Review: The Thing

Directed by: John Carpenter

Written by: Bill Lancaster

Starring: Kurt Russell, A. Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David

Rating: [4.5/5]

Even under the best circumstances, stressful situations put everyone involved in a place of unease. Now imagine taking that and creating a sense of fear, isolation, and frigidity by having it all take place in Antarctica. A fascinating and equally terrifying proposition brought forth by The Thing. A feature with a fairly straightforward idea but one executed so exceptionally well that raises the game in practical effects and paranoid storytelling. 

After a sled dog being shot at by Norwegians on a helicopter reaches an American research facility in Antarctica, they provide refuge to the animal. While something remains odd about this dog in its demeanor, it begins to morph into something horrifying and begins to take over human members of the team as those not impacted try to decipher how to survive this mysterious entity. 

Mystery and intrigue run all throughout The Thing and how this feature plays out it does not provide many answers to what we see transpire on screen, but it makes it explicitly clear everyone involved should carry a healthy amount of fear. The way this creature navigates only exists to wreak havoc and these men, through this incredibly stressful situation, must have the resolve to figure it all out. In the process, they must deal with each other as well where some begin to lose their cool only making the process of trying to get to the bottom of everything all the more difficult. 

With this research team at this facility, the rapport gets established very quickly as to the roles each of them holds and bits of their personality. A bit of table-setting before this monster makes its way to their camp and completely engulfs them in this terrifying battle of finding those under the control of this mysterious entity. When things devolve they get out of control when it comes to the emotion but the narrative never loses hold of what it wants to communicate about this situation and the characters involved. Nothing about this feature comes as expected as the way it operates its story keeps you guessing as we have no idea in what way it will go. No one can fully be trusted and it makes for such a riveting viewing experience. 

With the rise of CGI to capture effects, the use of practical ones feels rarer and more impactful when we see how it contributes to the story. The Thing stands as one of the films to best use it for the sake of its feature as the creature effects absolutely dazzle in the heinousness of what we see with this monster. From the first instance in which these characters see the monster transform from the sled dog to what we experience later in the film, this feature only continues to up the ante on what can be displayed on screen for this terrifying entity. Having these creature designs through CGI does not bring the tangibility of practical in the way we see the creature and how it adapts to its surroundings. These designs have much more of a lasting effect and further sell the terrifying looks of this monster that remains unparalleled. The creations pieces together by John Carpenter and his team define excellence and completely enrapture us into this experience in such an emphatic manner. 

Taking place in Antarctica definitely plays a factor in the overall effect this feature seeks to have on its audience. Not only with the isolation of this empty continent with help thousands of miles away meaning they must deal with this monster on their own but also the cold. This film knows how to convey the frigid temperatures these characters must contend with, especially if they dare to step outdoors. They must contend with inhospitable conditions on the outside, which may serve as their only refuge when they cannot begin to trust the other individuals around them in the fear they may also have been taken over by this monster. From the inside and the outside, these men have absolutely nowhere to go, which only further intensifies the horror of this circumstance and why they begin to get crazily violent towards each other. A completely nightmarish scenario in every sense of the word. 

As a filmmaker, John Carpenter has always imprinted quite a style in everything he has made. With Halloween, he famously utilizes simplicity in the way he captures the horror involved. In this feature, he maximizes everything to such a heightened degree making for something completely enthralling as it sucks us into this nightmare scenario. In such a limited space of this camp, Carpenter makes this entire situation feel claustrophobic in the tightness of everything involved. There’s nowhere to run and hide realistically further adding to this terrible circumstance. Carpenter utilizes a different set of skills and demonstrates that man has some range. 

Quite special in the way it operates in this paranoid story, The Thing brings in a monster that never receives a name but terrifies quite like nothing else. Something with no rhyme or reason for existing but completely wreaks havoc in the lives of these men as they simply seek to survive what they see before them. It always keeps you guessing and the way it ends well and truly puts the cherry on top of one of the greatest horror films ever crafted utilizing impeccable practical effects, a stellar cast, and a filmmaker who simply knows how to scare audiences.