By Robert Scucci
| Published
Every now and then a classic horror movie like John Carpenter The Thing circles the stream and reminds us how ahead of its time it is by elevating even a simple storyline with next-level live effects. Now that The Thing is streaming on Shudder in all its violent and nihilistic glory, you can see for yourself how intense and heartbreaking it is.
From the remote Antarctic wilderness to the sense of paranoia that drips from every sequence, you'd be hard-pressed to find a sci-fi horror film that will make you want to bleed everyone in it. home before bed just to be safe. Or if you're anything like me, your next look The Thing On Shudder may or may not be read Amazon reviews for flamers.
Why does it work?
Although The Thing earlier Predator five years later, there is one thing in common that makes both films superior to their contemporaries, and that is the sense of routine and camaraderie of a seasoned cast disrupted by outside influences. an alien forces. Kurt Russell's RJ “Mac” MacReady has a connection with the rest of the research team, which allows the audience to easily learn how these guys generally trust each other and get along before anything else happens. The Thingnow stream About Shudder.
When the American team's Antarctic research station is raided by a Norwegian helicopter (they're not Swedish, Mac!), Mac and Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart) decides to fly to the attacker's station to see what's triggering them. Their initial hypothesis is that the Norwegians had cabin fever caused by isolation and, for unknown reasons, wanted to prey on one of the many sled dogs living on the American base. Mac and Dr. It doesn't take long for Copper to find a severely burned corpse, which appears to be a human whose mutation process has stopped after being burned by the Norwegian crew.
Looking for a logical explanation Mac and Dr. They take Copper's body back to their base of operations, along with whatever research the Norwegians compiled before things went south. Chief biologist Blair (A. Wilford Brimley) confirms that the body is human despite the deformities, but has a change of heart when one of the station's dogs undergoes a severe mutation while locked in the kennel. The crew now know they're dealing with some kind of “Thing” that takes the form of a host to absorb and destroy any living thing that might harbor its DNA, and they're reeling from the consequences.
While there is some initial doubt that they have encountered an alien life form, it is hard for anyone to ignore the buried alien spacecraft that the Norwegians discover before launching their attack.
Exercise in Space
The Thing presents a moral dilemma that must be resolved immediately. Growing paranoid, Blair makes an executive order that the Thing's contamination and assimilation efforts must be isolated after predicting that whatever lifeforms they are dealing with could take over the entire planet within a few years. . He destroys the radios and skis and kills the remaining dogs to make sure no one can escape.
Armed with flamethrowers and enough explosives to blow up the research station, the crew is sure they won't survive the winter. When Bennings (Peter Maloney) and Norris (Charles Hallahan) are infected, the surviving crew's paranoia gets the best of them, as they have no real way of knowing who else is infected with the thing. While Mac and Childs (Keith David) have every reason to distrust each other at this point in the experiment, they have no choice but to join forces in their survival efforts.
Next Level Creature Effects
Emotional and existential turmoil aside, The Thing It shocked everyone with its release in 1982 because it was so ahead of its time with its creation design and stop-motion animations that still stop when you stream it on Shudder. Special effects designer Rob Bottin requested a budget of $1.5 million (one-tenth). The Thing's entire production budget) and used a mixture of chemicals, food, rubber, and mechanical parts to bring the eponymous Thing to life in various grotesque permutations. If you somehow see it John Carpenter You might not believe you're watching a classic, 43-year-old movie for the first time in 2025 because of how well the practical effects are done.
Certified Cult Classic
The Thing is one of its live-action features that really benefits from showing off its monster on screen, and there's no shortage of blood, ectoplasm, spit and bone to get that point across. As each mutation becomes more intense, so does the feeling real The frigid temperatures on the film's set most likely kept the adrenaline levels high during production, giving the film an air of authenticity that I haven't seen replicated so beautifully since, and fear from its core cast.
You can stream The Thing now About Shudderand I encourage you to do so the next time you want to see the world burn. And if you want to explore The Thing later, GenreVision The podcast does a great breakdown that you don't want to miss.
