"Alien" clone? (spoilers)

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2006)

Whoa! Seeing this, one of my all-time horror favorites, amongst the top 250 movies of all times just made me want to pay my respects to it. I admit it's a bit out of its league amongst movies like "Braveheart" and the original "Star wars trilogy", but nonetheless "The Thing" is a very, very, VERY good piece of horror. And easily one of John Carpenter's best ones. If you want to be nasty, you can say it's only a clone of "Alien", but there's more. What makes the difference for me are The setting - location adds to the common theme of isolation, and also to the nihilistic and dark mood; when the last survivors gather, you know they'll just freeze to death after fade out.
Characterization is done well. Everyone on the station has a post, a job and responsibility. So, even though Kurt Russell is clearly the lead, the rest aren't just cardboard fodder. They are as potential clones, as potential next victims - and as potential survivors towards the end. Keeps you guessing. Well - written, just like in "Alien" or in "Scream".
Benchmark in gory and eye-popping FX. What can I say? Everyone brings this up :D Surely some of the effects are now dated, but on the other hand, some are still very convincing. Not bad for an effects - ridden flick that's nearly quarter of a century old.