The Thing

Synopsis

A group of American scientists undertaking an expedition in the blistering cold of the Antarctic discover an evil force that has the ability to shape-shift into whatever creature it kills. The team must work together to stop this alien life-form from destroying everything in its path, including them, but paranoia takes hold as they realise that they can’t be sure of who has already been infected, and they begin to turn on one another.

A US research station, Antarctica, early-winter 1982. The base is suddenly buzzed and attacked by a helicopter from the nearby Norwegian research station. They appeared to be trying to kill one of the dogs from the US base. Having dealt with the threat, the members of the US team fly to the Norwegian base, only to discover them all dead or missing. They do find the remains of a strange creature the Norwegians burned. The Americans take it to their base and deduce that it an alien life form. After a while it is apparent that the alien can take over and assimilate into other life forms, including humans, and can spread like a virus.

Why See This Film

Slammed by critics on first release, The Thing has since gained a huge cult following, and is now regarded among the best horror films of all time. Roger Ebert deemed it a “great barf-bag movie” and many other critics rejected it for its gore, preferring instead the much cuter and friendlier alien film that was released a few weeks earlier, Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. However, to this day John Carpenter’s chilling cult classic is watched by devoted fans and annually by members of the winter crew at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, British Antarctic research stations, and scientific personnel at the Summit Camp on the apex of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Fun fact: there is a character named ‘Mac’ and another named ‘Windows’, but since the film was made in 1982, this is purely coincidental.

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Movie Information

Release Date

25 June 1982

Duration

109 MIN

Rating

MA15+

Director

John Carpenter

Cast

Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter

Genre

Horror, Retrospective, Sci-Fi