The Thing
released 1982
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“The Thing” is an American, scifi, action, horror, thriller film produced by Wilbur Stark, Lawrence Turman and David Foster. It was directed by John Carpenter and the screenplay was written by Bill Lancaster. It was taken after a novella named “Who Goes There?” written by John W. Campbell Jr. It stars Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, Thomas G. Waites, Norbert Weisser, Larry Franco, Nate Irwin, William Zeman and the dog Jed. This is a fun watch that passes on TV every once in a while.

The Thing IMDb webpage

“The Thing” is the story about a research team in Antarctica, who live in a well insulated from the brutal cold, isolated, outpost on the outside and far away from human civilization on the remote continent of Antarctica. Any contacts with civilization are through the ocassional cargo planes that drop off supplies or electronic communications. Now this is the perfect situation for things to go wrong and horror to ensue and that is what happens.

The story begins with a Norwegian helicopter pilot pursuing a sled dog and then blowing up his helicopter. He is shot and killed by the American scientific crew who thought their lives were in danger. As it turns out, their lives were in danger but not in the way they thought. They set out to investigate the Norwegian camp but find only charred, malformed bodies. An autopsy back at their base reveals what they thought all along, that the charred bodies, although malformed, had organs and so were at least partially human. As the story develops we soon learn that some strange, hostile life form was now on the base, living among them. A strange, deadly, shapeshifting kind of organism. What a wonderful story to see right before bed.

Now this is a dated film that takes place in the 1980s, with 1980s technology and 1980s things but it is a good watch that stood the test of decades so far. I loved the setting of the story for starters. They were in Antarctica but could just as easily been on an ice planet somewhere far away. None of the characters were really in their element. Add to that being so far away from civilization and you soon realize that you would not want to be any of them. I´m guessing that a lot of what the characters did was just waiting for time to pass so they can go home. If this isn´t the perfect setting for a horror movie I dont know what is. Add the darkness of long nights to the mix and things only get worse as the story progresses.

So, what else makes this a fun watch besides the talented actors and great (for the time) special effects? Well, the simplicity of the story. A scientific crew is doing work in a remote part of the world where the environment is hostile and they have to survive their situation as best they can. Presto. But in this film the devil is in the details. Everything is in the details.

I don´t know what else to say except that this is a fun watch.

John Ink2Quill

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