The Thing (1982)

Director John Carpenter and special makeup effects master Rob Bottin teamed up for this 1982 remake of the 1951 science fiction classic The Thing from Another World, and the result is a mixed blessing. It's got moments of highly effective terror and spine-tingling suspense, but it's mostly a showcase for some of the goriest and most horrifically grotesque makeup effects ever created for a movie. With such highlights as a dog that splits open and blossoms into something indescribably gruesome, this is the kind of movie for die-hard horror fans and anyone who slows down to stare at fatal traffic accidents. On those terms, however, it's hard not to be impressed by the movie's wild and wacky freak show. It all begins when scientists at an arctic research station discover an alien spacecraft under the thick ice, and thaw out the alien body found aboard. What they don't know is that the alien can assume any human form, and before long the scientists can't tell who's real and who's a deadly alien threat. Kurt Russell leads the battle against the terrifying intruder, and the supporting cast includes Richard Masur, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, and Wilford Brimley. They're all playing standard characters who are neglected by the mechanistic screenplay (based on the classic sci-fi story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell), but Carpenter's emphasis is clearly on the gross-out effects and escalating tension. If you've got the stomach for it (and let's face it, there's a big audience for eerie gore), this is a thrill ride you won't want to miss. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

"I know Im human..."

This has to be one of the very best science fiction movies ever made. It is pure atmosphere/mystery/horror from the unusual opening to the ambiguous ending. A group of isolated scientists in Antarctica encounter an alien species that can literally duplicate in almost exacting detail any other animal. Carpenter had the guts to make John Campbell's original novella 'Who Goes There?' quite literally and the effect is astonishing. The cast is terrific, led by Kurt Russell, and the creature effects are much more effective than any CGI. It has an organic look to it that today's CGI simply doesnt achieve. After watching this film, you will be constantly questioning certain events and of course the ending, an ending most movies today would never pull off.
The commentary by Carpenter and Russell is the best I have ever heard. The making of documentary is superb and the other extras are great, along with a very chilling theatrical trailer.
I cannot recommend this film and dvd enough. It is a masterpiece. August 14, 2008

There is a Thing

The thing is by far one of the greatest horror movies ever made, it's one hell of a paranoia Trip

I wish they'd go back to the style of animation and effects they used in this movie. They are a little outdated yes but atleast the actors had something to work with instead of it all being digitally edited in later..

August 7, 2008

Is intelligence enough?

This film is a sort of Matrix for many modern films about aliens. It has antecedents for sure but they did not have enough special effects and big enough budgets enabling them not to show the zipper in the back of the monsters. The original element is the location: the Antarctica. A place that has been re-used since by a certain Predator when he met with some Aliens of a more recent generation. There, if an alien life form that can penetrate any living organism and take it over completely appears it can disrupt any human group so much that they will self destroy in order to destroy the alien thing forgetting that anyway the alien form can survive even centuries of glaciation because it is not human or animal and hence it is not even sensitive to cold. The alien is always the winner and it will sooner or later manage to learn how to be patient, penetrate a living organism and stay rampant in it long enough to be taken to real society, to millions of people concentrated in small areas That's the idea of the film. And it ends the way it has to end. Two apparently human beings are still alive. One is contaminated, probably not two, but they are going to die of cold in their human form, their human organism. Carpenter even makes one black and the other white and the circumstances he uses makes the black one dubious, suspicious, whereas the white one seems to be the normal one, but who really knows? The alien or aliens will go dormant in the cold, in hibernation. There is no escape, no end. Our human world is bound to be taken over not by more intelligent beings but by biologically more advanced life forms. And we may wonder if our intelligence will be enough to compensate for the handicap.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
August 3, 2008

Utterly amazing HD transfer

Rather than review this excellent movie itself (you can find many reviews online for this great remake), I'm reviewing the HD transfer.

Now I'm no HD expert, not up on all the jargon and numbers. What I do know is I really like Carpenter's interpretation of The Thing and I've watched it many times over several format changes; from the darkness of a beat down old cinema 26 years ago, to VHS then DVD and ultimately now on HD DVD. And this transfer is by far the most amazing showcase of the now defunct HD DVD format yet - and also highlights how groundbreaking the effects in The Thing were.

When the movie begins you can instantly tell that you're witnessing clarity like never before. The opening sequence where the Norwegians are chasing the dog is crystal clear, almost giving off a 3D effect. My memory of this film was tainted from years of watching my VHS copy; the bleached and blended white hills, skyline and snowy horizon was once just basically all the same bleeding white on screen. But this has been replaced by mountain detail, clouds, snow texture and actual snowflakes falling! I had no idea it was snowing during that scene, but now each flake is visible.

The special effects also look amazing. I was worried the increased detail may reveal aged and outdated fx, but the various 'thing' transformations look even better with blood now horrific red, and no longer looking like a few buckets of pasta sauce thrown over the actors.

The sound has also been given the treatment and the windy noise of the creaking camp immerses the listening perfectly. Can't fault the sound at all.

So all in all, the audio/visuals of this film are complimented by the HD format releasing a new lease of life into this movie. By seeing each snowflake, goosebump, cold ruddy weathered face, and of course the agonized torn flesh, this transfer allows the viewer to feel like they're there in that camp...

Feeling very paranoid, very cold and very much alone.

100% a must for HD DVD owners. August 2, 2008

80's masterpiece of horror

I first saw this movie in 1984, a high school teacher had us get permission slips to watch it in class during lunch hour, and the effects just blew me away. It was years later I really examined this film for the classic it now has become, when these first came out in the 80's how could we have known this would be such a horror classic? It was a different time and movie effects we so took for granted in films like this would years later be achived by CGI. Today these great phisical monster effects are now too costly or too difficult to apparently be done in too many of the lazy unscary horror film reduxs we get today. It seems rare now the complexity of the tremendous creature effects Carpenter was willing to commit to in bringinging his vision to completion, a level of which today are hardly even attempted in any of the untalented unscary emergent horror flicks that are now dished up by the dozen in video. Beyond the amazing effects though is a great scary film of paranoia and isolation, the terrific music score by John Carpenter adds tension and malice to the landscape of dred with it's hypnotic drone. You may see some similarity to the 1951 classic by Howard Hawks here in terms of sets and backdrop, but as superbly scary as James Arness's " Thing" was it's nothing campared to the unimaginable monster created her by Carpenter. I think Kurt Russell is a great actor capable of such range and emotion, and this might be his best work. The supporting cast has become somewhat legend in the pedigree of horror films, and many share some often quoted lines, for example " You gotta be ....... kidding me..." to name just one. What makes this movie great is the open conclusion, it is beyond belief there has never been a sequel attempted...mabey they shouldn't, it would just screw up the legacy of this great film. This is horror, sci-fi at it's gory best and if you don't think this is scary, well your probably dead already. this is so much better than anything done these days, if you have not seen this, then do so right away...highly recommended . July 25, 2008

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