More disturbing than the "original."

Rating: 10/10 (29 January 2001)

I'm a big fan of Howard Hawks' version of The Thing (the first adaptation of the great novella, "Who Goes There?"), but I believe that John Carpenter's 1982 version has unjustly been condemned as "just a remake." Carpenter resurrects the most original aspect of "Who Goes There?" in making the titular alien a shape-shifter... able to mimic anything... including humans. Who's real? Who's the thing? These disturbing questions together are the driving force of the film. Couple this with Carpenter's superb direction (I defy you to find any film-maker better than Carpenter at the wide-screen composition), great acting (Kurt Russell is severely under-rated) and the most original special effects in any film I can think of (think Dali, then add more goop), and you have one of the best films of the 80s. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers of its time.