"I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS F******* COUCH!"

Rating: 10/10 (1 June 2006)

This is one of those movies that give me a feeling of nostalgia like few others. I remember being a kid and watching this over and over on video and on cable whenever it aired.
Some would say that this is Carpenter's best work and it's tough to argue against that point because it's such a great film. It succeeds at creating this mood that's so palpable that I can only think of a few horror films released after this that achieve the same effect. I love the feeling of despair in this film, especially when the team realizes that they're not going to make it off of the outpost alive. You never know who's going to be next in line to become a mess of tentacles, teeth and slime and you never know who's going to bite it. The true horror of the situation that these men find themselves in is captured perfectly through the skillful direction of Carpenter, the acting by the uniformly excellent cast and the music by Ennio Morricone, which helps to seal the deal.
The special effects by Rob Bottin still hold up even after the nearly twenty five years since the film's release. This film has one (actually, I should say several because this thing never looks the same every time it appears) of the most wildly imaginative designs for a space creature that I've ever seen.
There are many scenes in the film that are classics, my favorite being the initial discovery of the creature manifested as a dog. It's one of the most revolting scenes ever, in my opinion. Another fantastic scene is the blood test scene that somehow manages to make me jump occasionally, even though I know when the big reveal is coming. The ambiguous ending is one of the best ever. We will probably never know just how things ended up* (see below), will we? This is another grade-A effort from Carpenter and I applaud him for this one. Highly recommended! RATING ***** out of *****.
NOTE* They made a video game for the Xbox which was considered an official sequel to the film and it actually does answer the question of who survived. But I'm not telling!