The Thing (1982)

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

    I have been seeing a lot of alien-related movies lately, haven't I? And I also just bought the full box set of The X-Files. Wow. I am turning into one of "those" people. Anyway, on to review. This reminded me of Alien, like a lot, except where Alien was based on psychological fear, The Thing went all out on that AND the gore. I forgot that the movie was rated R until the first transformation scene where "the thing" comes out of its disguise as a seemingly friendly husky into its true self. It was quite horrifying. As a critic though, I was incredibly impressed by the makeup and special effects required for that scene and others where our characters suddenly become monsters. 

    The acting was good, I don't really remember much, but no one was terrible. It was very down-to-earth, a cast of all men sitting around on a frozen slab of ice with their green-screened computers and furry coats, who either muttered to each other about their work or went ape with terror at the prospect of "the thing" eating them or whatever it does. There was no Ripley character, no real hero, so it just reminded me the movie wasn't really about the characters, it was just the shock value of the sudden appearance of something terrifying out of the body of someone you thought you could trust.

    I didn't really like the movie because of its high gore factor. There was one scene in particular that involved a pen of husky dogs that deeply disturbed me. As a dog lover, I could barely watch. I read on movie threads that many people share my disgust at the scene but I was somewhat soothed by those movie buffs who try to calm the frantic nerves of dog lovers by pointing out the wagging tails of the dogs "in agony," signifying their response to their trainer standing close by on set. STILL. WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARILY, CARPENTER? HMM?

    So, in a nutshell, think not as good Alien, but gorier for those of you who like that, and it's got Kurt Russell. There's a cool UFO scene, too. I watched it to burn time. It served its purpose. It's a cult film, and I guess I don't fit into that realm of people who are all over this film. Maybe you will be. Watch it and see.