The Thing (1982) *****
This was a fun Saturday morning surprise. The wife and I happened to surf past it just as it was about to start, and the kids were doing something out of earshot, so we got sucked in. I'm pretty sure I saw some of this back in the 80s, but I'm not sure I ever saw the full thing. I think the setting and bleakness of the whole thing probably wasn't what I had time for as a 14 year old.
This time, I was immediately hooked in the opening scene. A helicopter is flying over a frozen wasteland, and a Siberian huskie is running below it. The dog seems to be running to meet its master back at home base. Then the guy in the helicopter starts shooting his hunting rifle at the dog, and you're like, "That fucking bastard." Who shoots at a dogs?
The dog takes shelter with some American scientists working at an isolated Antarctic outpost, and they end up killing the Swedish dog-hater. For a supposedly smart scientist himself, the Swede has a problem communicating with the American guys when he arrives at their camp. So they shoot him and put the dog in with their own pack. Oops.
Anyway, this was a blast. Definitely one to check off your list if you've somehow missed it as I had. The bad news is that this also was the way early end to my thon this year. I must have watched this around the 15th or so...I thought I was doing so well, and then totally hit a mofo wall with work and other responsibilities. Ok, it was also the Sawx!!!!! Tough to pull off a good thon when the Sox are in the midst of a World Series run.
The Returned (2012) ?????
This isn't technically a Horrorthon review, as A) it's a TV show or really even "horror," and B) I just watched my first episode last night. But I wanted to turn you guys onto it, as it started off really promisingly. It's billed as a French zombie tv show based on a movie from a couple years ago. The hook is (and it's one not designed to please JSP) that these zombies just show back up at their families' homes as if nothing had happened. So maybe "zombies" is the wrong word--lost in translation or something. It's more like millions of people are mysteriously "resurrected" with no clear memory of what happened. They're all a bit out of it, but not hungry for brains or anything. Anyway, pretty gripping from the start. The wife and I were hooked immediately. Not exactly horror, but horrorish, especially in a psychological way as the various living folks deal with the dead coming back.
3 comments:
Woo hoo, love me some Thing.
The trailer for that show looks pretty damn good.
Sports instead of Horrorthon? I shake my head in befuddlement.
It's always disappointing when you watch a good movie in bits and pieces and only later on when you're older realize that you missed out on an awesome movie experience. Sadly this is how my kid watched the original Star Wars trilogy. I'm still not sure if he watched them all from beginning to end (he insists that he has).
I remember watching The Thing with Octo when we were teens abd being terrified by it - what a great film with amazing practical effects. I never saw the remake because I knew that it would be all CG and it would just piss me off.
The TV show sounds promising, but is there enough there to sustain a weekly series? I haven't seen one second of The Walking Dead yet due to conflicting reports that range from "fantastic" to "slow". I haven't invested in a weekly TV series since LOST.
love the thing, love the word "bomblet."
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