John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of finest horror films of all time (only second to The Shining in my book) and it is criminal to think that it bombed on release back in 1982. It encapsulates everything I love about the genre: the palpable sense of unease, unbearable tension and terrifying body horror.

One thing that separates this from many other genre films (particularly modern ones) is how brilliantly realised each and every character is. Whilst the charismatic MacReady…

My dad and I were searching Netflix looking for a movie to watch, and The Thing was available in HD. My dad is a huge fan of Halloween, and he had remembered liking The Thing when he first saw it 31 years ago, so that's what we ended up watching! 2 hours later I was sleeping with my lamp on. The amount of fear and paranoia director John Carpenter generates had me scared shitless, and this unquestionably deserves its reputation…

I have waited roughly four years to revisit John Carpenter's The Thing and unsurprisingly it is still every bit as effective, every bit as scary and every bit as iconic as I had it in memory. Renowned for being critically panned when it came out and being buried under the immense success of Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial this is a film that redefined what horror means in cinema. Its amalgation of state-of-the-art practical effects, which incidentally hold up incredibly well,…

There are only really two things wrong with The Thing.

1) Its title. I've never been a fan of it. It's just so inconsequential and getting the cast to say "thing" a lot does not excuse it! Funnily enough, it seemed to fit the original a lot better (albeit extended and exaggerated), but that was from a decade populated with daftly named sci-fi films. This really did deserve a lot better. I thought the name of the source story, Who…

It might just be my favorite horror film of all time. The suspense, tension, and paranoia in this was great! You could really feel the vibe that they had no idea who really was and wasn't themselves. The atmosphere was spectacular! May I add the practical effects were also top notch. The whole cast did damn good, especially Kurt Russell and his epic 80s beard. They were all very believable and into their roles. The Thing was everything you want…

Part of...
Horroctober 2012

I dunno what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is.
-Clark

In 1982 The Thing got mixed reviews and bombed at the box office opening the same weekend as Blade Runner while going up against the still phenomenally strong E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial that had opened two weeks prior. Makes me wonder if there's any films I'm missing out on today because of similar circumstances that I'll regard as a masterpiece…

Released in 1982 (on the exact same day as Blade Runner), The Thing may very well be one of, if not the best film John Carpenter has made. Next to other flicks like Alien, The Thing is one of my all-time favourite sci-fi/horror films. Everything works so well. The special effects, the atmosphere, the creepy music score, it is the kind of film that gives sci-fi and horror a good name.

The film was originally conceived as a loose remake…

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"What do we do? - Why don't we just wait here for a while... see what happens."

A classic, a master-class in suspense, tension and paranoia. that sums up what I think about The Thing, but let's continue for a couple more paragraphs.

There is not once, that I'am not engaged with The Thing. When the film begins and the carpenter soundtrack kicks…