The Thing: Review By slysnide

In 1937, John Wood Campbell Jr was hired as a fiction writer for "Astounding Stories" which began in 1929, and as of 2011 is the longest running continuously published magazine of the science fiction genre. Campbell became editor of the magazine in May 1938, and in the August 1938 issue, he got a novella published in it under his pen name Don A. Stuart titled "Who Goes There?" about a group of Antarctic research station workers becoming prey to an alien which imitates any organic life it devours via cell replication, leading to extreme paranoia amongst the workers as to who's alien, and who's human. Famed science book(s) & science fiction author Isaac Asimov would consider Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely." This was certainly true as Campbell remained editor of the magazine which he renamed "Analog Science Fiction and Fact" until his death on 11 July 1971.

Then in 1951, the poorly adapted Howard Hawks' film "The Thing From Another World" was released. Despite the adaptation, it was well received as far as monster films go. Then in 1973, just two years after the author's death, "Who Goes There?" was voted as one of the best science fiction novellas ever by the 'Science Fiction Writers of America.' The success was followed nine years later by the far more faithful adaptation of "Who Goes There?" by the one and only filmmaker who could get it right: John Carpenter.

Armed with an excellent screenplay by Bill Lancaster--son of actor Burt Lancaster--director John Carpenter set out to make his sixth feature film. Recognizing how Lancaster enhanced the sense of claustrophobia & paranoia from the original story to make for a far better adaptation than Howard Hawkes'--and even a somewhat better story all around I might add--Carpenter assembled a crew to make his take on his own beloved childhood film, and would ultimately surpass it by lengths he couldn't imagine. Though unfortunately for the film, it was more of a cult success than financial one.

Production mostly took place at studios in Los Angeles which had extremely low temperatures to reenact the full scale set from Stewart, British Columbia which was a dangerous location to get to on its own, with the whole cast riding a bus to hell along cliffside roads which were half buried with heavy snow, prompting the cast to move from side to side to prevent the bus from tipping over the edge. Upon arrival, they'd find Carpenter dressed perfectly for the conditions with a warm coffee in his hands, wondering why everyone on the bus looked so shaken up, but it only worked to peak Carpenter's confidence that his cast was the best as they already seemed scared, cold, and miserable, which was exactly what their characters needed. So they were off to a great start.

However, before all that happened, production for the most part had been completed at the studios as filming didn't commence in Stewart until late Autumn 1981. And before that, there was huge delay which gave special creature effects guru Rob Bottin plenty of time to work in the studio on live action puppets, animatronics, and stop-motion animated creatures. All weren't overused, partly for budgetary reasons. The effect on screen would be seen as a major payoff in any other modern horror film for staving through all the bad acting and poor storytelling, but here Bottin's work serves to accentuate the already great storytelling & performances which all contributed to making this a genuine sci-fi horror film which doesn't overplay the sic-fi element as much as the psychological thriller/horror elements. While some of the effects may seem dated to some people, they do however appear much more real, as you could actually picture yourself touching these creatures, and interacting with them rather than having them digitally cropped into the picture where they'd do a million impossible things. Rather Bottin's creatures have limited mobility not just by their design, but also by the creature's anatomy in the story, as the Thing isn't exactly perfectly formed and ready for action every time it transforms like in the prequel (2011). Rather it makes more sense for the Thing to be frightened when it isn't in control, or when trying to adapt to a brand new form while being meticulously watched by the humans. This really added to the characterization of the Thing, and it was all because of Rob Bottin's superb work here. Just the dog cage scene is more than enough to convince you that this was extra special: Gory? Yes. Disturbing? Hell yes. Reaction? "WTF did I just see?" The fact that we can be prone to react to the Thing the same way that the characters do further places us in that situation, and the realism of blending puppets, animatronics, and stop-motion animation proves that the old school way of doing things is and always will be the best way to go. Ultimately, Rob Bottin spent a solid year and five weeks working on the film, practically living at the studio as he worked every day in that duration. At the end of it all, Carpenter took him to a hospital as it had taken a toll on his health. So that's just an example of the dedication this guy put into making sure this Thing would be absolutely believable, and even become a character all its own.

As for the other characters in the film, besides Clark (Richard Masur) the quiet dog handler who seems to have a connection with his dogs, Fuchs (Joel Polis) the science guy, and the ever helpful Doctor Blair (Wilford Brimley), nobody else there appears like they are real research workers. More like a blend of surreal people from all walks of life thrust into this mayhem, as when the Thing gets loose, everyone unwinds. The fact that they all lose control contributes to the chilling aspect of the story, as no character has any confidence. Not even our hero R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell), or at least our main character. He becomes an ass in the film because he's the only one wielding a flame thrower so he thinks it gives him the right to back talk everyone else, and go as far as to tie everyone together and wait and see if the Thing will reveal itself during a blood test, with the most likely result being death to everyone on the couch. MacReady doesn't care of course. All he really cares about is himself, so he is selfish, and that fact adds to the mayhem, as you don't really like anybody, so you can't really trust anyone either. Childs (Keith David) seems normal; Windows (Thomas G. Waites) appears like some weird doper or the Unabomber incarnate; Garry (Donald Moffat) is bad at hiding his fear and paranoia while Nauls (T.K. Carter) is very open about it; Palmer (David Clennon) keeps to himself; Vance Norris (Charles Hallahan) is pretty sociable; Bennings (Peter Maloney) is just, quirky. And that about wraps up the cast.

