Ah yes, that annual ritual to kick off a new marathon by rewatching a classic! The new 4K version of the film sure looks good, with some rather breathtaking shadow detail that really brings out the great lengths Dean Cundey went to in order to light a film so very famous for its darkness in the second half, making for an impressive showcase that's so convincing that folks afraid of the dark may find themselves in a lot of trouble with this version, even in a brightly lit room. But even beyond the superb A/V presentation, it's really hard to overstate just how compelling a watch this remains more than 40 years later, with John Carpenter firing on all cylinders as a director as he cuts out any potential fluff to deliver as pure a horror movie as they can get, offering up a still expert class in how the hell to put on a show that remains so very tense and unnerving even now. If The Thing represents Carpenter at the height of his powers as a technician and as a storyteller, then this surely offers up a more elemental version of both, more miraculous that it came out when it did in the way that it did, showing off that horror films aimed at a mainstream audience didn't need to sacrifice polish and craft to achieve big results at the box office and with critics. Great way to get into the proper mood for the rest of the upcoming month!