One of the greatest and most layered horror films of all times

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2009)

Maybe it was the timing. With AIDS rearing its head in eighties culture, the Cold War essentially having everyone fearing the end of the world but John Carpenter's The Thing just has that special something about it.
Considering today's horror films are almost entirely remakes (something The Thing has had written about it for several years now) this feels original despite already being a remake in itself. There hasn't really been anything else like it before or since, unlike films such as The Exorcist or The Omen that have found their premise inferiorly mimicked countless times now.
The premise is simple. Nine men are stranded in Antarctica - and something is taking over their bodies. Carpenter racks up the tension early on creating the sense within the first half hour that the entire cast could already be infected and never gives you any suggestion they are infected until the reveal. It's that sense of unknowing as an audience member that gives The Thing one of its finest strengths.
Performance wise the cast are universally strong, never dissolving into horror clichÃ©s to ensure that this isn't just Kurt Russell's show nor is it just another hackneyed remake. Ennio Morricone's minimalist score only helps to heighten the tension around every scene.
The real hero of the film, and its strongest suit, is make-up guru Rob Bottin creating creatures that are undeniably taken from the audience subconscious. Every time the creature is revealed in its grotesque form there's a sense that the stuff of nightmares is really well and truly out to get these people and the audience. While many horror films (including many of Carpenter's own works) deal in the unseen The Thing itself is always seen and its terrifying.
The fact that the ending ends on such a note of uncertainty is all the more chilling leaving the audience wanting a conclusion that they will never get. It's that sense of unease that never leaves you. The Thing is about a lot more than just scaring its audience. It leaves you thinking. It leaves you wanting more. It leaves you in a state of unease. But then again, The Thing never really leaves you.
To put it simply, utter genius