The antarctic storm which keeps the crew isolated indoors contributes to the fear and paranoia we have as any time someone ventures outdoors, it's treated as an event. In the storm they can either succ*mb to the elements, or to the Thing. But mostly by keeping everyone indoors, it racks up the claustrophobia a lot more since we have no real nice guy for our hero--if we have one--and there's no confidence to be found among anyone. It's like you're trapped in there with the Thing, and there's no guaranteed safe spot Carpenter can take you for some solace from all the mayhem. That alone is reason enough to be scared. All the possible freak outs the characters have on one another every time the Thing appears, or every time they go at each other's throats is equivalent in tension as we're either seeing the Thing assimilate, or watching the next big roadblock unfold between the characters when they begin turning on each other, or when they go off searching for people who've been gone too long. There's always a million and one things that they get distracted by which all stems from their paranoia, and it only serves to distract them when the Thing finally does appear. So this basically speaks to the fact that everything becomes an event when there's more claustrophobia, and little to no confidence among your characters. Even when going outdoors to burn a corpse of the Thing becomes an event cause of the storm and the fact that the Thing may be back inside sabotaging rescue efforts. This back and forth continues amongst the characters for a decent amount of time, though rather than becoming bored with it all, or rather than having them immediately turn on each other as in the prequel which turns into one action scene after another, this film is broken down into segments.

First of all, the film opens with a bang, as a Norwegian pilot brings in a rifleman to gun down a harmless husky with violently shocking results. Thus, this immediately gives us plot material, as we're bombarded with questions about this situation that neither we nor the researchers can figure out. Brief amounts of time are spent with them just hanging out, as their true nature will be revealed when the mayhem begins. So the exploration into the Norwegian camp and the two events which follows concludes the first act, which brings us to the second act, being the hunt for the Thing. A substantial amount of time is spent doing this as they're not immediately aware that it's an imitator, and when they are aware of that, the paranoia kicks in with more tension as paranoia leads to claustrophobia as you're not going to want to be in an enclosed space with the Thing, but you don't really have a choice as you don't want to lose sight of each other and there's a deadly storm outside. So the environment very much contributes to the feelings of dread you should be getting in the film.

The third act involves your classic showdown between the 'survivors' if they are indeed not the Thing, and the showdown with the last person who would probably be the Thing. Because of all the sabotaging and weird occurrences which happen in act two, it makes act three all the creepier as you've now got all these questions with only a few characters left to blame. So maybe one or more contributed to these problems? Who's the thing? Who isn't? These questions only get more nerve wracking as you near the climax of the film, in which you really start echoing that title of "Who Goes There?" as our heroes venture beneath the flaming wreckage that is the result of their paranoia. And if you notice, the cynical characters which left us no 'heroes' suddenly become heroes as we become so isolated, and are in such anticipation of a full blown monstrous Thing that we don't care how much of a jerk the survivors are. We just want to see them kick the Thing's ass back the fifth dimension. Or maybe to just get devoured depending on your likes & dislikes. So the point is, the tension and fear builds up enough to the point where your opinions on the characters may change as you get closer to the finale. And by breaking the 109 minute film down into these three acts which have three different storytelling techniques being utilized, then you're not bound to get bored with it as you do frequently in the prequel.

What Carpenter ultimately accomplished here was recreating the 'monster' sub-genre of the horror genre. No longer are we fearing seeing the ridiculous 'guy in a rubber suit' monster. No, Bottin's monsters come to life in frighteningly effective ways. It plays like a psychological thriller as the monster isn't the only thing that scares us. It's the characters and their relative incompetence to deal with the situation that makes it scary, and humorous. For as Carpenter said, much of the horror genre is steeped in humor, and he's absolutely right. You can't help but laugh at the situation sometimes because of how incompetent these guys get, but it still works as a scary movie. A true sic-fi horror film which downplays the science fiction aspect in favor of the psychological aspect, as Carpenter's monster seems to almost become 'the monster within' type analogy, but he pulls back right before getting there to stay in the sub-genre. But from Campbell's story, the psychological aspects made it scary, and so is the same for Carpenter's film.

The most effective aspect I'd say would have to be Ennio Morricone's legendary musical touch. To put it in perspective, when it made a reprise in the finale of the prequel, I finally felt that genuine sense of dread I'd been waiting for the whole time. So when it plays throughout the mayhem here, and is pretty much absent in the beginning to accentuate how dull base life is, then you get how effective the music becomes when applied to an already fearful situation. So while this film along with "Blade Runner" (June 1982) and "Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan" (June 1982) may have been crushed at the box office by "E.T." (June 1982) it still has the perfect blend of tension, paranoia, claustrophobia, frightful science-fiction, and horror to become the best monster-horror films in the genre. And we have John Carpenter's masterful directing, Ennio Morricone's chilling score, and Rob Bottin's creative genius to thank for that. So next time you hear a weird sound after dark when taking out the trash, don't be so quick to ask "Who Goes There?" as it may be the last time you speak. Hence, like the Shape from Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978), the message to take from the film is that the Thing isn't gone...it's everywhere.