One of Carpenter's best.

Rating: Null/10 (23 November 2001)

One of the best movies in my mind. I am an aspiring film maker, and I only wish that I could of come up with the brillant work that is this movie.
Originally, when I first saw it. I wasn't impressed, I was younger, stupid, and used to the original version of the "The Thing" A couple years later, I had gotten a dvd player, and when I had some money on me, I was looking to buy some dvds. Then John Carpenter's The Thing caught my eye. If you asked me why I bought this movie, i couldn't tell you why to this day, cause even though, it was the most expensive dvd, and if I had not bought it, I could have gotten 2 dvds for the same price. I went ahead and bought this movie. From then on watching it again, I realised things about it. Things I probably didnt understand when I was younger. Which is what makes this movie brillant, cause you have to think.
Sure, this movie has gore and everything like that, but that doesnt mean anything! Some people view that as a bad thing, but it's not. Not everything in life is sugar coated, and if there was a thing like that from outer space, Im sure it would be alot like that way from the movie. The gore isnt what I love about it though. One thing that makes John Carpenter great, is that I think alot like him. He uses alot of cheap thrills, and to me cheap thrills are the best thrills. I love the fact that the movie is built on paranoia. The scene where Fukes, is walking with a candle, and the dark figure runs by him, and he says "who's that!?" is just scary. It leaves alot open for the imagination from that point. You ask yourself "who was that?" and since it's dark, it makes you wonder what it looked like too. That's why to me, showing the thing is not as effective as when you dont. Carpenter did have alot of gore and showed alot in the movie, but when you think about it, there was alot he didn't show. That he left open for the imagination. And you weren't sure who was who. The dvd is great too, cause you get to hear the commentary by John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Little suttle things that Carpenter did as a director is what makes this movie great. Just one shot in the movie, of Kurt Russell from behind is really effective...because it makes you wonder "is he being watched, or is he a thing?" In my eyes, it always seemed like he was being watched, and that to me is scary.