The Thing (1982)

[baumer]

Discuss

[Kalel009Shel]

Hey Baumer ddint this film star our B Movie king Kurt Russel. I need to watchhis one over again. I rem i

t being either an A- or B+ level film and so spooky when I was a kid.

 

You never  never knew who had that thing inside them..:-o!!!

[rukaio101]

One of the greatest horror movies ever made.

[IndustriousAngel]

One of the greatest horror movies ever made.

You can safely cut "horror" from your praise and still be right - man, what a trip. This and "Alien" were the movies where I got smaller and smaller behind the cushions on the tv couch, watching them late at night with no one else awake in the house ... gaaah!

[75Live]

One of my favorite horror films and possibly just films ever.  

 

Great cast that worked really well together with a straight forward, but still extremely effective and creepy premise.  It's scary, freaky, disgusting, funny, and eerie all at once.

 

Kurt Russell is awesome in this as well as all the actors from Wilford Brimley, Keith David, etc.

 

One of the landmark achievements in practical effects that even the prequel couldn't repeat with CGI technology.  The scene where they are using the defibrillator pads up to where the head crawls away always used to freak me out.

 

This is Carpenter at his best again.

 

A+

[The Stingray]

Can't say whether I like this more or Alien. Either way both are stone-cold masterpieces.

 

Can't say whether I like this more or Halloween. Either way both are stone-cold masterpieces.

 

In terms of Rob Bottin's legendary effects, it's quite remarkable that this +30-years-old original looks so much better than the remake from a few years ago.

 

Comparing The Thing and Alien to their respective remake and semi-sequel (Prometheus), they both have in spades what is sorely missing from their modern counterparts; an atmosphere of dread and foreboding.

 

A+

Edited May 9, 2014 by The Stingray

[Joel M]

It's one of those classics that I had never seen until a year ago even though I am a fan of John Carpenter, and it blew my away. I love most of Carpenter's work but this isn't just his best film, it's the best horror movie of all time. The effects are amazing because they manage to be scary, funny and disgusting often in the same scene, Kurt Russell is an all time great hero, the tension Carpenter builds from scene to scene is unbearable, the final scene is both bold and brilliant. Basically it's that rare movie where everything is absolutely perfect.

 

It also has a lot of similarities with Alien but my single favorite one is how they both introduce the hero as just one of many characters and slowly building him/her up until he/she becomes "our hero". 

[IndustriousAngel]

it's the best horror movie of all time.

Of course, it does miserably fail at the Bechdel test which is, in my book, the accolade of true horror.

 

btw., if you like "The Thing" (and who doesn't), there's a neat low-budget Austrian horror flick called "Blutgletscher" which owns quite a lot to Thing and Alien; it doesn't look low-budget at all; I liked it a lot and it's available in a dubbed english release if you don't like subtitles.

[Thrylos 7]

Possibly the best horror movie . Great acting and an amazing take on agatha Christie's ten little Indians , because underneath the scifi and horror that's what it was. Oh and it had the perfect ending . Such a shame it was a flop and we never got a sequel but then again that makes it even more unique.Oh and the prequel was surprisingly good too .

[Ozymandias]

Can't believe this got a ton of negative reviews when it came out.

[K1stpierre]

Oh my god, I love love love this movie!!! Russel first of all is a sexy beast in this. Second of all, the movie was just done so well! It was extremely creepy and I loved the script of the movie, some great lines. A+ from me, 9/10, one of my favs

[K1stpierre]

I'd still put Alien over The Thing, but both were classics for sure.

[Phil in the Blank]

This is quite simply my favourite horror movie of all time, and I think thats largely because

 

a} It kicks fucking ass

b} The people don't act like morons and they are still screwed.

c} John Carptener knew how to build suspense and atmosphere.

[4815162342]

Brilliantly fun movie

[Plain Old Tele]

Can't believe this got a ton of negative reviews when it came out.

 

E.T. put everyone in a happy mood and no one wanted to see a bunch of gory goop in the Antarctic. Plus it was a remake of a relatively well-received Howard Hawks film, so some of the older critics weren't inclined to be kind.

[BoxOfficeZ]

First time I saw this I had to pause after the guy's arms got eaten by the stomach.

 

A+

[kitik]

An all-time classic. So happy so see the love-fest in this thread.

 

 

 

 

 

But I've got some bad news for you: they don't make movies like this anymore.

[kitik]

And then there's this. This is the type of video that makes the whole damn internet worth it.

 

[Jessie]

this is probably my favourite horror movie.

 

A

[baumer]

An all-time classic. So happy so see the love-fest in this thread.

 

 

 

 

 

But I've got some bad news for you: they don't make movies like this anymore.

 

I know you're going to possibly think I'm crazy but a film that came to close to this in terms of atmosphere and feel and old school techniques, was Lords of Salem.  Two completely different films but LOS might as well of been made in the 80's, it's got that much going for it imo.

 

And yes, The Thing is fucking brilliant.