John Carpenter's sci fi/horror masterwork!

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2015)

Kurt Russell and John Carpenter collaborate again in this frostbitten masterpiece of extraterrestrial terror. Kurt is the lead and the film contains an excellent ensemble all male cast. In this horror/science fiction story and sausage party, our cast and film makers deliver the goods. They are a twelve man research team in Antarctica and have discovered that a shape shifting alien is capable of imitating anything and infects and imitates its host. If it reaches civilization, it could mean the extinction of all life on planet Earth. The special f/x by Robert Botin are state of the art and truly remarkable. The tone of the film is stark, apocalyptic and dead serious. The atmosphere is cold and tense, enhanced to great effect by Ennio Morricone's brilliant score. Performances by the cast are very solid and another one of my favorite actors Keith David also appears and gives our lead, Kurt some competition as alpha male of the show. Keith David also worked with John Carpenter on They Live, another classic and huge favorite of mine. This was the first film which John Carpenter refers to as his apocalypse trilogy. The three films have nothing to do with one another, but deal with a potential end of the world situation in different ways. The other two films are Prince Of Darkness and In The Mouth Of Madness which are both very good as well. The Thing is one of his best films and you can feel the coldness and isolation as this group of men struggle for survival on this Antarctic glacier. Great winter viewing and goes down even better for yours truly with some hot chocolate and sponge candy as snow rapidly falls.