The Thing

At a remote Antarctic research station, a group of scientists and their helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) discover they’ve been infiltrated by a parasitic alien organism that assimilates other life forms and subsequently imitates them.

After calculating that the alien would assimilate all of humanity within three years it reached civilization, one of the scientists destroys the station’s communications and transport equipment, stranding the crew with the monster. Tensions rise and the men start to turn on one another, unsure who’s a man, and who’s a thing.

Ostensibly a remake of Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World, Carpenter’s film is actually a superior adaptation of the source material (John W. Campbell, Jr.’s novella, Who Goes There?), delivering a near-perfect mix of psychological horror and monster movie set pieces.

The special effects are gruesomely inventive. We see one character defibrillating another, only to have the man’s chest open and chomp the would-be rescuer’s arms off at the elbows.

Yet, the movie isn’t just about the monster. There’s a very Hawks-ian feel to the characters and their fragile camaraderie, that, along with the desolate location photography and weathered set design, earns our buy-in right away.

While there’s no way of knowing how Hawks would have reacted to the amped up gore, he certainly would have appreciated the Carpenter’s unsentimental approach to capturing the men’s working lives and relationships with one-another, as well as the honest ending.