John Carpenter's Finest Hour

Rating: Null/10 (19 June 2004)

In the summer of 1982, audiences were presented with 2 very different types of alien movie. Whilst millions of moviegoers were won over by the warm, fuzzy antics of Steven Spielberg's E.T. on the other side of the fence was John Carpenter's The Thing, an altogether more vile and repulsive prospect. Needless to say, warm and fuzzy won out at the box office.
22 years on and vile and repulsive have given way to revered and respected. Quite simply put, Carpenter's magnificent movie has stood the test of time well and is, in the opinion of many, (myself included), his finest film and considering the work of genius that is Halloween, which he directed 4 years earlier, is no mean feat. Sure, there are gorier films that have come out in the past 20 years, but few of them carry the same clout as seeing The Thing for the first time. When it first burst onto the scene, it was groundbreaking stuff. The effects were second to none. A dog's face splitting open; a human chest opening to reveal vicious, razor sharp teeth; a head sprouting legs and scurrying across the floor - just some of the surreal treats in store. If it had been made in the last decade, most of the effects would have been created with CGI, but the fact that everything you see is 'in the flesh' only adds to the jaw dropping astonishment of seeing these weird and wonderful creations.
Bucket loads of gore alone, do not a great film make and fortunately The Thing has a number of great performances along with a great story to add to the mix of mayhem. Critics often complain that films lack any real characters and that there is no one to care about. Not so with The Thing. It may not seem obvious at first, but repeated viewings highlight the individual characteristics of the main players and in spite of the situation they are in, they behave in a credible manner throughout. There is a real sense that these men have been stationed at the base for a long time and that they have learned to tolerate each other even if they do not necessarily like each other.
The underlying theme of the film is trust, or lack of. As the story progresses, it becomes uncertain as to who may, or may not be The Thing. It could be any of them, or it could be none of them. Tension rises and tempers fray as one by one, they each fall under suspicion. It's surely, no coincidence that Quentin Tarantino, who cites this as one of his favourite films, took the theme of trust and used it to great effect in his own film, Reservoir Dogs.
There are so many great scenes in this film, it's difficult to pick one, but highlights must surely include: the defibrillator scene; the blood test scene and of course the infamous head stretching until it falls off the table and sprouts legs and runs away. Everyone has their favourite!
The ending is satisfyingly ambiguous and has provided fans of the movie with plenty to debate. Spin off comics and even a hugely enjoyable console / PC game have helped to sustain interest in the film over the years.
Rumours have persisted that a remake of The Thing will appear as a TV mini-series. Please, for the love of whichever deity you believe in, don't do it!!! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Too many times a remake / re-imagining (whatever you want to call them) has tarnished the good name of a classic film.
The DVD edition of The Thing is a true gem. Crammed with extras, the highlight is the commentary track with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. It's informative and entertaining (as Carpenter's commentaries always are) and just listen to Russell roar with laughter during the aforementioned defibrillator scene. Priceless!
As a side note, it has to be said that, generally speaking, people with beards in films, are not cool. In The Thing, Kurt Russell makes wearing a beard seem effortlessly cool!
If you've never seen John Carpenter's The Thing, do yourself a favour and buy it / rent it, turn the lights off, take the phone off the hook and sit back and enjoy. I envy you, I wish I could watch it again for the first time.