Carpenter does his own thing.

Rating: 8/10 (27 February 2010)

John Carpenter's remake of The Thing From Another World has divided the opinions of sci-fi/horror fans ever since its original release: the film was a box office failure, panned by the critics, primarily for its bleak, emotionless content and over-reliance on excessive violence and gore, but has since been declared by many as a classic for the very same reasons. Judging by the comments here on IMDb, the debate still rages...
As far as Carpenter's storytelling is concerned, I'm kinda pitched between the two camps: there are some very effective scenes in which the director successfully creates an Alien-style atmosphere of paranoia, mistrust and fear between his increasingly desperate characters; and there are some equally dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks moments that simply defy logic, particularly as the film reaches its poorly conceived and annoyingly inconclusive climax.
What is undeniable, however, is that The Thing does deliver some of the most spectacular and gloopy gross-out make-up effects in the history of horror cinema, and for that reason alone, the film makes my 'recommended viewing' list. Devised by FX wizard Rob Bottin, the incredible metamorphic creatures that burst onto the screen in the film's show-stopping scenes of visceral horror are quite breath-taking, and to this day, these physical effects easily hold their own against contemporary CGI movie magic.
Oh, and Dean Cundey's cinematography is pretty damn good too.
7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.