The Thing

i can’t believe as a massive horror fan i’ve never seen this until now, but it’s definitely one of my favourite horrors of all time. the thing is in many ways similar to alien, they both have aliens terrorising a group of people, but they’re both the best horrors in their respective decades. ‘the thing’ really resembles everything a horror movie should aim to be. a coherent and interesting plot - there’s not 1000 plot holes happening at once, the plot is simplistic yet so effective, the pacing is amazing, they get straight to the action, there’s no really long moments of dialogue at the start, they don’t waste a second in this film. the running time is perfect, short and snappy. it’s enough to create an engaging story but doesn’t overstay its welcome, and doesn’t drag anything out. a really big thing - it has a likeable lineup of characters, and the villain is actually interesting!! i was worried going in to this, as there were no women in sight. but the men in this film are just great. they’re just constant bickering makes some great TV - macready serves as the main antagonist and i’ve got to say i was just in awe at his hair in every scene - but apart from while he was a competent character - he just has some illogical and annoying dialogue, like when he tried to intimidate everyone by potentially blowing the place up, i guess he served well as an anti-hero i think? blair was someone who i wish did more, he was an approachable old man who is clearly the brains within the group - and he’s the first to figure out how the men are most likely infected - so he destroys all means of escaping the island and while he comes off crazy, he might’ve just saved the world’s population.. but yeah he is locked in a room majority of the film. nauls was one of my favourites from the film - he adds a comedic tone considering the harsh elements of this film, from the constant infection and harsh weather, he has a comforting presence and yeah. childs is another great character, his constant rivalry with mcready is interesting, and also how it’s only those two at the end, he’s one of the most interesting and enjoyable members, i feel like those were the most notable characters, the other men i either can’t remember or really can’t say much about. the clearly best character is the alien, one of the most unique horror villains ever - but i’ll probably talk about that more later. another thing this film does incredibly well is the special effects!!! i’m literally the biggest fanatic over really cheesy gory blood and guts - and this film just gives you everything… eyes popping out, green guts, spider heads!! i’m confident to say i’ve never seen it done so well before.. it’s just so camp in the best way possible. i will never understand why some newer horror films use CGI… barf. if there’s one thing i could kill for good is cgi blood, because you’re just setting yourself up for failure. the setting of the antarctic has to be my favourite place ever - not only is it massive but also it has excruciating temperatures, going to as low as -50 degrees, not only that but there’s no way to get out other than their destroyed helicopters, and the crisp snow is generally just nice to look at. it’s extremely isolating but also just rewardable for the viewer. whoever casted this film also does a great job - all these actors do an incredible preformance but also there’s a surprising amount of diversity, considering it was made in 1982. i’ve got down to my last 2 areas of discussion, and they’re arguably some of the films best additions. the villain is just so ominous!! the way it’s a 10000 year old alien who breaks out of a long slumber, and seeks revenge. it’s just letches on body to body like light work, until the entire crew is cremated. not only thing but when it gets defeated it has the most dramatic death sequences. and the last thing is, the ending scene, it’s just so abruptly ended and ends on a cliffhanger - there’s two men standing - you never know if they’re infected or not.. there’s so many different endings. do they live, do they not.. doubt we’ll ever know. this was just a joyous watch, i’m glad the high praise is deserved, because this might be my new favourite film ever