John Carpenter at his very best...

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2003)

Possible spoilers.
Immediately after the credits of this movie the opening shot is of mountains in the icy wasteland of the Antarctic, which seems to recall H.P Lovecraft's novella Â‘At The Mountains of Madness.' (Later Carpenter would direct In The Mouth Of Madness)
The claustrophobic and paranoid atmosphere evoked in The Thing is nothing short of masterful. The special effects were awesome for the time and still stand up to the CGI effects of today. The film manages to transcend its genre because although the original story is hardcore science fiction the movie counter-balances with the right amount of action, horror, and drama. Ostensibly The Thing is a metaphor for the cold war but below the surface it is about human relationships. Who can you trust? The tag-line asks. There is a hallucinatory intensity to the movie that really kicks in when the paranoia of the characters starts (when Blair is asking Clark how long he was alone with the dog). It makes you feel like you're right in that camp with them.
In sci-fi terms The Thing presents us with a monster that is truly alien (a formless thing that devours and replicates tissue, and NOT a critter of some description). It also shows us a monster that can give a presentation of normalcy, much like a smiling airline passenger who turns out to be a terrorist.
This is John Carpenter's masterpiece and it is a classic movie. The understated score by Ennio Morricone is clinical and perfect, adding to the cold ambience of the picture. The ending is ambiguous but leaves room open for a sequel. It's a well-crafted movie that is entertaining and engaging from beginning to end.
10 out of 10.