# The Thing (1982)



## Slater (Feb 20, 2001)

For anyone who's seen the 1982 sci-fi flick "The Thing" (with Kurt Russell), were you left hanging by the ending?
Do you think either survivor could have been infected, and would a sequel have worked?


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## Dave (Feb 25, 2001)

Sorry, I can't remember the ending.

But I love all John Carpenter films- Assault on Precinct 15, Escape from New York (also with Kurt Russell).

Actually, Kurt Russell has been in some good movies- Stargate for one.


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## Dave (Mar 23, 2001)

The Thing (1982) 109 Minutes.

Directed by John Carpenter.

With Kurt Russell.

http://uk.imdb.com/Title?0084787

'Man is the warmest place to hide'

A remake using the basis of the original story:

http://ascifi.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=3527

(the thing conceals itself with each of the characters in turn) but filled with revolting detail which alienated many audiences in 1982, but which is tame in respect to the norm for horror films since then.


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## Tabitha (Jul 14, 2002)

Watched this film on dvd last night - I was very impressed!  I had seen it before, but not for many years.  I was particularly impressed by how little we actually see the titular "Thing", the movie comes across much more as a psychological horror than as basci SF horror. 
The effects were okay, but even to put them in the context of other movies at the time (Alien, Bladerunner), I wasn't that impressed.  
All the footage  with the dog was chilling.  Particularly when it was being led into the kennel with the other dogs - I was chilled to the bone before anything scary even started happening!

The DVD (Region 1, anyway) doesn't have that much in the way of extra features - but there is a fairly interesting 30 documentary on the making of the movie, with interviews with several cast members (including Kurt Russell) and John Carpenter, and many of the effects and production design team.  I highly recommend taking a look.


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## darkjedi77 (Aug 26, 2002)

I absolutely love this movie.  I have it on DVD and VHS, I am acutally watching it on sci-fi channel tonight.  I saw it only once as a kid and it scared the **** out of me, the pasrt where the dog's face splits was where I said Game over, man!


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## Tabitha (Sep 12, 2002)

*New game based on "The Thing"*

I think it is available on The X-Box, but I could be wrong.

The television adverts make this game look fabulous!  Very mysterious and moody, and it looks as if they have really captured the atmosphere of the movie.  Can't wait to play - has anyone out there tried it yet?


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## MetalAlien (Apr 26, 2003)

I just want to drop a line of respect for what I consider to be one of the finest horror films ever made. I am a HUGE Alien fan, but this movie I put side by side with Alien as my favorite (if you knew me you'd understand how much that means, I live for Alien).

To date no other alien creature has be as truely frightening and incredible, but at the same time not completely impossible. The creature is basicly an expansion on what some single celled lifeforms and viruses do. It's like a virus with a mind. The REALLY scarey thing is some whacked out genetic engineer could make a creature like that one day. They'll be able to build custom cells in less than 50 years. After that it's just a matter of time before they start building biological weapons. Then some dumb son of a b*tch will make a cell like this alien and it will be the end of the world, for real!

No stopping it, nothing we could do, just wait until it comes for you. Science imitaing art, imitating you! Just one cell is enough to take over an entire world. Doomsday for real!

Love this movie!!!


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## Dirk Gently (Oct 5, 2003)

I have to agree this is possible one of the best horror style movies ever made, just imagine being there, not knowing if your best friends is real or not, most of the film is not made up of special-fx but uses suspence to try and show who may be infected.

The scene with the head on the floor that grows legs has to be one of the most disturbing and at the same time funny moments of the film, to think that the idea for the film was first done in 1938 just shows what a good story it is, it was written by John W. Campbell Jr. (as Don A. Stuart) under the title Who Goes There?

I have the region 2 version of the film which has an audio commentary by Kurt Russel and John carpenter plus loads of other extras, if you really like this film see if there is a better region 1 version out now or get the region 2 version.

byeeeee.


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## MetalAlien (Dec 20, 2003)

*New Thing Drawing*

Just sharing a drawing I just did of The Thing. I don't have a scanner so I had to stick together vidcaps to get enough resolution. Hope you like it. 

http://www.angelfire.com/film/vidcaps/thing_drawing.JPG


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## Starbeast (May 16, 2011)

This is a sci-fi masterpiece by John Carpenter, and for me, the best alien shape-shifter movie ever made. I highly recommend to everyone who loves this movie to watch it with the audio commentary on, you'll hear Kurt Russell and John Carpenter chat lively about this incredible sci-fi/horror flick.

I believe a prequel is being made, and we will fianlly see what happened to the Norwegian scientific team who found the saucer and the amazing, but deadly being.


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## Rodders (May 16, 2011)

A definate masteriece for both the SF and Horror genres. In the surface it's just a typical 80s gorefest movie, but when you look closer it's a deceptively intelligent movie. 

