An Astonishing Piece Of Film

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2005)

Right well what can i say other than a film that is so astonishing it still holds its own 23 years after release. I had only ever seen this film once since last night, and that must have been when i was around 6 or 7, and i barely remember it at all, but what i did remember was how great of a film it was, so i asked for it, and did happen to receive it as an Xmas present the other day, and decided to whip it into my player at 2.30 in the morning, all the signs of a john carpenter film were there, the slow beat and already chilling atmosphere (Literally!) A film set out in the south pole and something there with them, how could you resist! But what i love about this film is how its done so different, they find out about this "thing" and decide to research it a little, they even at one point fly out to a certain area, i won't give away what for, but its not till one of the characters destroys the mechanics of the chopper they get stranded, but what i love about the entire sequence of destroying is how you second guess if he is doing it to stop the thing getting out or whether he is doing it to stop the people getting out, thats the charm of this brilliantly enclosed movie. The paranoia is high, even with the viewer, you question everybody's actions and motives, are they infected? Or just totally scared by this entire situation, a masterful scene is when Kurt Russells Mac-Ready is talking to the entire crew, saying how one of us is the thing, but is hiding, and doesn't want to show itself, and you see a stunning smooth shot of each man, and its surreal trying to pick out which one, as it could be any of them! And what supports this entire idea is the idea of being stuck in this Arctic station, i love nothing more than a film about a group of people stuck in a place with something outside trying to get in, but the charm of this is you have the same structure, but the thing is inside trying to get out, john carpenter directed the original assault on precinct 13, you can see he does like his enclosure movies, and i love most enclosure movies, from dusk till dawn, Assault, most Romero dead movie, etc, but this has to be the best one by far, i saw it for the second time last night and was truly captivated by the mood and atmosphere, its done brilliantly, and you want to talk about Special FX, forget all this modern CG crap, this is the stuff here, some of it is truly sick, i won't spoil it, but as the guy that did the effects at the young age of 22, he truly is a master and this is a sickening but lovable film, some great performances also, Kurt Russell really shines, its obvious this and escape from new york made his career, i just wish he would return to these sorts of roles instead of trying to be funny, he plays much darker characters superbly, i urge you all to sit down late on at night, alone when the night is quiet, and watch this, it truly is a stroke of genius, and one of those films that has made my top 5 best films ever list, and that says a lot because some of the amazing films I've seen, this does enclosure a lot better than most, it is also one of the few films that has furthered my ideology of just what kind of film maker i want to be, i love these sorts of films, playing with the audiences minds, letting you second guess instead of going for the cheap special effect, if i do make it in film, you better well damn believe i won't be doing anything generic, you could say for my age I'm very old fashioned and psychological, and films like these just make me want to make it more so i can possibly bring some of this back to the movie business, but overall The Thing has it all, and one of the most chilling atmospheres in a film, the lack of a musical score all adds, i am already a fan of the slow beat that remains, and watching this last night, has made another impact on what i hope to achieve in life