Great setting, fantastic effects

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2019)

An intelligent and reasonably tight story set in a research outpost in Antarctica, where scientists have inadvertently dug up some form of parasitic, shapeshifting alien out of the ice. It quickly becomes a study in paranoia, where behavior amongst the men becomes a game as difficult as that chess match against the computer Kurt Russell has early on: if one of your colleagues may not be what he seems to be, what's the best move? Attempting to determine who it might be, and selectively isolating him? Destroying everyone so that you might survive? Attempting to use reason and science in a helter skelter, chaotic situation? I loved the setting and the very cool ways in which the thing manifests itself, which at the time seemed so excessive that it turned reviewers off, but which today appears highly creative and refreshing in light of modern CGI, at least for me. There may be a couple of moments when one wonders about character motivations and it's a pretty simple story, but the latter keeps it focused, and the pace of the film is good. Kurt Russell and Keith David stand out in the cast, which also includes A. Wilford Brimley and Donald Moffat.