Slow, Haunting, Slient... True Horror

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2011)

I'll be honest, this is the first John Carpenter film I've really seen. I saw Big Trouble in Little China when I was a little kid so I wasn't paying attention the way i do now that I'm older, so that doesn't really count. This is the first John Carpenter film I have seen with an attentive attitude.
Before watching this I never knew who John Carpenter was. But he always intrigued me. I'd walk through the DVDs at Borders and see John Carpenter's The Thing or Escape From NY. I wanted horror one day and bought The Thing with no expectations... Perfect purchase.
From the opening to the finish I was hooked. The way the film opens with little to no music, just some synth bass popping in every so often, really makes the film more mysterious right off the bat. Why Ennio Morricone's score would be nominated for a Razzie is beyond me since considering the film and genre it fits perfectly.
The fact that the crew doesn't fight the alien by going all guns blazing is very reminiscent of Alien. These aren't soldiers, these are scientists and workers. No professional combat experience here. They have to rely on their wits and their peers to survive. Tensions begin to run higher and higher as the film progresses. It doesn't get any easier as the creature picks off and replaces each crew member one by one, making the one-by-one scenario a bit more terrifying because not only are people dying but the alien is mimicking them so nobody knows who's dead and who's an alien.
The special effects are top notch for the time. In fact I thing it's better than some CG effects that appear today. With CG effects the first thing crossing my mind is noticing all the imperfections. Physical effects actually feel real and much more believable, which made the transformation sequences pretty disturbing.
The acting is first rate as well. All the characters felt believable as did their relationships with each other during the rising fear and tension. And Kurt Russel is a joy as always.
Again on the music. The lack of music actually helps define the lonely mood and sense of claustrophobic solitude in the arctic wasteland. It deserves an Emmy not a Razzie.
Final Rating: 10/10 Right on par with Alien.