. Still, there's no denying that the special effects -- mostly practical puppetry and animatronics -- are still amazing in the age of CGI.

The humans quickly figure out what this creature does, and how. Once they realize that any one of them could be an impostor, the film's tension and suspense kick into high gear. The men point fingers at each other. One of them goes nuts and destroys all the vehicles and radio so the alien can't escape -- unless he's really trying to divert suspicion away from himself. MacReady forcefully takes charge, and seems to be the hero -- but even then, we're not sure about him. Some might criticize the characters for being paper-thin, but Carpenter knows what he's doing. Because we only have snippets of information about these men, we have no way of pinpointing who (if anyone) is really the Thing. We wait with bated breath for the creature to be revealed -- and when it is, there's always a new horrific manifestation. The pale belly opening like a giant mouth, the severed head growing spider legs and scurrying across the floor, the man with the melted-wax hands letting out an unearthly shriek -- these are not images that will leave your mind in a hurry.

The alien is immune to the cold, but fire will kill it, and there just happens to be a flamethrower handy. But who should be entrusted with the weapon? MacReady figures out that portions of the Thing can still live when separated from the main body -- which means that blood from a Thing-infested human will react violently to heat. This leads to one of the most suspenseful scenes in movie history, as the survivors sit, tightly bound, while MacReady tests their blood one by one. Just try to watch without biting your nails; Carpenter makes full use of Hitchcock's famous advice that the buildup to a scare is far more frightening than the scare itself. And even after the remaining characters have proved their humanity, we're still not sure...

The horror continues, of course, and is still continuing when the film is over. Ever since the apparently dead body of Michael Myers vanished at the end of "Halloween," Carpenter has had a knack for ending his films with uncertainty and unanswered questions. It's rare for a major Hollywood production not to neatly wrap up the plot, but "The Thing" has a darkly ironic ending that refuses to reveal who is human, what has been accomplished, or what happens next. The movie's effectiveness is largely helped by the bleak cinematography and the terse, intelligent screenplay that supplies some appropriate one-liners. ("I don't know what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off!") The music is perfect; all Carpenter's movies have simple, ominous scores, and here composer Ennio Morricone draws inspiration from "Jaws" and uses a single bass note on the synthesizer, played at a "one-two....one-two" beat, to send shivers down the spine.

"The Thing" draws heavily on well-established horror techniques, but it draws on them so well that later films (most notably "The Faculty") have blatantly copied from it. Movies about ugly, violent aliens bent on killing/conquering our race are a dime a dozen. The big difference is that most of these movies aren't scary, and "The Thing" is scary. Is it ever scary. It isn't just the gore and the repulsive special effects. It's that you, the viewer, never know who is real, or what is happening, or why. "The Thing" is an endless string of chilling questions that are not answered, that may never be answered. We are not blessed with divine knowledge; there is no god in the machine. There is only confusion, and frustration, and terror. This film knows what everyone is frightened of, and exploits it -- and that is precisely why John Carpenter's vision will live on for a very long time.

Lance Haynes

Boy I sure made a mistake here ordering this modern verson of "The Thing" I saw the orignal as a kid and it scared me to death. This movie really is way to modern with all the helicopters etc. and blood and guts. Hollywood has really gone way to far today. Anyway I noticed the old original for sale so got it coming. This thing was a waste. Later Lance Haynes

Never dig something out of the ice.

First off, the movie is a classic based on the story, Who Goes There?, and is as timeless as you can get. A group of men are trapped in a remote Antarctic research station after finding out that among them is a shape changing alien.
The special effects hold up, mostly because they are rarely used. This movie is about the story and the twelve male characters who interact together, trying to survive.
The DVD has a commentary track with Kurt Russell and John Carpenter, a 80 minute documentary about the making of the movie, lots of extras in the form of photos, outtakes, behind-the-scenes location footage and more.
A must for any sci-fi fan or Kurt Russell fan.