Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Thing (1982) CR: #10

To continue my month of Horror, I'm going to review a classic horror movie that is SO classic it got a remake this week...or is a a prequel...um...a remake/prequel? Who cares, it probably sucks anyway! So let's look at the source material that the prequel rips off from! Or does it rehash the scenes if it's a remake...GAH, I have to stop doing that, where was I? Oh yeah! This is John Carpenter's classic...




Let's Begin...


PLOT
Our film follows a team a researchers in the Arctic who have recently has there communications cut off. They find a dog being hunted down by a crazy man! They shoot him don and discover that he was with a Norwegian research team. They investigate the research facility and find that they had found someTHING in the ice. Once they return back to base, The discover that the dog is not a dog, but what the Norwegian had found in the ice, an alien who can absorb living organism and take them over! Once they think it's dead, they soon realize that this Thing has token over someone in the base! Now they just have to find out who is real and try to survive until a search party comes.


PROS
This is one of the definitive bottle films, A bottle film, for those who don't know, is a film where a group of characters are stuck in an isolated, claustrophobic area trying to find a way out and this does it with barley any flaws. It feels like a psychological horror film that let's you know that, yes, there is a Thing, but doesn't tell you who it is. 

One important aspect of a bottle film is that you have good characters, and The Thing succeeds in that level.
None of them are annoying and their motives are clear and make sense.

The Thing is mostly known for it's gore, and boy does it deliver. One great example is a scene where one of the researchers is using a defibrillator on another guy. At one point, the guys chest opens up like a mouth, with  teeth and all, and bites the researchers arms off!

The practical effects are some of the best ever seen for its time, and even today. There are some scenes where it looks so real, there is no way they did it with effects. They had to have killed that dog, It looks to real!

The film does a great job at giving you the feeling of isolation. For example, there is a scene where a guy is watching the price is right on T.,V., he then takes a VHS (remember those?) out of the T.V. and puts in another. This shows that they have little to no access to T.V. and have to watch things they've seen over and over again.

The film does a great job at hiding who is the Thing, There is a famous seen where they test to see who is real and whose the Thing. It's very suspenseful and leaves you guessing 'till the end. 


CONS
While the characters aren't annoying, they're not three-dimensional either. I just didn't really feel anything when a character was killed.

The special effects get worse as the movie goes on. While the first time you see thing is just plan nasty and creepy, the last you see it is just ridiculous.




CONCLUSION
While not perfect, The Thing is still a must see for horror fans, but I say go in with caution if gore is not your thing. And if you see it, you can see the remake/prequel, compare it to the original, and hate it!


RATING
WALK TO


P.S. For next weeks review, I just can't choose which one I want to see, so I'm letting you, YES specifically you, choose which movie I watch, leave a comment on the Facebook post of this which movie I should see..

Movie A: Misery
Movie B: Basket Case
Movie C: Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Movie D: Buried

Just type the letter of the movie you want me to see. Thanks!  


  


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