R
Movie
109 minutes
John Carpenter
David Foster Lawrence Turman
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
R
109 minutes
The Thing
A team of researchers set out to study an alien spacecraft found in Antarctica, where they also discover an alien body on the site. The alien buried in ice is actually alive and has the ability to imitate human form. The group must find a way to distinguish who the real person is from The Thing and stay alive. John Carpenter's 1982 film is a remake of 1951's The Thing from Another World and stars Kurt Russel as the hero RJ MacReady.
Blair
Nauls
Palmer
Dr. Copper
Norris
Bennings
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Sorry. It’s just not as good as the original. Good on its own but I “was there” for the original and it was mind-blowing with what was going on in the world then. It stayed with me all these years
The Thing (1982)
Rating: 5.0/5.0
Watched: February 5, 2026
The Plot: A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
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Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David
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You can't go wrong with that lineup, can you??? Hint: you can't.
The Good: Listen to me right now. How this movie wasn't an instant hit with horror fans in 1982 is beyond me. Stellar stacked cast, horrifically gruesome practical effects that STILL outstrip almost anything done by modern CGI and FX? Lingering doubts right up to the end as to who's who and what's what?
I make no exaggerations. This is a perfect movie. I'll admit that I'm a die-hard Carpenter fan all the way down to the DNA, but still. This really shouldn't have been anything but the talk of the town! Sure ET came out two weeks before, but I can't really see the issue. It's MADNESS.
The Bad: EVERYTHING WORKED.
The Ugly: Well, if we're going to go 'on the nose' for 'Ugly', the deaths in this move were ugly. The monsters were spectacularly ugly as well, pure, sheer innovation driving the concept of body horror in ways that we (I think) are still seeing copied, mimicked and otherwise replicated.
The Alternative: If you liked The Thing and want to see what else Carpenter can bring to the table, look no further than Prince of Darkness: A group of graduate students and scientists uncover an ancient canister in an abandoned church, but when they open the container, they inadvertently unleash a strange liquid and an evil force on all humanity.
Equally creative, equally innovative, equally unsettling, just in different directions.
The Last Word: See the movie. Tell me if you think anyone at the end was themselves. Maybe we'll fight about it, maybe not!
