The Thing Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1982

Paranoia. Suspicion. Fear. Isolation. Desperation. These are just a few of the emotions John Carpenter's masterful work, The Thing, draws forth during this compelling and horrifying movie experience. A group of isolated scientists working within a U.S. base in the Antarctica discover the misshapen body of a human, but little do they know the body harbors an alien that is very much alive. And this alien possesses the ability to completely imitate its victims and reproduce, leaving the terrified group to wonder whom among them might not be human.

I know I'm human. And if you were all these things, then you'd just attack me right now, so some of you are still human. This thing doesn't want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it has to, but it's vulnerable out in the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to kill it... and then it's won. – Kurt MacReady

A group of scientists are housed within the U.S. National Science Institute, Station 4 (located in the Antarctica) observe a Norwegian helicopter chasing a husky across the harsh landscape as a passenger tosses grenades and fires bullets at the dog. Seeking shelter from the threat, the dog runs into the U.S. encampment amidst the puzzled spectators. The helicopter lands, the passenger steps out, fumbles with a grenade and accidentally blows the copter and pilot up.

Seemingly unconcerned with such minute details, the man shouts some frenzied foreign dialect at the Americans before opening fire on the dog once again, clipping one of the scientists in the leg. Fearful for their lives, one of the residents fires back, killing the Norwegian.

The Americans are shaken by what happened, but assume that the two Norwegians went crazy with cabin fever. R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell), a helicopter pilot, decides to fly over to the nearby Norwegian encampment along with Dr. Blair (Wilford Brimley) and Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart) to see if the two crazed individuals also hurt their own people. Upon getting there they discover little more than bloody and frozen bodies, one of which is horribly misshapen and charred. They decide to take the body back to their base to perform an autopsy.

Little do they know the body is actually that of an alien that possesses the ability to assimilate its victims and take on their appearance. In addition, the dog the Norwegians were attempting to kill is also an alien – one that has been added to the American's kennel. Soon the aliens begin attacking the dogs within the kennel as well as the encampment's residents, and Dr. Blair discovers the horrifying truth behind the new aliens: exposure to just one particle of tissue or blood is enough to take over an entire body since unlike human blood, the alien blood is composed of independent organisms.

By the time the secret behind the dog and the charred body is discovered by the group, there has been enough time for the alien to have quietly converted some among the team. Suspicions flare as the scientists turn a guilty eye towards each other, desperately trying to uncover the moles among their midst before they are all eventually converted.

The Thing is a spectacular horror movie based on a short story written by John Campbell, Jr. called Who Goes There? Although director John Carpenter does not shy away from injecting some potently gory scenes of violence, the true horror within this gem is psychological rather than visceral. The movie works well as a "monster flick," but its true genius comes from the sense of paranoia and isolation the atmosphere and events instill.

Thanks to the outstanding acting by all involved, each character is brought to life in grand fashion, making us relate to their desperate situation and care about their welfare. Carpenter also created a thick and oppressive atmosphere that helps draw us into The Thing as participants rather than faraway spectators… the abandonment, suspicion and panic is almost as real to us as the characters, primarily since the film generally doesn't let us know who is an alien and who is a human either. As the characters try to detect who among them may be an enemy, we do too.

The Thing works on many levels: as a horror film, as a monster film and as a psychological thriller. For this reason, even fans that normally don't go for horror flicks can easily become absorbed by this dark tale. This is an essential movie for horror fans… heck, it's an essential film for nearly all movie fans.

Movie rating: 9 stars

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