Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Thing (1982)


Remake of "The Thing From Another World" (1951)

A group of Government Researchers are located on the continent of Antarctica.  The group finds out that weird things have been happening at a nearby Norwegian base.  After searching the base, they find the remains of something really strange.  It is a man, but with two heads and claws.  They bring him back to their base to do an autopsy, but what they did not realize was that they brought in an alien virus.  The alien virus infects any living thing it touches.  It takes over a body and imitates life.  Once the virus infects the Government Researchers, it is not known who is human and who is a monster.

This is an awesome movie.  It is genuinely scary.  The makeup and special effects are top notch.  The best scene involves an infected man who is morphing into an alien being.  It is astounding to watch this scene.  The man grows another head, along with giant hands and legs.  His real head ends up detaching itself from his body.  It falls on the floor and grows spider like legs and starts running around the room.  That is such a horribly frightening scene to watch, but you can not look away.

John Carpenter directs this film and he does a great job.  He really keeps the audience in suspense during the film and he knows how not to waste the use of special effects.  He could have had these alien monsters throughout the entire film, but he knows how to build suspense and wait to use the effects at the correct time. 

After "Halloween", I believe this is Carpenter's best movie.  It is suspenseful and horrifying.  It truly is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen.  I am glad I never watched this as a kid because it would have given me nightmares for years to come.

B+  I recommend it.  

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