Review #262: The Thing (1982)

This review was originally written in October 2023.

Gabe's Horror Movie October Review #16 - The Thing (1982)

The Thing follows the crew of an antarctic research facility, who are beset upon by some Norwegian researchers chasing a dog across the tundra. The Norwegians get themselves killed and the protagonists take in the dog, and it's later discovered that the Norwegian base was destroyed with extreme prejudice shortly after recovering some kind of an alien lifeform that was frozen in the ice. This life form can seemingly infect, assimilate, and replace any living organism it comes across, and... hey, has anyone seen that dog they were trying to blow up? It's probably around here somewhere. Anyway, the rest of the movie has the protagonists pointing flamethrowers at one another, nobody can trust anybody else, and the future looks more and more bleak when they begin to realize what would happen if this creature were to reach the rest of civilization. Maybe they should sit down, share a drink, and let their tempers cool down.

I am frankly shocked I've never written a review for The Thing; it's been one of my favorite horror films for years, and it goes without saying that it's another one of the greats. The setting is fantastic, creating a sense of isolation with fear of the elements being a constant danger just barely kept in check, and the way the film engenders the paranoia that comes from knowing that any one- or every one- of your companions may actually be an enemy waiting for a chance to strike, really secures this movie a place on Mount Rushorror. It's no surprise that The Thing has inspired countless other films, TV shows, video games, and more- it's easy to watch this and assume that all it takes to be a great horror film is an isolated snowy setting and a plotline about not knowing who the bad guy is.

But The Thing is so much more than that. The performances are impeccable- and really necessary to sell the nuanced fear that this sort of story requires- and there have probably been entire libraries written about the practical effects used in this movie. The Thing had a remake/prequel that came out in 2011, and it was fine, it did some neat things, but in my opinion it's just a pale imitation when most of its effects were done with CGI instead of the visceral, disgusting, physical effects done right in front of the flesh-and-blood actors of this film. The scene where Norris is getting defibrillated will go down in history as one of the most terrifying and technically impressive scenes in horror cinema, there's no question about that.

I'd already seen this movie several times, but this time around it was incredibly fun to watch closely and try to theorize who has been taken over by The Thing and when it happened. I'm still a bit murky on some of the details (Blair's turn is still confusing to me) but that just means I'll need to watch it again!

I highly recommend this film, and will always consider it one of my favorites.

Overall Rating: 10/10 Hot Copper Wires

Additional Media: I used to run a tabletop gaming advice podcast, and one year for Halloween I ran a one-shot RPG inspired by The Thing. I think it was a lot of fun, so if any of you want to listen to it, you can find it here: Inter-Party Conflict Plays: The Whats-It