A group of US Air Force personnel and scientists in the Arctic discover a flying saucer buried in the ice.
During their investigations, they discover one of the saucer’s crew (James Arness) buried in the ice.
Cutting the figure out, they take him back to the supposed warmth and safety of their base for further study.
Once the thing thaws out, the base’s occupants find themselves in a pitched battle with an alien entity that craves blood…
1982’s The Thing is one of the best examples of critical rehabilitation, certainly in my lifetime.
As a child, I read a picture book version of the movie, with stills of the movie.
I remember there being a lot of these books in libraries (Including The Exorcist and Halloween!).
The Thing sounded so unique and the images were unlike anything I had seen before.
As I started reading more about the science fiction genre, I became aware of how reviled the film was.
A lot of criticism raised the spectre of this original film.
As part of this unintentional research, I found a copy of the original short story, ‘Who Goes There?’, which I read at the time.
I eventually did watch the 1982 version, but I think the hype was too high.
I took a few more viewings for me to realise how great it was.
I would say I became a big fan of John Carpenter before coming around on The Thing.
In the time it took between me first seeing The Thing in that weird kid-friendly book and me reaching my early twenties as a film-obsessed weirdo, the film had undergone a seismic reappraisal.
I am sure part of it was a new generation of critics taking over for the old guard, but it was probably also the passage of time.
My overall sense is that as the 1982 version rose in esteem, the 1951 version seemed to recede - certainly as a point of comparison.
I never watched the 1951 version until recently.
It feels like the fragility of the immediate postwar period. The interpersonal paranoia of the novella is replaced by the fear of the outsider.
Characters constantly refer to the war, not just as something in the recent past, but as the latest in a series of conflicts.
The characters are already preparing the new Cold War, and the end of the film redirects that militancy toward the stars.
The film’s fear of the intellectual is probably a reflection of two related fears - the horror of Nazi medical experiments, and the invention of the atomic bomb, which further changed the nature of warfare - instantly rendering our heroes as relics.
However in The Thing, it is these figures - embodied by Kenneth Tobey’s Captain Patrick Hendry - who are the voice of reason.
They see the Thing itself - a giant plant-based colossus - as a threat.
The film’s real villain is the bases’ chief scientist, Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), who sees the Thing as an opportunity for furthering his research - even to the extent of trying to encourage the spread of the species with the bases’ blood plasma supply.
Carrington’s obsession with, and constant refrains about the creature’s intelligence, are meant to come off as ridiculous and cold-hearted - the Thing is an inarticulate brute who barges into scenes with the single-minded intensity of an animal.
The Thing has a lot to recommend it - for one, it is basically locked-room thriller, with our heroes trapped in a few claustrophobic spaces.
And once the beast is thawed out, the tension is ramped up effectively.
Despite the changes to the titular creature’s design, Arness’s Frankenstein-like monster is effective.
Largely offscreen, his sudden appearance at an open door, and storming into the crew’s darkened quarters, are terrific reveals.
The cast are effective, but I had trouble picking out anyone who had a unique presence or take on their characters.
The big issue is my own awareness of the 1982 remake.
Compared with the cosmic, existential dread of the Carpenter version, the original can come off a little simplistic and light-weight.
With more viewings its own strengths will probably come more into focus, but on this time out The Thing from Another World comes off as an effective but rather by-the-numbers thriller.
Still, worth a look.
Related
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the sequel to a major blockbuster enters production.
To ensure the health of everyone/keep production going, the cast and crew are cloistered in a palatial estate.
I started watching this movie because I was considering doing a review series on Judd Apatow’s directorial career.
What a terrible idea.
Not the miniseries - starting by watching this.
The movie is a waste of two hours. A waste of its cast. A waste of its concept.
I do not think satire works with scale and polish, particularly when it is made by people with access to all the toys of big budget studio filmmaking.
Are these the people to puncture the thing that they are a part of?
Especially when the chief creative has a long term relationship with the studio (Universal) behind the movie (Jurassic World Dominion) they are riffing off of?
There is a vague story centred around the self-centred cast, but it drags everything out to the point where any decent comic ideas are left to flounder.
A sad, bloated nothing.
As the Spanish formulate plans to invade England, privateer Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) and his colleagues try to convince the queen to build a fleet of her own, to no avail.
When Thorpe is captured while on a secret raid in Panama, he realises there must be a spy in the queen’s inner circle.
Hijacking a prison galley, he attempts to make it back to England, to clear his name, and unmask the traitor…
If The Adventures of Robin Hood is a peak of swashbuckling for its quality, The Sea Hawk feels like a peak for sheer scale.
The Sea Hawk was the only Errol Flynn movie I had seen before Robin Hood.
I watched it as a kid, probably as a rental, and remember loving it. I was obsessed with pirates and sailing ships so it was right in my wheelhouse.
While the other films I have covered in this genre felt like a reflection of the Great Depression, The Sea Hawk was made in the shadow of war - and it barely counts as subtext:
We open with King Philip of Spain raging against England as a bulwark of resistance to his dream of world domination. It is a scene meant to cast the Spanish as an analogue for the Nazis.
What follows is an epic treatment of the genre, where every element is super-sized - except one element:
It is shot in black and white, possibly a way to keep the budget down.
The photography is gorgeous, and makes clever use of the format - in one memorable moment, chiaroscuro is used to create massive duelling silhouettes behind the combatants.
At two hours, it is longer than previous Flynn vehicles, and jam-packed with setpieces: we get multiple sword fights, including two in which Thorpe (Flynn) has to fight multiple opponents.
The film really takes off during Thorpe’s failed raid in South America - shot with a yellow filter to represent the temperature.
Thorpe and his surviving crew end up enslaved on a galley, which leads to an eventual escape.
This section of the film, from ambush to galley hijacking is tense - in the latter scene, lots of close ups of hands pulling chains free while guards sleep only metres away.
In contrast to contemporary action films, the final action sequence is a sword fight on land, as Thorpe engages in a running battle with guards through Queen Elisabeth’s castle.
While it lacks the character conflict of the final sword fight from Robin Hood, as an exercise in choreography and cinematography, it is exhilarating.
While the film has a romantic subplot, the key dynamic is between Thorpe (Flynn) and Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson), as he attempts to persuade her of the threat posed by Spain.
They have so much chemistry, you forget he is technically entangled with Dōna Maria (Brenda Marshall).
The film ends with the Queen declaring she will build a fleet that will not only face down the Spanish threat, but future ones - including the future existential one they faced in 1940.
While the action is propulsive, this is the one Flynn vehicle where the emphasis feels a little more concerned with mindgames and interpersonal dynamics. Thorpe’s real victory is in winning the Queen’s favour, not the sword fight.
In this way, it feels more like a Tyrone Power movie.
It is a little too long - and the romance is dull as ditchwater - but overall, The Sea Hawk is a fun romp.
