Incredible

Rating: Null/10 (5 March 2001)

We have seen lots of special effects bonanzas in the last ten years. They have tried big budget movies with big explosions (Demolition Man), and incredibly horrific special effects (Braindead). Did those make great films? No. But John Carpenter just turns round and hands us `The Thing'. This film is very disturbing in it's gruesome special effects, but also supplies us with a fantastic cast, top-class dialogue, engrossing plot, beautiful shots, and most of all, scares.
With most people, this is without a doubt in their top 5 horror/sci-fi films. This may not be as scary as Carpenters closer movie to this, Prince Of Darkness, but the overall quality is so unbelievable, it is a film you will want to see again, next time with a bigger screen and better sound.

For once in a film like this, you will actually care about the cast. Here they are all referred to as their second name. The film constantly asks you questions; `Who is the thing?' and `Who is human?' Most films that ask you questions always make you keen to watch. And it works here. I refuse to spoil the film, but `the thing' itself is a shape-shifter, and can decide to take on human-like structures and their attributes. Let's cut to it, some of the cast are actually `the thing', and they remaining humans have to find out who isn't human. All this 1000 miles away in the Antarctic, with no contact with outsiders.
The `things' themselves are pretty horrifying. They imitate human cells and morph into all sorts of shapes and sizes. The first example of this is where some huskies have been `digested', or `absorbed' by the thing, their severed heads appear all over a horrific meat-like structure with eyes. The special effects actually look real, which makes a change from all this modern-day CGI garbage. A horrible sight indeed. The `thing' appears even more terrifying later on in the film.
Anyway, the acting is superb. Unlike 90% of horror movies, the cast aren't so stupid as to confront the entity. I don't care who you are, you don't confront a head which has just spawned spiders legs. Here, they run away. Nice to see a normal reaction like this. The way the whole thing is filmed is absolutely beautiful. We get atmospheric shots of the desolate station without time wasting like we saw in `The Shining'. The way the next shot can be presented as the present when in fact it's the future works tremendously well. Like for example in the blood test scene (for me, the tensest scene in movie history). I love the way Kurt Russell takes charge of the whole situation, it really brings his character out. Kurt Russell in good film shock! The lighting is absolutely spot on, it creates an awesome isolating atmosphere. Whilst the blood-and-gore factor in this film is rather high, at no point does it carry the film. The Thing has everything else just right to justify their presence. Even Clive Barkers Hellraiser or Braindead didn't create such warped sights as this, and this works when presented as serious!

John Carpenters best piece of work. An absolute must-see film. A classic.
5/5