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Thing, The
Influential horror sci-fi starring a hursuit Kurt Russell as a whiskey-swigging pilot who unwittingly becomes defender of the planet when his Antarctic research team comes in contact with a body-invading alien
Carpenter's version of the 1951 B-movie, The Thing From Another World, shows more originality, wit and invention than possibly any other film you might call a remake. This is due in no small part to Carpenter and screenwriter Lancaster going back to the source, John W Campbell's potent story 'Who Goes There' and more literally adapting its chilling ideas. An aggressive and armed Norwegian group in a helicopter is chasing a lone husky across an Antarctic snowscape. The chopper crashes, leaving no explanation for the chase. An American polar research team have witnessed the scene, and take the dog in, only to discover that it contains a parasitic alien life-form that has the ability to take over the bodies it inhabits. The paranoia mounts to excruciating levels as the team is whittled down, the survivors - lead, unwittingly, by hard-boiled chopper pilot MacReady (Russell, in Eastwood mode) - never knowing who is still human and witnessing the alien presence in horribly visceral, disturbing form. Carpenter was working with a studio's big money, and drenched his film in gory special effects and gruesome violence (achieved mechanically - prosthetic mastery by Rob Bottin). Few critics at the time got beyond this, and the film was deemed a failure and reviled. They missed the wonderful script and the unrivalled way Carpenter builds tension and paranoia. The Thing has gone on to become as influential as Alien for its blend of action, sci-fi and chilling horror. Verdict A superbly frosty and tense exercise in being careful who you trust from the other master of suspense. |
