At the apex of its genre.

Rating: Null/10 (2 June 2002)

It's truly hard to find a horror feature that so cleary disgusts the viewer to a point the story becomes difficult to absorb and analyze as food for thought. When faced with physical and emotional trauma most people, in general, desire some sort of closure to relieve the tensions of a traumatic event, but these unfortunate characters can only slog through a desperate situation that gets worse with each scene. John Carpenter's exploitation of this vuneralbility forces such a burden on the viewer that a full understanding of the story's dialogue and action can not be grasped in a single viewing. Some of us have to experience "The Thing" a number of times in order to come to terms with the multitude of questions one is left with in the wake of such intense emotional stress. Personally, I have seen this film many times over the years, never tiring from the repetition. I just finished watching the DVD Collector's Edition and still come away with the same nagging question. SPOILER FROM HERE OUT How has MacReady and Childs managed to avoid infection? In the director's commentary John Carpenter leaves the question unanswered while suggesting that each of the viewers must decide for themselves the true meaning of the final scene. My brother says, and I agree, that it's because of MacReady's abuse of alcohol(which is made very apparent), and a possible link to Child's suffering from a blood disease (ie, sickle-sell anemia) that keeps the thing from infecting the two of them. I know, fanciful speculation, and that's my point; there can be no closure for the viewer. Like the characters in the the story, one could lose sleep trying to wrestle with the pressure related to the paronoia and fear generated by not knowing the answers they seek. In the future I will continue to revisit this movie and allow it to do for me what good art should.