Terrifying in every possible way.

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2017)

When it comes to horror movies, I'm all about mood, atmosphere, a creepy soundtrack or an anonymous killer lurking in the background ready to strike which is why I was intrigued to watch John Carpenter's The Thing and I loved it thanks to it's usage of atmosphere and music, it's creature effects and it's likable characters. Upon watching this, I wish more horror movies like this were still being made rather then the CGI-heavy, jump-scare garbage we keep getting.
The movie starts with a spacecraft crash-landing in Antarctica then cuts to 1982 where a Norwegian helicopter chases a dog to an American research base only to have one of the crew members drop a explosive device which destroys the chopper while the lone surviving member be shot by the base commander who then sends two other men over to the Norwegian base for answers only to find a burnt husk of buildings with human remains. Upon returning to their own base, their naturalist does an analysis on the body, discovering a normal set of human body parts. Meanwhile, another crew member cages one of the dogs when it suddenly morphs and starts attacking the other dogs. The men manage to flame broil the creature, but now they begin to grow suspicious of each other as the thing begins killing them one by one.
With so many abysmal remakes of classic horror movies being released, John Carpenter's The Thing is a perfect example of a remake done right as it takes all the best features of the 1952 Howard Hawks' movie and from the original book and puts it's own spin on things and yet maintains the frozen landscapes of Antarctica as its backdrop which works perfectly for installing a profound sense of loneliness as well getting into the heads of the characters and deepening the feelings of anxiety and dread that encircle them. Throughout the entirely of the film, the viewer is always on high alert as the treason and danger never seem to let up even in the quiet scenes which makes it even more creepy and unsettling. Given how simple the story is, I feel that a lot of modern Hollywood writers could learn a thing or two from the Thing and through the plot is especially frightening, specifically when the viewer contemplates what might happen if the alien is able to find its way into our culture and other small details that make the movie so great. When one of the characters demolishes every mean that the group can use for communication or escape, leaving them entirely cut off from the outside world adds a lot more uneasiness and dread to the film and while the others don't resort to anything quite as drastic, the sense of distrust they have towards each other helps make scenes could have been mind-numbingly boring into moments of nail-biting and terrifying horror.
In comparison to the original movie, the conflict comes from the basis that killing the alien becomes unimportant to finding out what it really is and in one of the twists of fate, the moment where the main hero is able to detect the alien doesn't mean the paranoia and fear are gone and the scene where Macready conducts a blood test to analyze who is really this creature is unrivaled in any other horror movie when it comes to nail-biting suspense. As for the creature itself, it comes across as a mystery as the viewer is never told or shown it's motives or even if it has any nor does it have a main form as it is able to clone itself which makes the tension even more unbearable and scary to watch.
The Thing shows John Carpenter at the height of his directing prowess by creating a true feeling of uneasiness on such an agonizing level and so far, only Alien and Halloween have been able to generate the kind of tension that The Thing has been able to deliver. Right from the moment the alien appears, Carpenter turns the anxiety meter up to 11 and never lets up on the tension and fear and when the results are delivered, it is handed to you with a painful kick. John's directing and camera-work is nothing short of perfection here with rapid camera work and forceful shots which is aided by Dean Cundey's superb cinematography not to mention Ennio Morricone's haunting musical score. While some may argue that the movie's characters are flat and uninteresting and while I would say that this area of the movie isn't Carpenter's area of expertise, it still works to the film's benefit as we are given barely any details on the characters, it only makes the circumstances a lot more baffling as you are never sure who is really who they say they are.
When a film tends to depend on visual effects, the movie usually suffers, however The Thing doesn't thanks to the talents of Rob Bottlin and while some see makeup effects as a branch of visual effects, there's no denying that Bottlin knocked it out of the park here by giving us some of the most impressive transmogrification effects in a horror movie with its vague designs, half-created human appearances glaringly balanced with wide sets of teeth, spider legs and durable tentacles. The creature effects here are absolutely fantastic and gut-churning, but aren't too gory or over-the-top unlike some other horror movies.
As for the actors in The Thing, they all do a fine job and play their roles well but it's Kurt Russell and Keith David are the two actors who matter most. Kurt's low-key character of Macready is boundlessly watchable and more critically, realistic and Russell plays the boozy, courageous yet hesitant leader with zero difficulty while Keith David is wonderful as Childs. The final scene of the two sharing a bottle of whiskey is one of the most enduring endings in any movie.
Definitely a movie worth seeking out.