Strange things are happening on the South Pole

Rating: 10/10 (18 September 2001)

It all started when a husky ran into the U.S. research base in Antarctica, pursued and being shot at by some Norwegians who don't live to tell why exactly they were hurling grenades from a heli at the poor mutt. Further investigation reveals that something really spooky has taken place in the Norwegian base. No survivors again, only burnt remains, in indistinguishable shapes. Meanwhile, the husky has found a new home in the U.S. base.
We see about a dozen guys working there, scientists mostly, among them heli-pilot MacReady, played by Kurt Russell. The dog in the meantime is walking around, sniffing, doing the stuff that dogs basically do before it's put in the kennel with the others. Although it's difficult to see through the darkness it turns out that we're not dealing with a dog at all. No, it's some bizarre creature that shoots tentacles to try and grab the other dogs.....and emulate them!
Turns out a spacecraft of some sort has landed in Antarctica thousands of years ago and the Norwegians have accidentally dug it up, waking an occupant who was probably not in the best of moods. Stealth is its weapon, taking over any creature when it sees the chance and then getting rid of the original. Question now, has the dog infected any of the humans? Who is real, and who is a copy? Further bummer: you're in the most inhospitable environment on Earth and a storm is closing in. Escape is impossible.
Paranoia ensues, protagonist MacReady doesn't know who to trust and tries to come up with a way of discovering who's who, getting sleepier and sleepier in the process. No one to trust. Is it Blair who destroyed the generators and radio so the creature cannot escape to the civilized world, thus isolating the group completely. Or is it short-fused Childs, who wants to shoot and ask questions later. What about the guy responsible for the pack of huskies? He was near that kennel for an awful long time, just by himself. And who's that guy running around outside in the dead of night? No creature from this Earth can survive in those temperatures...
So the story unfolds, accompanied by an eerie Ennio Morricone soundtrack in the background. Special mention must go to effects, that set a new standard for 'gore' in 1982. The performances are all fine, the direction never slips and those that haven't seen it are lucky, for they can guess and guess. Especially when MacReady finally figures out how to smoke out 'The Thing', in one of the most suspenseful scenes of all time.
Critically axed at its release, now critically acclaimed and rightly so. Carpenter mused: 'no one is ever going to see something like this again', and he was correct. This is a one-of-a-kind, the best horror/sci-fi ever made.
BTW, as far as I know, this is the only movie that doesn't have any women in it (not that I have something against women).