The Thing from Another World The Thing from Another World
1951 Directed by Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
Synopsis
Look Out...It's The Thing
Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.
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"What does that boogeyman in a cake of ice really mean?"
Outstanding. One of the pinnacles of 1950's science fiction, creating a format followed by all the 1950's alien invasion B-movies afterwards.
Two aspects set this one above the b-movies after it. First is the careful use of the rubber suit monster. This film understands that the scariest monsters are the ones least seen, and so we don't really properly look at the creature until the final scene. And if it ends up looking like a bald Frankenstein's monster -- well, we don't mind so much. Up to that point, it's really quite frightening.
Second, the dialogue tends to be sharper and smarter. The characters have distinct personalities, and they…
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Arctic Circle soirée
crashed
by giant carrot. -
Part of...
Horroctober 2012No pleasure, no pain... no emotion, no heart. Our superior in every way.
-Dr. Arthur CarringtonI'm almost ashamed to say that even though I've watched John Carpenter's remake, 1982s The Thing, more times then I could possibly ever count, I had never seen the original even once. As if the fact that I already knew that Carpenter's version was better meant the original wasn't worth watching. I remedied that tonight.
The film is a prototype for many a horror film since. The formula would be borrowed sometimes blatantly, sometimes subconsciously but at this point in the game it's no longer borrowed it's simply considered one of many horror tropes that are now commonly used. A…
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The original that inspired the John Carpenter classic, I can imagine at the time it would have packed quite an impact. In today's age of outstanding effects and CGI the "Carrot Man" does not hold up as scary but you can see what Carpenter saw and from this film came a classic.
If you enjoy seeing where films have their origin then thsi si a good trip to see the origins of certainly one of my favourite films and is well worth seeing.
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The real pull here is Hawks, isn't it? There's a well-crafted genre film here, and perhaps that's Nyby's contribution, but honestly, it would work if there wasn't even a monster. This is a bunch of pals shooting the breeze in the middle of a deathly crisis. One almost gets the sense that Hawks was intentionally undermining the horror elements by loading a film with this casual banter. The comradery in a "defending the fort" story anticipates Rio Bravo and it's a refreshing change from the usual narratives in horror, where cast members die one by one until our protagonist deals with the monster. Here, everyone works together, which sounds corny on paper, but feels realer in practice.
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The discovery of the alien ship is skimmed over in the John Carpenter version, here is it is a major scene. Something I noticed right away was the number of people at the station was considerably higher than the Carpenter version. This took away from the sense of isolation and loneliness that Carpenter established. The characters seem less remote simply because there are so many more of them to support each other.
And a woman? Sexual tension? What the hell?
As the Thing is thawing out (and yes, no one thinks about the ice melting…) there is a shot of Siberian Huskies becoming alarmed by the presence of an active Thing. It was cool to see that Carpenter was able…
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Con esta cerré mi maratón de ciencia ficción del fin de semana (iba a cerrar con Killer Klowns From Outter Space pero la quité a los 20 minutos, no sé qué esperaba). Está basada en la misma historia en la que se basó John Carpenter para The Thing (osea no, la de Carpenter no es un remake).
Está buena, pero me asusta más el concepto abstracto del monstruo que se maneja en la versión de Carpenter. Aquí es un alien con una naturaleza más cercana a la de una planta que a la de un humano, pero con cuerpo de humano. En concepto funciona bien, y así se maneja casi toda la peli, pero cuando en el tercer tercio ya aparece el alien como figura humana, pierde mucho susto.
Al menos me sirve para reafirmar mi status como fan de The Thing. Para esos fans, es una buena recomendación.
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Perhaps it's my own fault for comparing it to the superior John Carpenter remake, but I found this to be extremely dull.
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One of the best, and exemplary, sci-fis of the era thanks to the fast-talking Hawksian dialogue, great pacing and acting, and enclosed setting, miles away from small-town America.
"Keep watching the skies" -
Publiqué el 19/04/2013:
Vi "Beginning of the End" (Gordon, 1957), pobre película de 'mello' con insectos gigantes, de moda en los años 50.
www.imdb.com/title/tt0050177/
19/04/13 02:18
twitter.com/Iskramex/status/325146464361779200 ¿Qué trauma de los gringos en Guerra Fría con aliens e insectos gigantes? Aquí, grillos; en "Them!", hormigas; y en "The Thing", mantis...
19/04/13 02:20
twitter.com/Iskramex/status/325146973785165824Claro que "The thing from another world" (Nyby, 1951) ¡que es alien e insecto gigante! es la pieza sólida del grupo
www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/
19/04/13 02:45
twitter.com/Iskramex/status/325153196815310848 -
Stands above most other Sci-fi movies of the era on just about every level.
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I find its anti-intellectual, pro-violent message problematic and found myself agreeing with poor Dr. Carrington a lot more than the movie wants the audience to (for some reason, that stuff is a lot easier to accept in a film from the '50s).
Anyway, regardless of its politics, it's a great piece of nail-biting science fiction with some witty dialogue and an excellent monster, that's at its best when it's off screen.
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My favorite thing about this film is that it inspired John Carpenter.
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The real pull here is Hawks, isn't it? There's a well-crafted genre film here, and perhaps that's Nyby's contribution, but honestly, it would work if there wasn't even a monster. This is a bunch of pals shooting the breeze in the middle of a deathly crisis. One almost gets the sense that Hawks was intentionally undermining the horror elements by loading a film with this casual banter. The comradery in a "defending the fort" story anticipates Rio Bravo and it's a refreshing change from the usual narratives in horror, where cast members die one by one until our protagonist deals with the monster. Here, everyone works together, which sounds corny on paper, but feels realer in practice.
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Solid old school sci-fi with a great atmosphere. My only complaint is that the movie is very short. The release of the thing doesn't happen til around 45 minutes into the movie, and by that time the movie is halfway done. Still, it's an enjoyable movie especially if you're a fan of Carpenters The Thing.