Let's talk about "The Thing"

No, not the orange rock dude from F4, but the 1982 John Carpenter movie that bombed when it came out but which has since come to be regarded as a Horror/SF classic. If you want to go beyond the film and into the Fifties film, the prequel or the original story “Who Goes There?” knock yourself out.

You think that thing wanted to be a dog? It wanted to be oatmeal! It’s the right thing to do and a tasty way to do it!

I saw it last year for a second time and I think it’s fantastic. I’m not usually one for gore but the biological horror here is… fascinating. You can’t look away. I was impressed with how well it still holds up.

5 stars from me.

ETA: Here was my Letterboxd review:

“Second time viewing. A suspenseful, grim tale with absolutely bonkers body horror. I’m not a huge fan of gore, but the gore in this movie goes beyond merely gross and disturbing into downright fascinating. It also gives me big Alien vibes, in the best way. Still feels relevant 40 years later. Set that shit on fire.”

When the upside-down head sprouts legs and skitters. :shudder:

On a serious note, I think it’s fantastic and one of the best horror films ever made. Jump scares are easy. The Thing has a marvellous sense of inescapable dread and paranoia. I own the movie, the video game, action figures etc. A masterpiece

You know the saw about how the monster is always scarier when you can’t see it? This movie is a great example of that. Because while it has a lot of really great, gruesome special effects, the scariest parts are when everyone looks like a human, but you know one of them isn’t.

How about the comic adaptation from 1976?

I’ve never liked horror movies, but I had heard that this one was the best. I figured I could watch and tolerate Alien, so I could watch The Thing.

So one day, when I was home sick with a cold, I sat down and watched it. I was quite quivering with fear when it was done, but I loved it anyway. The hardest part for me was when the dogs were trapped in their kennel with the Thing dog. Poor pooches! By the way, even though there were a lot of scary scenes in that movie, that calm, watchful Thing dog gave me the most heebie-jeebies of anything.

And I like to try to suss out just who is a Thing and when. Online discussions get very heated on this subject.

You gotta be f-ing kidding!

It’s a great film. I like the suspense combined with the paranoia, and the visuals are pretty disturbing and unforgettable, in a good horror film sort of way.

Wow, has it been 40 years?!?!

I own that too. I got a copy at a flea market. I had no idea what was in the comic. It just looked cool.

You aren’t the only one.

Just for reference to the whole family tree of this thing …

I thought it was great when it first came out. Mrs. Geek had never seen it, so we watched it on streaming somewhere last year. Before we started watching she kept asking me what the “thing” was. I didn’t tell her. When we got to the dog scene, I asked her what to call that. She said “uh… a thing.”

I thought the special effects held up very well for a movie made in the 80s.

Mrs. Geek liked the movie.

So no love for the original The Thing from Another World? James Arness as a giant carrot?

Absolutely fantastic movie, I can’t think of one thing about it that doesn’t hold up.

ETA, I mean the 82 version, not the original. That is an OK 50s sci-fi flick, though.

I’ve never actually got around to seeing the first Thing adaptation. I also haven’t seen the prequel.

And suck good characters. Of course, I don’t think any of them had first names.

I love that one, too, though it’s dated and not very scary. And its cousin, It: The Terror From Beyond Space.

I saw “The Thing” when it was first released, at a drive-in. The co-feature was “Cat People.” What a great double-bill!

I was only lukewarm on it at the time. It was pretty shocking. Roger Ebert called it “The barf bag movie of the summer.” However, I later found a book that contained the original story, “Who Goes There?” and have read it many times. It’s just as shocking in your imagination!

As a result, my opinion of the movie has greatly elevated. Carpenter’s version was spot-on. You couldn’t have made a movie true to the original story that would have been less gory. And each and every member of the cast were excellent.

Is that praise or derision? :slightly_smiling_face: