The Thing 10 Ways It Still Holds Up Today
The Thing: 10 Ways It Still Holds Up Today
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Though it was dismissed by audiences and critics upon its release in 1982, John Carpenter’s The Thing has endured as a horror masterpiece years later.
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Though it was not well received when it was first released, John Carpenter’s The Thing eventually earned a reputation as one of the best horror movies ever made. It has enjoyed its more enthusiastic reception for several years now, but even after all of the praise over the years, The Thing still holds up remarkably well.
With the Halloween season approaching, horror fans will likely be revisiting this classic. Luckily, with a stellar cast, a gripping premise, and a truly iconic movie monster, The Thing still delivers nearly four decades since its release.
10 The Opening Title Sequence
The opening pre-title sequence is one of the rare missteps for the movie. It features a flying saucer that looks very cliché and not very convincing, sailing through space and heading into Earth’s atmosphere. It makes the movie seem like a cheaper sci-fi story and doesn’t feel necessary at all.
Thankfully, that clumsy sequence is immediately wiped from the audience’s mind as the title appears. The title literally burns onto the screen like something emerging from the darkness and it is a far more fitting way to kick off this movie.
9 The Score
Right after the amazing title sequence, the movie refuses to let go of the audience’s attention by hitting them with its classic score. While John Carpenter has often scored his own movies, including the iconic Halloween theme, master composer Ennio Morricone provides a brilliant piece.
While Morricone is known for Quentin Tarantino movies and Spaghetti Westerns, his score is the perfect mood-setting music for this movie. It is a foreboding and chilling score that works to put the audience on edge while being equally fitting to close out the movie.
8 The Isolated Setting
There is something about being confined to one location that works wonderfully in horror movies. Classics of the genre like The Shining deliver similar claustrophobic horror, but The Thing likely uses its setting better than any movie.
The central crew finds themselves trapped in an isolated Arctic outpost, cut off from the rest of the world. It not only means that the survivors have nowhere to run, but it also means that they are the last line of defense before this creature gets out in the world.
7 The Build-Up
While some horror movies have great effect in delivering the scares right from the first scene, The Thing takes a slower approach, building dread in the audience. The audience has enough information to know something is wrong but does not know what to expect.
Once the dog is brought into the outpost, the camera lingers on it, letting the audience know this seemingly adorable canine is more than it seems. With the added discovery of the Norwegian crew, the suspense is built up incredibly well. Even when audiences rewatch the movie and know what is coming, it is thrilling being ahead of the characters.
6 Kurt Russell As MacReady
Before Kurt Russell was a Quentin Tarantino regular, he and John Carpenter collaborated on a number of projects with The Thing being the most popular. Though there is certainly an ensemble feel to the movie, Russell takes center stage as MacReady.
MacReady is far from a perfect hero which makes him so interesting. He takes charge of the situation with Russell’s badass demeanor as well as a relatable reluctance. Though The Thing is perfect as a one-off movie, it would have been fun to see Russell carry on as MacReady.
5 The Paranoia
Along with being a great monster movie, The Thing is able to add more tension with some mystery aspects. Since the alien is able to take on the form of whatever it absorbs, there is a slasher movie element as the characters try to figure out who the killer is. But unlike a slasher, this killer can keep changing.
Just as the characters start to question everyone around them, the audience is also on edge, knowing the threat could be coming from anywhere. Even when rewatching it, this element is a lot of fun as fans can try to spot where certain characters have been taken over.
4 Man Vs Man
The paranoia ultimately leads to untrusting among the survivors which adds yet another element of excitement to the story. The movie is not overly concerned with making these characters into flawless heroes, but rather shows how quickly they can turn on each other in dire situations.
MacReady, the closest thing to a hero in the movie, actually kills an innocent man at one point. Whereas most horror movies find the danger in characters being alone, these characters begin to feel the safest when no one else is around.
3 The Blood Test
As the survivors argue about which of them could be the monster, it becomes clear that if one of them is the thing, it is very good at blending in. When tensions reach a boiling point, MacReady conducts a blood test to see who he can trust.
With some of the men tied up, MacReady gradually tests each of their blood samples one by one. The scene is a brilliant bit of suspense filmmaking as the audience knows something is going to happen but isn’t sure how the thing will respond to the test. The result is a great surprise followed by a wild and gory conclusion.
2 The Practical Effects
While there are amazing things that can be done with visual effects these days, there are some cases in which CGI does not match up to the practical effects. Indeed, The Thing is a prime example of that as its gruesome practical effects surpass just about anything in modern horror movies.
The scenes of the thing transforming are incredibly disturbing and terrifying with inventive designs that are the stuff of nightmares. It takes the movie from being a terrific suspense tale to a gory horror masterpiece.
1 The Ambiguous Ending
Unlike many horror movies, The Thing is filled with intelligent characters making good plans only to be thwarted by a more advanced enemy. At a certain point, there is a feeling of hopelessness in the story in that the heroes won’t survive and can only hope to stop the monster.
That’s what makes the ending so memorable as it is unclear if they succeeded. As MacReady and Childs are the only two remaining survivors, knowing they can’t trust each other, the movie ends leaving their fates up for debate.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/john-carpenter-thing-ways-still-holds-up-today/
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