The Thing

Director: John Carpenter

Writers: John W. Campbell Jr. (story), Bill Lancaster (screenplay)

Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David

When a group of American scientists conducting a routine scientific expedition rescue a stray dog from a pair of seemingly insane Norwegians from a neighboring camp the men soon find themselves facing a deadly foe unlike anything they ever imagined.  Fighting for their survival it quickly becomes apparent not everyone is who they seem to be.

Directed by John Carpenter this movie has always been a favorite of mine, one that I never get bored of watching.  Adapted from the short story “Who goes there?” by John W. Campbell, this is the second of two films created from Campbell's story.  Neither film has any tie to the other, the first film “The Thing from Another World” was released in 1951 while 'The Thing' was released in 1982. 

Hitting theaters this year is a prequel to Carpenter’s film which apparently focuses on the group of scientists who initially discovered the frozen life form.  Although this is a prequel it keeps the title used for the 1982 release.

The script used for this movie was well written and creates a tense atmosphere throughout that keeps you guessing about the intentions of each character and if they are who they claim to be.  Combined with the great cinematography and an eerie score these all make for an incredible horror film not soon forgot well after the final credits have ended.

With a strong cast led by Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David, the actors all do a great job of working off one another building and growing the prefect levels of paranoia, distrust and fear throughout the conclusion of the movie.

In my opinion this film stands on its own regardless of the poor reception it initially received from critics and audiences upon release.  Since then the movie has become a cult classic and is still a common topic of discussion on many movie related message boards.  John Carpenter is a master of creating a scenario that quite often leaves the end of the film open to discussion letting the viewer make their own assumptions to what they think happened or will happen.  That trait alone is something which helps make this such a good movie.  

This is definitely one of many John Carpenters movies that is worth adding to the DVD collection. 

Rating: 2 1/2 Reels