“The Thing” Review
Kurt Russell stars as R.J. MacReady, a helicopter pilot turned alien hunter in “The Thing.” The film continued to cement Kurt Russell as an action star and remains one of his best performances.
It’s October and another Halloween approaches. So, I’m very excited to revisit as many of my favorite horror films as possible as well as explore some new stories. A couple of nights ago, I was very fortunate to see a live screening of “The Thing” in 35 mm film and it had reaffirmed the film’s place as one of my favorite horror films of all time and a masterclass in suspense, paranoia and special effects.
Set in an Antarctic research station, a group of 12 men are settling in for the winter when they realize that they are not alone. Inside of the station is an alien organism which is capable of imitating any living thing it comes in contact with and assimilates, including humans. As paranoia sets in and “The Thing” picks off the researchers, the dwindling number of survivors try to figure out who’s human and how to kill this creature.
At this point in his career, director John Carpenter was a star of independent cinema and horror with classics like “Dark Star,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” “Halloween,” “The Fog,” “Elvis” and “Escape From New York.” These last two films starred Kurt Russell, who also stars in “The Thing” as helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, and led to a successful partnership between the two. However, while all of these films were well-received upon release or have since been critically reappraised, they were all made for a relatively low budget.
This is why “The Thing” was such a big step for Carpenter. Not only was it the first studio film he was making, but he was also given a larger budget of $15 million which would result in the film having a grander scale and the money needed for the complex special effects.
However, at the heart of this film is an engaging cast of characters who are unsure if their comrades are still human or have been taken over. Kurt Russell’s career has definitely been one of the most interesting in the history of Hollywood as he started out acting as a kid (including kicking Elvis Presley on the shin in “It Happened at the World’s Fair”) then starred as a robot in a few live-action Disney films before becoming the action badass that we all know. In “The Thing,” MacReady isn’t a particularly brilliant guy. He’s not even a scientist. But he is very level-headed and has a way of commanding his fellow researchers that makes everyone else either fear him or cling to him for safety.
His persona as an action star is fully realized in this film as he has all the qualities of a great hero, including a spectacular use of a flamethrower. However, he’s not a noble person. He’s someone who won’t hesitate to kill anyone who he thinks might be a thing and is willing to even blow himself and the whole camp with dynamite to make sure that happens.
As the thing begins to assimilate more of the crew, they become suspicious of one another as they don’t know who is human and who is an alien.
Also contributing to the film are the amazing supporting cast including Wilford Brimley as Blair, one of the scientists who realizes that the thing must not leave the base and sabotages the base’s radio to ensure that doesn’t happen. Keith David also stars as Childs, the mechanic who frequently is at odds with MacReady but has to work with him often to take out some of the things which have assimilated their friends.
On the technical side, “The Thing” sees some of the best people in the business come together to make a fantastic horror film. Alongside John Carpenter, cinematographer Dean Cundy (“Back to the Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Jurassic Park” and “Apollo 13”) utilized the camera to make an unnerving film including the use of Point-of-View shots with a Steadicam and being able to convey the cold through imagery. To convey the illusion of cold, Carpenter had the temperature of the studio reduced to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and Cundy was able to capture the fog of people’s breath.
But it’s Cundy’s ability to hide the strings of the amazing special effects which earns him my undying respect. With so many different kinds of practical effects being used, it was important to shoot them in a way that made them look realistic.
The special effects which were used to bring the thing to life in various forms are some of the best in the history of film with Rob Bottin using a variety of materials like KY Jelly, latex, creamed corn, melted plastic and microwaved bubblegum. Of the entire $15 million budget, one-tenth of that was used for the creature effects and it definitely paid off. These puppets, animatronics and various concoctions look better than some of the effects of today’s movies.
But breaking up these sequences of creature-filled terror are interesting scenes where the crew of the research station grows more suspicious of each other. Carpenter really understood paranoia and how to capture it as well as make it look like these men were stressed out. It’s a shame that screenwriter Bill Lancaster only wrote three films, including the original “Bad News Bears,” because this screenplay shows that he had immense talent.
“The Thing” is also beautiful to look at, with Cundy’s amazing cinematography, and to listen to. The film’s sound design is so intricate with every sound causing you to become more nervous for the protagonists. Alongside great effects and sound, the legendary Ennio Morricone provided a score to the film which elevates the tone further to top-tier horror. Unfortunately, some of Morricone’s best tracks were cut from the final film, eventually being resurrected when director Quentin Tarantino hired Morricone to score “The Hateful Eight.”
As I watched this film yet again, it’s amazing how well it still holds up 40 years after its initial release. Unfortunately, when it was released, it didn’t do too well at the box office with “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial” coming out just a couple of weeks earlier and critics and audiences were divided on the film’s pessimistic nature. But years later, we regard it as a horror classic and something that needs to be put on when the seasons become colder. If you decide to watch it, make sure to have a sweater or a blanket close at hand.
