Grade: A-
Synopsis: A group of men stationed at a remote Antarctic research facility discovers that a malicious, shape-shifting, alien life form may have already replaced one or more of their numbers.
The Thing is a near-perfect horror film. Great production, solid performances, excellent special effects, an intense score, and a tight script combine to create a film that’s equal parts classic monster movie and psychological drama. Indeed, it’s so good that if director John Carpenter had just cut about two minute’s worth of material and made a slight wardrobe change, The Thing would be flawless, but as it stands, it’s still a hell of a ride, and easily Carpenter’s best film to date.
Based on a story by John W. Campbell Jr., Bill Lancaster’s script revolves around trust and paranoia sewn among a group of men who, by their chosen profession are loners by nature. These are men who’ve chosen to exist apart from society in a remote Antarctic wilderness. You could argue that one of the script’s biggest plot holes is that the characters don’t simply stay together at all times to avoid any of them being replaced, but it’s not in their nature to do so. Further, you could argue that the characters are basically little more than stereotypes, with no real insight into their personalities, and while that’s true to a degree, again the very nature of their chosen work tells you these are intensely private men content to live a secluded and remote life. Yes, they exist in rather close quarters with each other, but as the script shows, they’ve never really taken the time to get to know one another.
But the script really is just a means to move between several memorable scenes that feature some amazing special effects that not only hold up twenty-six years later, they still outshine most of the work done today. As opposed to the flat CGI that modern films seem to adore, The Thing’s effects, courtesy of Rob Bottin and Stan Winston, look frighteningly real, with three notable exceptions.
The first occurs in the opening frames, where Carpenter shows an animated flying saucer crash-landing on earth. Not only is the shot fake and cheesy, but it’s also unnecessary and should have been cut. The second and third missteps occur back to back in film’s finale. One is a stop-motion sequence of the monster grabbing an explosive detonator that’s obviously sped-up, and the second is a blatant rear-projection shot putting Kurt Russell in front of the monster as it spews forth out of the floor. These two shots last less than a minute combined, but they’re glaring slips compared to the rest of the film’s first-rate effects and should have been cut.
If these seem like nit-picks, it’s because they are. But ultimately, that’s how hard it is to find fault with a film this good. A couple of minute’s worth of bad effects shots are all The Thing has working against it. Well, that and Kurt Russell’s ridiculous hat, but we’ll let that slide.
