Highly recommended!

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2004)

John Carpenter's "The Thing" is truly an exceptional horror film. I am glad that the film is beginning to earn acclaim. As you watch the film, you begin to feel the loneliness, hopelessness, and terror that the characters feel. Being isolated on a polar icecap with a team of colleagues, one or more of whom might be a killer alien, with no means of escape would certainly invoke terror in me. The special effects are not highly technical, and I like that. They are realistic. The main thing (excuse the pun) that makes this film great is the acting. The actors convince you that what you are seeing is real, and that they are really in danger, not a group of actors pretending in front of a camera. Kurt Russell is great, but he is just one of the fine actors in the film. Many of them are character actors.
I especially enjoyed the performances of Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Dysart, and Donald Moffatt. If the film were cast with lesser-quality actors, I don't think the film would be as good.
One other item: this film is reminiscent of "Alien," but that's certainly not a bad thing. Both films are excellent, and although they have many things in common, they are two separate, distinct films, each worthy of viewing and enjoying on their own. Highly recommended!