How old are you? Are you old enough to remember when HBO actually played
good movies? When non-cable channels played horror movies as a big event
with little to no edits?
Then I love you.
If not, fuck off, you little shit. You don't appreciate good horror and I'm
going to kill you. Stop reading this, you bastard!
Ok, ok, I'm just kidding. I like Lake Placid just as much as anyone else
that is deranged and wants to bang Bridget Fonda while she holds a sniper
rifle.
I'm going to tackle a movie I've loved since I was 9, or so. You already
read the title, so I'm not gonna say it's John Carpenter's The Thing, again.
Shit.
Let me slam through this, since most of you have already fell in love with
this flick:
Bunch of guys in the Antarctic find a really old spaceship and it's
shapeshifting occupant and they get all paranoid. Who's the "Thing"? Who's
not the "Thing"?
Carpenter's restrained way of directing really makes this work. I've heard
complaints of "I didn't know who the fuck was who". Well, yeah, that ties
into the whole point of the flick. Who is who?
But I'm not gonna dwell on Carpenter. He's outstayed his welcome. I wanna
talk about the good shit.
Rob Bottin. It Still Holds Up.
That's right. The main reason this movie bombed at the box-office is because
of how effective and realistic the FX were. It's also why it still is able
to be viewed as a classic. "HOLY SHIT!" should be said, at least, twice.
I loved the original, but this one kicks so much ass, I'm afraid to look and
see if I still have one.
