Horror in the Antarctic Winter

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2012)

From the beginning the viewer knows that there is something alien in the Antarctic as we are shown an alien vessel in the opening scene. The next thing we see is somebody trying to shoot a dog from a helicopter; as the dog reaches an American base it looks as if the people in the helicopter aren't quite sane as the man with the rifle wounds one of the Americans while trying to shoot the dog; realising they are in danger they shot him and take the dog into their camp. Of course this was a very bad mistake; one which will cost many lives. The dog wasn't actually a dog; it had been taken over entirely by an alien creature at a cellular level; an alien that isn't content to take the form of a mere dog! When the people realise what they are up against paranoia sets in; anybody could be alien and nobody trusts anybody else. Each time they thing of a way to identify or beat the creature it is thwarted and eventually they realise if they are to prevent it getting off Antarctica and infecting everybody on the planet they may all need to die.
This is a classic horror where a group of people are trapped in a confined area with no means of communication or escape to the outside world. In the respect it reminded me of the superior 'Alien' although the way the alien here could mimic its victims increased the sense of paranoia. The effects looked pretty good and were delightfully grotesque in a way that could only be achieved with models and make-up rather that the CGI that would inevitable be used today. The cast, led by Kurt Russell did a fine job as did director John Carpenter; they managed to keep the frights coming right till the end and even then there was some ambiguity about the creatures survival!