| Review By: Paul Danda
The Thing: Collector’s Edition DVD Universal Studios Directed by: John Carpenter Theatrical Release: 1982 Collector’s DVD Release: Oct. 26th 2004 Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock Makeup Effects: Rob Bottin Screenplay: Bill Lancaster Based on the Short Story “Who Goes There” by John W. Campbell, Jr. Starring: Kurt Russell – MacReady A. Wilford Brimley – Blair T.K. Carter – Nauls David Clennon – Palmer Keith David – Childs Richard Dysart – Dr. Cooper Charles Hallahan – Norris Peter Maloney – Bennings Richard Masur – Clark Donald Moffat – Garry Joel Polis – Fuchs Thomas Waites – Windows The Thing has to be one of the smartest horror films to ever grace the silver screen, and my home television. It easily sits in the top five of my all time favorite horror films. It remains timeless, everything in The Thing still holds up today; effects, camera work, acting, etc. It’s simply amazing. For those of you who have been living in a broom closet all your life, I’ll explain the story to you. Everyone else, which should be all of you, feel free to skip below since you know the story like the back of your hand. The Thing centers around an arctic expedition in Antarctica. What they’re doing out there remains a mystery; for whatever reason we aren’t told. Several miles from their camp, a Norwegian expedition, much like our protagonists, stumble upon a giant spaceship in the ice. Of course, as you’d expect, they get nosy and end up releasing a creature known as an “Imitator.” It’s an organism that has the ability to “imitate” any life-form it chooses; be it aliens from other planets, dogs, humans, whatever. When our protags venture over to the Norwegian camp, they find a mutilated body and decide to bring it back to their camp with them to have the doctor take a look at it. Well unfortunately, that was a big mistake. It begins imitating some of the characters in the outpost and all hell breaks loose. Who do you trust when your friend could be one of those Things? How can you tell if they’re themselves or not? That is what makes The Thing so damn engaging. No one can trust each other. It becomes every man for himself. When an imitator is confronted, it does what it has to do to survive. It fights back, it tries to imitate something else, it runs away and tries to hide or sabotage the outpost. No one is safe. What would you do? The special effects are gorgeous. They’re grotesquely beautiful sick, disturbing, shiny, works of art. And they still look phenomenal today. I wish films would cut out the computer graphics and go back to using effects like in this film. Use CG only when you need it as filler, but keep the practical effects at the forefront. But technology dictates evolution. What can ya do? The DVD has a nice commentary track, plenty of behind the scenes photos, outtakes, storyboards, the theatrical trailer, and an eighty minute documentary with interviews from just about everyone that did anything on the film called, John Carpenter’s The Thing: Terror Takes Shape. The documentary is very informative. It gives you inside information on the making of the film, as well as some funny anecdotes about the horrors of things going wrong (no pun intended); for instance, on the bus ride up to the location shoot in British Columbia they nearly slide off the side of the mountain to their deaths; or setting one of their expensive one-take effects on fire and how they have to rebuild it day and night, setting aside shooting the scene for twenty four hours. It’s very cool stuff. This edition of The Thing is a must own for any fan of the film, or any fan of horror films in general. When you ask people what their favorite horror films are, The Thing is always one of them. And it’s for good reason. The Thing stands as one of the best horror films of all time, and it will continue to stay that way for many, many years. DVD: 5 Skulls out of a possible 5. |
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