Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Thing

(1982) ****1/2

The tedium at a small Antarctic research base is shattered when a lone sled dog enters the camp, followed by a helicopter whose Norwegian occupants are bent on destroying the animal. Foiled by a language barrier, the helicopter and its occupants are themselves destroyed. The husky settles into its new home, while a helicopter pilot and a doctor fly off to the Norwegian outpost to find out what the hell is going on.

I had never seen this movie before, and knew virtually nothing about the plot except that it was a remake of The Thing From Another World (1951), which I enjoyed last Horrorthon. John Carpenter's version turned out to be the perfect horror treat for this bizarrely snowy, dark, October afternoon. Anyone on the blog who hasn't seen The Thing, take one second to appreciate the non-spoily picture I chose, then go out and immediately rent and watch this beauty. From moment one I was enveloped in a sense of unease that persisted throughout the movie, aided by excellent acting, visual effects, and background music. I've been watching so many crappy movies this year, to see a well-made movie unfold is an even greater pleasure.

3 comments:

DKC said...

Yes! I'm so happy to hear you finally got to see a good movie. And this is a good movie - great, in fact.

Nice non-spoily review!

Catfreeek said...

I love this flick, really nice review AC. Doesn't it feel good to watch a good movie after all those stinkers :)

Octopunk said...

Nice! This movie is a true modern classic. It was my last movie of Horrorthon a couple years ago. Probably some of the best practical special effects EVER. The FX guy actually worked so many days in a row he had to take time off for exhaustion. His effort shows.

Malevolent

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