As well as the prequel movie (which i am very much looking forward to) i also believe that there was a game released that was supposed to capture the feel of the film quite well. (I never played it.  )


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## Diggler (May 17, 2011)

Yes! The Thing, is by far John Carpenter's masterpiece. It was panned on release, and eclipsed by E.T. So it ended up being a box office failure. I snapped up the HD-DVD when it came out. It looks fantastic in HD and holds up extremely well. Though the supplements are just ripped straight from the SE DVD.

The game was quite glitchy, and prone to issues, though it did it's job extremely well when it came to suspense. You had to balance between trust, and fear. 

Your team mates were prone to going crazy if they saw too much blood and guts or aliens. Though they could also be acting odd because they are not people any more, and could turn into a monster at any moment. You were capable of literally executing any of your team members, at any time. But if they were a human, then your own team mates will turn on you, and possibly even try to kill you.

This was not a game to play in the dark, because it was scary as hell!


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## Rodders (May 17, 2011)

LOL. This is one of those movies that's going to make me want a Blu Ray player. Does anyone know if the Blu-Ray transfer holds up well?


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## Diggler (May 18, 2011)

It's a direct rip of the HD-DVD Rodders. While it isn't like Transformers, it's a very nice print. Here's a full size screeny from the Blu Ray.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews41/the%20thing%20blu-ray/large/large%20the%20thing%20blu-rayx3.jpg


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## Metryq (May 18, 2011)

I saw this in the cinema when it was first released.

My brother, a real wiseguy, went to see it a second time and made sure to sit down right next to someone he didn't know. (The cinemas were rarely packed, and people tended to spread around.) He waited until that scene when everyone is tied to the sofa and MacReady is testing blood samples with a hot wire.

Mac finds an infected person, and the guy immediately begins to shape-shift: twitching and quivering. At the same moment, my brother also started twitching and quivering. He really freaked out the guy next to him.


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## Starbeast (May 18, 2011)

Rodders said:


> I also believe that there was a game released that was supposed to capture the feel of the film quite well. (I never played it.  )


 
I'm sure you can still find *The Thing* video game, it was released in 2002, it has a great spooky atmosphere with Carpenter's eerie music, and it's a good game to play in the dark (that's how I like to play horror games). I hope when the prequel comes out that a new video game based on both movies is created, because with the animated graphics that we have today, it would make the game very freaky indeed.

Here's the opening for the original game.............


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## clovis-man (May 19, 2011)

My older granddaughter, who is fine with just about any creepy film had a little trouble with this one. She's fine with zombies, vampires, etc. Even thought *Psycho* and *Alien* were cool. But this one was a little too "wet & slimy" for her. She couldn't get through it.


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## Starbeast (May 19, 2011)

clovis-man said:


> My older granddaughter, who is fine with just about any creepy film had a little trouble with this one. She couldn't get through it.


 
When my mother and brother saw this film in the cinema, they saw two grown men run out of the theater when the scene where the dogs are attacked in the kennel. After the creature was destroyed by fire, the two men returned to their seats from the lobby.

I've seen young people leave their seats from film _The_ _Exorcist_.

Has anyone else ever seen anyone run away from a horror movie?


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## steve12553 (Jun 12, 2011)

This one was interesting for me because I saw the Howard Hawks version as a child in the early sixties and really enjoyed it (scary and intense). I read the novella (?) *Who Goes There?* in the seventies and thought that the movie could have been better. I then saw the Carpenter version when it came out and enjoyed it. This sits with me kinda like the *Blade Runner/ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?* quandy. They all seem to work in there own right. I own both films on DVD and the book. I will rewatch or reread all of them periodically.


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## clovis-man (Jun 12, 2011)

steve12553 said:


> This one was interesting for me because I saw the Howard Hawks version as a child in the early sixties and really enjoyed it (scary and intense). I read the novella (?) *Who Goes There?* in the seventies and thought that the movie could have been better. I then saw the Carpenter version when it came out and enjoyed it. This sits with me kinda like the *Blade Runner/ Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?* quandy. They all seem to work in there own right. I own both films on DVD and the book. I will rewatch or reread all of them periodically.


 
Ditto.

The only difference is that I first read the Campbell story in the 1950s, when I was a lad.


