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.
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