Portrait of Paranoia

Rating: Null/10 (4 February 2000)

Some of the best filmmakers have used the horror genre as a vehicle to talk about cultural issues. With the possible exception of Don Seigel in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", no film has ever done this more successfully than John Carpenter's remake of "The Thing."
This film is the best cinematic examination ever of alienation and paranoia. Based on John W. Campbell's classic novella "Who Goes There?", Carpenter maroons a group of scientists at a polar outpost, and then plunks a murderous shape-shifting alien down among them. Since the alien can look like anyone, the rapidly dwindling group comes to realize that no one can trust anyone else.
Kurt Russell gives a strong performance as the station's helicopter pilot. He is ably supported by Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, and Donald Moffatt, who stand out among the supporting cast. Carpenter returns to the kind of ambiguity at the end of the film which made the last scene of "Halloween" so powerful.
This movie was made in a different era than the Howard Hawks version; it's not surprising that it carries different baggage, and aims to transmit a completely different message. While both versions are worth watching, this one is far scarier, both on the "gross-out" and the psychological level.