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## william b (Jul 11, 2011)

I saw this recently as a download from NetFlix and it actually looked better to me than the DVD.  It's really great to see it being respected so much. 
   I remember it was derided as an Alien imitation, but I think it's gained more respect with time (and as Alien has been tarnished by the whole Aliens vs. Predator angle).  
   And the prequel is being released in October.   
   I don't know if it will be good, but it follows the story of the Norwegian base that first discovers the Thing.  There is an American scientist (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead of Scott Pilgrim and Live Free Die Hard) and an American chopper pilot in the cast.  
 I understand they actually are modeling Winstead's character a bit on Ripley from Aliens for this one.
------
   To answer the original question:  I prefer to think that both MacReady and Childs were human at the end.  While Mac says, if they have any surprises neither of them are in any condition to do anything about it, he then says, "let's see what happens" and they share a beer.  
   To my thinking, the Thing would probably not hesitate to kill the other man at that point.  He's much stronger than any one person. 
   And maybe it's the idealist in me, but I like to think the good guys won, even if they don't live.  Because they stopped the creature from getting away.  
   It's kind of fun because of that doubt though....you just don't know for sure.
   According to the commentary on the DVD, Kurt Russell and John Carpenter said they did film an alternate ending where MacReady makes it back to civilization and takes a blood test to show he isn't infected.  Ultimately, Carpenter just didn't like that ending and he kept the ending he wanted.


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## No One (Jul 11, 2011)

william b said:


> To answer the original question:  I prefer to think that both MacReady and Childs were human at the end.  While Mac says, if they have any surprises neither of them are in any condition to do anything about it, he then says, "let's see what happens" and they share a beer.
> To my thinking, the Thing would probably not hesitate to kill the other man at that point.  He's much stronger than any one person.
> And maybe it's the idealist in me, but I like to think the good guys won, even if they don't live.  Because they stopped the creature from getting away.
> It's kind of fun because of that doubt though....you just don't know for sure.



Plus, as was discussed, and clearly never resolved, by Carpenter and Russell in the commentary (which is pretty hilarious) there's the issue of whether or not someone who was the Thing actually knew it, or not; that the imitation might be so perfect that an infected person - to one degree or another - would continue on as normal until the thing was forced to reveal itself.

Either way, I love this film. 

I'm assuming a prequel would involve lots and lots of CG, which unless done extraordinarily well, simply wouldn't cut the mustard for me.


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## william b (Jul 11, 2011)

No One said:


> Plus, as was discussed, and clearly never resolved, by Carpenter and Russell in the commentary (which is pretty hilarious) there's the issue of whether or not someone who was the Thing actually knew it, or not; that the imitation might be so perfect that an infected person - to one degree or another - would continue on as normal until the thing was forced to reveal itself.
> 
> Either way, I love this film.
> 
> I'm assuming a prequel would involve lots and lots of CG, which unless done extraordinarily well, simply wouldn't cut the mustard for me.


  I know.  I'm a little worried because they usually dump bad horror movies around Halloween.  On the plus side, the director said he reveres John Carpenter's film and purposely avoided doing a remake, as the studio suggested.   Mary Elizabeth Winstead is another reason I might see it, but who knows what the results will be?
  ---On the topic of Carpenter and Russell's commentaries, they are hilarious.  On Big Trouble In Little China they forget about the movie at one point and just talk about other things and start laughing before getting back on point.     
---As I was watching the movie this last time, I was of the mind that The Thing was a good actor.  He knew he was not the life form he was imitating...but then when he mimicked Vance Norris did he have to mimic his heart condition that resulted in that great scene where things get really gory on the operating table?  
   I don't know.  
   Maybe the Thing would be a latent presence within the copy that he makes.  It's another unanswered question.
   But you know what?  I actually think it's a more plausible monster than the Alien in Ridley Scott's film.  That monster seems to have been engineered to virtually rape and kill people in the most horrible way.  What kind of sick intelligence would make that monster?  Well, we may find out because I think Ridley Scott is doing a prequel to his movie as well.
   One thing that Carpenter justly points out is that his creature is not so much like a bug eyed monster costume.  Ridley Scott's Alien is about as scary as a guy in a costume can look.   But the Thing is just...a mass of goo, tentacles, teeth, and whatever alien life forms it has encountered.  It would present a cool challenge to a talented special effects company.


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## Highlander (Jul 12, 2011)

I have never seen the complete film. When I did go the cinema to watch it, i had had a huge curry just a short while before and settled down to watch it. Fairly early on the curry started saying it wanted out and some of the special effects added to the feeling.

When the dogs head opened up, I though I was gonna be sick so headed for the bathroom. Unfortunately I collapsed part way there feeling really weird hot flushed feeling - left the cinema shortly afterwards.

(Turned out years later that my heartbeat occasionally dropped alarmingly low causing me to faint and I now have a pacemaker to kick in at that point) 

Similar thing happened during, "Return of a man called Horse."  Heavy food then feeling weird...

Still never watched the ending of either film... bad memories.


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## clovis-man (Jul 13, 2011)

Highlander said:


> Still never watched the ending of either film... bad memories.


 
Stick to popcorn.


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## No One (Jul 13, 2011)

william b said:


> Maybe the Thing would be a latent presence within the copy that he makes.



Agreed with just about every point of your post and what I've outlined from that post is what I think I like to think.

That the copy is so flawless that it runs by itself until the Thing's survival is brought into question just strikes me as the most effective way of disguising itself. As well as being downright nasty, of course.


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