Source: Wikipedia Fair Use
The Thing is one of John Carpenter's earliest films. Released in 1982 and starting Kurt Russell, this film is
The Thing is a cult classic. It received an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been generally accepted as a classic 1980s SciFi gem. The film is rated R for violence and language. It's a classic, and it instantly recognizable as a John Carpenter film for it's dark subject matter, progression and character development. It's a long way from Last House on the Left, and has an insanely dark alien villian with memorable scenes.
The film begins with a chase through the Arctic and has a gloomy location far up in a desolate area. The scientists in the remote base the film takes place in cannot be sure who is an alien and who is human, and the alien itself inspires horror in it's victims.
The antagonist of the film is a shapeshifting alien who incorporates its victims into its body. There is a famous scene in which the alien incorporates human and animal victims into its body plan with horrifying results. It's a great animatronic antagonist which shapeshifts to incorporate animals and humans and the prospect of being assimilated into an alien and replaced is terrifying.
This is a must see for horror and SciFi fans. Definitely very 80s and Kurt Russell plays a great role as a protagonist. Worth a watch, and very atmospheric as John Carpenter films generally are.
