31 More Days of Horror: John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)

Twelve men, amid Antarctic isolation, must combat each other as trust gives way to fear in John Carpenter’s The Thing. A centuries old shape-shifting alien is loose on the scientific compound and everyone is suspect. Banding a makeshift truce, the researchers are led by MacReady (Kurt Russell) in an attempt to force the thing to reveal itself.

Amazingly effective elements come together to make this movie pitch-perfect. Carpenter’s build of dread and claustrophobia is so visceral—so disturbing. More than helping matters is Ennio Morricone's spooky soundtrack with that shiver-inducing bass line. The special effects are startlingly gory and bloody. Though the Thing is never viewed as an ‘entity’, the constant mutation is realistically unsettling.

Casting is yet another perfect feature. Kurt Russell is brilliant. It’s his no-nonsense attitude from beginning--Cheating b*tch!--to end--F*ck you, too!--that’s just the right touch of everyman. Juicy supporting roles that include Wilford Brimley, Thomas Waites, and Keith David are not full of character development per se, but make for scream-inducing kills.


John Carpenter’s The Thing feeds on the most human of emotions: fear. How he builds that--I can't quite figure out. He balances the gross with the shadow seamlessly, unnerving his viewers almost subconsciously. The suspense, the isolation never relents.

There are too many scenes to revisit, but my favorite sequence is MacReady’s blood tests. With the other scientists tied up, he tests each sample of blood with a red hot wire. The alien blood jumping from the Petri dish—still curdles my own—then leads into Window’s brutal demise and that uber-creepy spider thing.

Deserving of every accolade The Thing is one of Carpenter’s best. Intensely atmospheric, the film is crazy good horror.