A well made horror sci-fi film

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2011)

The Thing is a remake of the 1951 sci-fi horror film The Think From Another World and it is rarity because it is often considered better then the original. It is also often considered John Carpenter's best film.
In the Antarctic a Norwegian helicopter team try to shoot a Husky dog where it runs into an American scientific outpost. The Norwegian seems mad so the Americans kill him. But when the Americans explore the Norwegian's base they discovery they had discovered something and everyone has died. Back at the American base they discover that the dog is really an alien who's cells can copy any other creatures. The Americans do not only have to battle a big monster but each other, as the alien is able to pretend it is human and a spirit of paranoia and distrust is fostered.
As a horror it works for a number of reasons. The characters are simply men living in close quarters, playing games, watching videos, discussing what to do, getting annoyed with each other, typical people who have something extraordinary happen to them. They are not your typical horror film jerks, at least not at the beginning. The film also has a very simple but scary idea, who do you trust and when trust breaks down what people are willing to do. It is a scary idea that people you know well could end up attacking you and that a monster can take any living form. But it is not just suspect, there is plenty of gore and the special effects of the monster taking many different forms were both very well done and wonderfully gross. It is so good to practical effects, nowadays it would just be some CGI effect which lacks physicality and threat. The Thing has a very minimalistic style, there are only seven characters, the whole film is mostly set within the base and the freezing outside, it makes for a claustrophobic atmosphere knowing that there is no escape. Even the music is kept to a simple, using only a few notes or chores and only one instrument is used at a time: added to that Carpenter allowed no music at all some key scenes, having more impact and surprise then a musical cue telling the audience how to feel.
Acting wise only really Kurt Russell and Keith David (who has an awesome voice) notable members of the cast, doing a decent enough job. Everyone else seems to blend into the background. But overall no one was terrible and overall The Thing was a very well made horror film.