[MacBlayne]

THE THING

Since I’m stuck at home with COVID to prevent it from passing to others, I decided to rewatch what is now the most relatable of films – John Carpenter’s The Thing.

I don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said countless times. Like Alien, Carpenter succeeds in locking a talented cast in an isolated horror that defies explanation. In a way, both films laid the blueprint for survival horror design, as in…

- a setting cut off from the rest of the world
- small cast of characters
- a threat of mysterious origins
- limited supply of resources
- lack of agency

Next time you boot up Resident Evil, tell me if you don’t notice the parallels.

Alongside Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing sees Carpenter’s immense talent matched by a large budget, and a crew of gifted technicians. Thanks to their contributions, the film immerses you within the confines of the Antarctica base. You can feel yourself succumb to the same paranoia and hopelessness that the staff feel. It would be so depressing if it wasn’t for Carpenter and screenwriter Bill Lancaster punctuating the intensity with strong gags. “You gotta be f**king kidding me!” is a line for the ages.

Speaking of Lancaster, a lot of praise must be given to his sparse script. Although a rare novelisation suggests that Carpenter deleted many sequences from Lancaster’s draft, it still forgoes exposition and long-winded character speeches. The characters of The Thing live in the moment. There is little need for background details, because the cast fill in whatever is missing in the page. Kurt Russell, Keith David, and Wilford Brimley have been rightfully acclaimed for their performances, but credit must be given to the supporting cast. Carpenter had the cast live together for a month to help them develop chemistry and rapport, and it shows onscreen. You really do get the impression that this is a crew that have worked together for months, if not years.

One aspect I always admired was towards the end, when

SPOILER:

it’s just MacReady, Childs, Garry, and Nauls left. Realising that they are on their own, they come to the quick decision that if they’re not going to survive this thing, then neither is it. MacReady, Childs, and Garry share a nod – they know what must be done, and accept it. Nauls, understands what needs to be done, but shows more reluctance. Not a word is spoken – it’s all in the eyes – and it tells us more about these characters’ backgrounds than a speech about surviving Vietnam would have done.

As mentioned above, the technical specs of the film help the cast sell their struggles. Cinematographer Dean Cundey and production designer John J. Lloyd present a believable location lost to the world, and ravaged by the elements. The sound design and Ennio Morricone’s foreboding score carry you to an alien wilderness. And Rob Bottin’s effects are still astonishing to this day. Thanks to Todd Ramsay’s careful editing, the effects sit in that uncomfortable zone between reality and surrealism. As hard as it is to comprehend, you will believe a man’s chest turns into a mouth.

The Thing is about as good as filmmaking gets. It features everybody at the top of their game to create an experience unparalleled within horror. And maybe that’s why critics at the time balked at it (although Gene Siskel was an early fan). Alien, as grim and cynical as it was, was set in a distant future in a distant setting. The Thing was closer to home, and presented humans behaving like humans, i.e. they all turned on each other. And while Alien closed

SPOILER:

with a sense of resolution, The Thing is far more nihilistic, with the story stopping rather than resolving. No answers. No hints. No hope. The world, the universe, the elements all around you, just the like the monster, just doesn’t care about you. You are not special.

Lovecraft would be proud.

PS: Here's a crazy fan theory. What if there were other Things around the world? What if they were waiting for one to wake up? Why can't Windows contact anybody? What if everybody else in the world has succumbed to the Thing?