Don't wait as long as I did to see this Thing!

Rating: 8/10 (19 December 2016)

I can't believe it has taken me this long to FINALLY see John Carpenter's 1982 cult Sci-Fi Horror classic "The Thing". Actually, I CAN, as this is not the type of genre to which I'm typically drawn. This said, there's this other realization I also can't quite believe now. And that is just how damn much I LIKED it!! The CAST for gosh sake! Okay, first of all Kurt Russell is a TOTAL bad ass as the leader vs. the creature among a bunch of guys encamped at a research outpost in Antarctica. But then here are only a handful of the veteran actor upper echelon who go to battle alongside Russell: Wilford Brimley (sans beard), Richard Dysart, David Clennon and Richard Masur. Hey, when you've got true pros like this workin' for ya the credibility quotient of any horror flick, hell, ANY flick at ALL, clicks on up the quality pole a couple of full notches at least.
And there simply aren't enough superlatives to commend the absolutely astonishing job contributed by the special effects, visual effects and makeup crews here. Their cumulative brilliance had me constantly aghast at the abhorrently repulsive and terrifyingly petrifying shape-shifting monsters these folks so ingeniously conjured up for the exclusive purpose of completely grossing us the F--- out! Toss in the unsettlingly creepish music scored by Ennio Morricone and Carpenter has constructed one of the most near-perfect dread fests of all-time.
I am not one to beg. However, PLEASE, if you've put off experiencing "The Thing" like yours truly had for so long, I PLEAD with you to watch it. And even if you like the film only half as much as me, that still means that you got a pretty stout kick in the butt out of the whole deal. And if you don't like it...well...then...perhaps that's "the thing" I just can't explain!