Some "Thing" wonderful

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2002)

Although a box office dud at the time (thank you very much, E.T.!), this flick become a critical and cult favorite. The reputation is deserved, as it features John Carpenter's most tight and taut direction ever.

The characters are pretty much unlikeable throughout, but the impressive cast (including Russell and future Emmy-winners Richard Dysart and David Clennon) make them uncomfortably human. We may not like them, but we don't want to see them butchered by this alien life form.
Of course, Rob Bottin's creature FX is the movie's real drawcard, and even in the 2002, they're still nothing short of astounding. I can honestly say that the thing is still the most creative and fascinating movie monster ever to grace a horror film. The entire sequence involving the transformation of Charles Hallahan into the thing is one of the amazing, and surreal, pieces of cinema ever.
The fact that Bottin didn't win an Oscar, or even get a nomination, is totally beyond me, and a slap in the face of the makeup FX master.
It ain't a feel good movie, but The Thing is a classic of the genre (better than Alien) and a must see...for those who can handle it.