A cult favourite that has become a classic

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2012)

A dog is chased through the wide open snowy expanse of the Antarctic by men in a helicopter who attempt to kill it with a rifle. They fail and die, and the dog enters an American compound unharmed. The men of this outpost now try to discover what events led to this bizarre scene
John Carpenter's remake of the 1950 Howard Hawks original The Thing From Another World is a definite example of a remake that exceeds the original. With this film Carpenter upgraded the original with excellent use of very impressive practical special effects. These effects still look extremely good today thirty years on. But it's not just this that has been improved; the characters and dialogue are better, while the sense of paranoid mystery is an entirely new addition to the story. Despite all these aspects, it comes as a surprise to a lot of people that The Thing was a box office failure upon release in 1982. Even the fools at the Razzies jumped on the bandwagon and nominated Ennio Morricone's Carpenteresque soundtrack for 'worst musical score' – a frankly ludicrous decision. Anyway, it was only in the years that followed that The Thing built up a reputation as a cult favourite, to the point that it is now considered something of a classic. Which is the way it should be considering that this is a highly effective and claustrophobic sci-fi horror movie.