# The Thread about The Thing (1982) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 27, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421 "2021-09-27T04:59:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/1 "2021-09-27T04:59:44Z")
My 15 year old daughter’s best friend was over this weekend and they wanted to watch a scary movie. They were perusing our various streaming services and finding a bunch of dumb slasher movies, and I said they should watch The Thing, so we all watched it together. They doubted me. What was this 40-year-old movie starring a guy with a beard? No CGI? What the… They LOVED it. Loved it. They talked about it all the next day. They’re smart kids, and I was impressed with how they talked in terms of cinema; they specifically called out the cinematography and lighting for praise, especially Carpenter’s use of in-scene lighting, like flares, and his use of darkness to conceal things. Anyway, holy shit that’s a great movie. It’s just a fantastically crafted horror film. Something I noticed is that Carpenter takes his time getting to the real gore and horror… it doesn’t get scary right away, and yet the pacing is just perfect. You are never bored but it’s never rushed. This is absolutely Carpenter’s best movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/2 "2021-09-27T05:03:18Z")
It’s one of my top two favorite flamethrower movies. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/3 "2021-09-27T05:17:05Z")
Mac wants the WHAT? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/4 "2021-09-27T05:57:21Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It’s one of my top two favorite flamethrower movies Is your other one _A Fist Full Of Yen_ ? ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/5 "2021-09-27T06:02:56Z")
I always take the opportunity to point out just how creepy the scene is where the new dog is put in with the other dogs. One of the best animal scenes I’ve ever seen in any horror or science-fiction movie, simply for the way they were able to use a few simple moves by the dog to convey such alien-ness. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/6 "2021-09-27T10:28:18Z")
I think it helped a lot that it was based on a fine plot. I can recommend the original: [The Thing from Another World (1951) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/7 "2021-09-27T10:40:01Z")
Well, if you could get them to watch that, I hope you’ll recommend “The Stuff”. > **[The Stuff](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stuff)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > The Stuff (also known as Larry Cohen's The Stuff) is a 1985 American satirical science fiction horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci, and Paul Sorvino. It was also the last film of Alexander Scourby. In the film, a sweet and addictive alien substance becomes a popular dessert in the United States, but soon begins attacking people and turning them into zombies. This film i... ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/8 "2021-09-27T10:43:24Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I think it helped a lot that it was based on a fine plot. > I can recommend the original: If you’re recommending the original, then that would be _Who Goes There?_ by John W. Campbell. > **[Who Goes There?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Goes_There%3F)** > > Who Goes There? is a 1938 science fiction horror novella by American author John W. Campbell, written under the pen name Don A. Stuart. Its story follows a group of people trapped in a scientific outpost in Antarctica infested by shapeshifting monsters able to absorb and perfectly imitate any living being, including humans. Who Goes There? was first published in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and was also printed as The Thing from Another World, as well as included i... ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/9 "2021-09-27T10:56:44Z")
Of course (well done that man!) I should have said the original **film**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/10 "2021-09-27T15:14:36Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I think it helped a lot that it was based on a fine plot. > I can recommend the original: > > [The Thing from Another World (1951) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/) Both films were based on the Campbell story, but the 1951 version changed that story very significantly. I can’t complain too much, because it’s extremely well made, and even campbell himself, asked about it, said he shouldn’t complain since it was now a “classic”, but I thought the concept was severely “dumbed down” for the 1951 film. I did like the way that Bill Lancaster’s script and Carpenter’s film sort of incorporated the stuff from the first film. It’s almost as if the 1951 film was a sort of prequel for the 1982 film, but with the events at the Norwegian camp standing in for the American base from the 1951 film. They have the same finding of the ship, the guys standing in a circle to mark out the boundaries of the flying saucer, and the recovery of the alien’s body and bringing it back to the camp. One of the reasons I don’t care for the 2011 follow-up “prequel” (also named **The Thing** ) is precisely because it subverts that analogy and the setup, to no really good purpose. Incidentally, in Campbell’s original story the alien ship is NOT a flying saucer. It’s described as being sort of like a submarine. This is another case of a 1950s movie changing the alien spaceship fro its original shape in the literature to a flying saucer in the wake of the 1947 saucer craze. (the other two cases I can think of are _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ and _This Island Earth_. In both cases, in the original stories, the alien craft were ovoid, not saucers) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/11 "2021-09-27T15:26:50Z")
Russell and Carpenter have a great revisiting their time making the movie on the DVD commentary track, well worth a listen. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/12 "2021-09-27T15:28:13Z")
I don’t want spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/13 "2021-09-27T15:40:01Z")
The head into spider scene is still one of the creepiest I’ve ever seen in a horror movie. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/14 "2021-09-27T15:54:24Z")
You gotta be fucking kidding… ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/15 "2021-09-27T17:22:26Z")
If I remember the commentary correctly, this is Kurt Russell’s favorite line in the film. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/16 "2021-09-27T17:32:44Z")
Check this out: a 2010 short story, giving us insights into the the '82 film from _the Thing’s_ point of view. > **[Clarkesworld Magazine - Science Fiction & Fantasy](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/)** > > Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast. This page: The Things by Peter Watts **The Things** — by Peter Watts — 2011 Hugo Award Nominee, 2010 BSFA Award Finalist, 2010 Shirley Jackson Award Winner, 2011 Finalist: the Locus Award for Best Short Story, 2011 Theodore Sturgeon Award Nominee ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/17 "2021-09-27T17:32:58Z")
And like all good movies, the game it inspired was terrible. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/18 "2021-09-27T17:44:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The head into spider scene is still one of the creepiest I’ve ever seen in a horror movie. This was one of the proposed logos when The Cleveland Indians(now Guardians) were deciding on a new name. [![](https://logodix.com/logo/1128547.jpg) ](https://logodix.com/logo/1128547.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/19 "2021-09-27T18:20:21Z")
I agree that _The Thing_ is fantastic. All the scary effects, like the head into spider thing, the final transmogrification scene, are all great. But somehow that husky and how he’s so watchful and calm, waiting for his chance, is what scares me most of all. I want to scream, like the Norwegians, “Get away from it! It’s not a dog! It’s a thing!” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421/20 "2021-09-27T19:52:41Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I don’t want spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH! I always figured you rolled like that. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thread-about-the-thing-1982/951421.md?page=2)