Underrated, paranoid gut-cruncher

Rating: 7/10 (6 January 1999)

John Carpenter drops us into the center of a claustrophobic, icy military camp, then unchains a horrific extraterrestrial beast. Long on gore, the film nonetheless manages to raises the goose-flesh in a more subtle manner: We never know who the monster is. I know... it's an old musty device. But it works.