No. 44 - The Thing (1982)

Man is the warmest place to hide.

Rated: R for language, gory, gooey violence

Director: John Carpenter; Screenplay: Bill Lancaster; based on the novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr.

Starring: Kurt Russell, Keith David, Richard Masur, Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, Richard Dysart, David Clennon, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Donald Moffat

Movie Introduction: In remote, frozen Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter pursuing, and shooting at, a runaway sled dog. When the dog runs into camp, the Norwegian copter explodes, killing the men aboard. The dog seems harmless enough. When men start dying, it's up to a resourceful helicopter pilot, the team's scientist and doctor to uncover what's happening. They quickly realize that there is a deadly thing in their midst, a creature that can take over the men, imitate them perfectly, and eventually accomplish its goal - to spread to more populated areas.    

Defining Moment: bad dog

The new dog is immediately befriended by Clark who cares for the base’s own sled dogs. The docile Husky is taken to the kennel with the others. It slowly walks to the center of the room and sits down, starring at the back wall. Suddenly it starts to shiver and quake. When they hear the ruckus, everyone descends upon the kennel, and it’s a sight they have never seen before. It’s hard for me to describe even now, but I knew instantly that this film would be one of my all-time favorites.

Something subtle you might have missed:  spaghetti soundtrack?

Director John Carpenter wanted Ennio Morricone to write the film's soundtrack. He was a huge fan of the famous Italian composer's music from the iconic spaghetti Westerns, and he even had Morricone music played at his wedding! Ennio agreed to the job and worked up several musical segments for the film, based on what he thought Carpenter would like, especially after listening to the soundtrack from Escape From New York, which was solely scored by Carpenter, himself a talented keyboard player. Well, Carpenter, a perfectionist who knew exactly what he wanted, would end up using only about 20 minutes of all of Morricone's submitted work. However, that 20 minutes is the main theme that we all associate with the film.   

Memorable Quotes:

"You see, what we're talkin' about here is an organism that imitates other life-forms, and it imitates 'em perfectly." - Blair

"If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to kill it. And then it's one." - MacReady

Dad's Review:

It is wonderful in movie-making when a great director finds the ideal actor, and they are smart enough to capitalize on it. I think of Capra-Stewart, Ford-Wayne, Scorsese-De Niro, Burton-Depp. It's the same with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. They blew audiences away with the post-apocalyptic Escape From New York. The Thing, a mere year later, continued Russell's tough-guy image make-over. Their last great film was the wonderful Big Trouble in Little China - Russell's over-confident Jack T. Burton is still one of my favorite characters.  

Both had experienced some success in the movie business, and both wanted to make thought-provoking films that would change their images. Well, their relationship accomplished that and their fortunes were changed.  One would be catapulted to mega-stardom, and the other would lose his confidence and almost go broke. 

This film's setting is the bleak frozen North. You will quickly understand that the remoteness has every man on edge. A dangerous alien creature invades their camp and begins its process to overcome them, one by one. The assimilation is bloody, terrifying and absolutely fatal to the host. The film's sense of claustrophobia is palpable, as the thing attacks.

Similar to Hitchcock's Lifeboat, the men quickly begin to understand that the life form can perfectly imitate them. This means that one or more of them could already be the "traitor among them." Every single action is over-analyzed. "Where were you the last 30 minutes?", "Clark sure is acting funny...", "who had access to the blood supply?"

Easily the most powerful, and intense, segment of the film is the blood test. MacReady and Dr. Copper devise a way to identify who among them is not who he appears to be. This scene is not for the squeamish, but it's an INCREDIBLE ten minutes of film and a must see in my book, but hey, I am a sick guy who doesn't mind some bloody terror every now and then.

The original critical response for The Thing was not kind. Too gory. Too scary. Too violent. An exercise in excess. John Carpenter was devastated, and his career would never be the same. Such a shame for the director who gave us the films previously discussed, as well as the hits: Halloween, The Fog and Starman. Kurt Russell, on the other hand, showcased his ability to play complex, rougher characters, and his career took off. He would become one of the top box office actors in the '80's and '90's. His acting range would include dramas, romances, westerns and even comedies. His work peppers my film lists.

The film's first success emerged when when it was released on VHS for home rental (remember Blockbuster Video?) and on cable TV. People loved it, and rented the graphic horror film over and over. Critics have since revisited Carpenter's The Thing, now consider it more than a cult classic. Empire magazine put in on its The 100 Best Movies of All Time, at number 32.

Within its genre, science fiction-horror, it is considered one of the best ever made.

Onto No. 45... Cubicle Area