A creepy gem of imaginative sci-fi horror

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2016)

Although this film clearly got made due to the success of ALIEN, I actually find it the better of the two. I certainly consider it Carpenter's joint best, along with that one with the Michael Myers guy. This is a film based on John W. Campbell's story "Who Goes There?", which also inspired the 1951 flick THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD which saw James Arness as a killer carrot-man in the same setting. Carpenter is closer to the original story, as his menace is a gory shape shifting alien which consumes and imitates its prey – forget the T1000, he has nothing on this thing. The look of the creature is extremely disgusting and disturbing and hard to forget – imagine some Lovecraftian terror in the flesh, covered in blood and tentacles and other less describable body parts, and you're halfway there.
The rest of the special effects are incredible; witness heads slide off bodies and turn into spiders, and the infamous and gut-wrenching kennel transformation which I had the misfortune to watch when I was but a boy. You can bet I had plenty of sleepless nights after watching that one. Plenty of blood, gore, and violence throughout make this one of the hardest of horrors. Yet despite all the effects, this is still a plot-driven movie with absolutely loads of suspense and tension – not to mention a near overwhelming paranoia throughout.
There are many imaginative moments – the opening sequence, in which Norbert Weisser tries to kill a poor little doggie – to the excellent blood test scene, in which the guys are tied down whilst Russell tests their blood samples for the alien virus. Russell is subdued but great and as an ensemble, the rest of the guys are true to life and so believable, which makes it all the more horrific. Every outburst, crack-up or breakdown seems to be happening for real and we do learn to care about these very natural researchers trapped in the worst scenario imaginable. Add to this a spooky Morricone score and you have a super movie about which I can say no more – except that you watch it for yourself.