The Thing cannot be described. It is simply John Carpenter's best work, combining all elements of suspense, horror, and special effects

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2017)

One thing you may notice about some of the best horror films is that they know how to portray the feeling of being alone. Nothing is scarier then knowing that no help can or will come when darkness is taking fold. Either you have to figure out a way to defeat it or you have to accept that your end is about to come. You simply have to hope. The Haunting, The Exorcist, Evil Dead, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are great examples about the terror of being alone. Even modern movies like Saw, Paranormal Activity, and Get Out use the same element to create that same level of suspense.
I've said before that I considered John Carpenter's Halloween to be overrated as I found the premise slow and poorly written. While it too has the feeling of being alone, today's movie, The Thing, is a better example of that. The only thing worse then being in the middle of nowhere is having to be there with something you have no understanding of at all. That should really be the case for a lot of alien movies, as if an extraterrestrial being was going to attack, how would we know what to do? The Thing makes great suspense around that.
In Antarctica, a group of American scientists are holding up for the long season as they do whatever they do. They see a Norwegian helicopter flying in, trying to shoot a dog, only for it to land and start shooting the Americans. They manage to defend themselves before the Norwegian accidentally blows up the helicopter, killing him in the process. Helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (played by Kurt Russell) and Dr. Cooper (played by Richard Dysart) go to the Norwegian base, only to find the place abandoned with dead bodies and video tapes. The Americans keep the dog, unaware their making a big mistake.
When the dog is boarded with the sled dogs, it attacks them, metamorphing into a hideous monster. MacReady manages to use a flamethrower in time with friend Childs (played by Keith David). Fellow scientist Blair (played by A. Wilford Brimley) performs an autopsy on one of the dead Norwegians, to discover that the monster can imitate anything. This creates paranoia amongst the group as they know the alien's cells are still circulating around the camp and that if it gets into civilization, it's the end of human life as they know it. It's a race to see whose lying and which member is now the monsterthe thing.
I'm stopping right there as this movies is at it's best when you don't know much about it. The Thing may be not just Carpenter's best work, but one of the best horror movies. It all revolves around the constant feeling that the environment is a ticking time bomb (like Assault on Precinct 13), but adds on the idea that no one can be trusted. I was concerned as I didn't get into his previous horror movie, Halloween, but Carpenter has found the right thing that makes it work; interesting characters.
Kurt Russell is once again a great lead, playing the leader-hero you'd expect, but now that he has that heightened sense of fright, your with him, not sure just who to trust, even though you'd like the believe those that say their alright. That's because the movie takes time to show that this is a group of guys that have been there for a while and are friends. The dynamic is tested to the limit when all gloves come off to see when the alien will stand. Which one is lying? Whose got that element that's slightly off? Is it the fear? Is it the alien? The Thing goes into that.
Once the alien shows itself, you get an impressive looking set of practical effects that gives it an unnerving appearanceall kinds. I can't describe the creature, as it's made up of the victims it's killed, all melded together to make something very gross, yet is still able to do anything to add on. As the story progresses, it only gets bigger and uglier, making it more of a challenge to destroy. It all leads to a fantastic standoff that sums up how well built a movie can be.
I'll give this ten thing creatures out of ten. The Thing may be my favorite John Carpenter film, as it contains most of his elements, while having a lot of that suspense that I originally thought I was going to get with Halloween. This is not a duplicate or a copy of another horror story (despite being a remake). This is the read deal. Check out The Thing.