Probably the best horror film ever made?

Rating: 10/10 (28 April 2017)

My freshman year of college we had a film appreciation class and for horror week our professor said we should vote for Halloween, Jaws, The Shining, Sinister, or The Thing. The Thing was the only one I had never even heard of, and the premise sounded super interesting, so we decided on that one. I don't know why this film isn't on the same popular level as The Shining or Jaws when it really should be. The Thing is absolutely terrifying on every single level. The practical effects are AMAZING and they look super realistic. It blew my mind because I thought the film was made in the 90's, not 1982. However, what I think is even greater is the story. The idea of being trapped in a building with no escape and your with a bunch of people and one of them is a killer but you don't know who? Terrifying concept!!! It was great to see all these palatable characters turn against each other in a realistic way. They weren't just cardboard stereotypes, they were realistic and interesting characters and it was scary to see them decay to paranoia. I was at the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was lying, and whenever an alien was revealed I nearly died from the shock. It's a shame that critics bashed the movie back in 1982 because it was too gory for their snobby old stomachs to handle. Who cares about the gore? The effects and gore are super good, but the real scary thing here is the tension. The Thing needs to be a lot more popular then it is. I had never even heard of the film before my film school and that's a huge shame because The Thing is now one of my favorite movies. I'm a senior in college now and I've seen it at least 10 times and own it on Blu-ray.