Gets under your Skin

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2006)

John Carpenter's "The Thing" is, most would agree, indeed a very frightening piece of filmaking. But unlike other films which rely on cheap and clichÃ©d scary tactics for all the frights "The Thing" is bloodcurdling in several different ways. First there's the gore which will surely put off many due to its explicitness and inventive grotesqueness. Second there's the scenery with its chilled and chilling feel of isolation and its "no one's getting out alive" vibe. Thirdly the most unsettling aspect is that it lays out a distrustful relationship among these men, they're all together but not once do they, or indeed can they, trust one another which is clearly made out by lines like "Trust is a hard thing to come by these days" or "You'll have to sleep sometime".Paranoia fills the air while the tension seethes inside each character threatening to boil over.
So it's about the natural fear of the unknown but also about being alone in a world you can't by no means control.
"The Thing" while also marking career highpoints for Carpenter, Kurt Russel and Keith David is one of the finest, most terrifying and intelligent horror movies you can get your hands on.