Creepy suspenseful gory well acted well directed.

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2016)

In Antarctica, a Norwegian helicopter pursues an Alaskan Malamute to an American research station. Upon landing, a Norwegian accidentally drops a thermite charge, destroying the helicopter. The surviving Norwegian pursues the dog, firing a rifle, until he is shot dead by Garry, the station commander. The Americans send a helicopter pilot, MacReady, and Dr. Copper to the Norwegian camp for answers, but they find only a charred ruin containing corpses. Outside, they discover the burned remains of a humanoid corpse with two faces, which they bring back along with some video tapes. Their biologist, Blair, performs an autopsy on the corpse, finding a normal set of human internal organs.
Clark kennels the Malamute with the station's sled dogs; it soon metamorphoses and attacks them. When he hears the commotion, MacReady pulls the fire alarm, and Childs incinerates the creature. Blair performs another autopsy which leads him to believe the creature perfectly imitates other organisms. The Norwegians' records lead the Americans to a buried flying saucer that the station's geologist, Norris, hypothesizes is likely over 100,000 years old. Blair becomes increasingly paranoid and withdraws, calculating that if the alien escapes to a civilized area, all life on Earth will be assimilated within a few years. Fuchs tells MacReady that he is worried about Blair, and according to Blair's journal, the creature's "dead" remains are still active on a cellular level. The camp enacts safety measures designed to reduce risk of assimilation.