THING, THE (1982)

(June 1982, U.S.)

I've said this before, and it looks like I'm about to say it again...as a general rule, I don't care too much for remakes. But I'll also say again that even the strictest of general rules have their exceptions, and every once in a while, a remake comes along that's not only worthy of its original version, but also outsoars it. For my tastes, it seems that many of these exceptions have been in the form of horror that have included titles like INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978), DRACULA (1979), THE FLY (1986) and absolutely, positively John Carpenter's THE THING. For all of its popularity and positive feedback today, the film did little to gain attention at the box office with audiences and critics, and that may have had much to do with a squashy, little optimistic alien visitor who just wanted to "phone home". For myself, I didn't see THE THING during the summer of '82, and that was my own fault, because I chose to see the Disney computer film TRON instead with some camp friends one night at a quad movie theater that also offered THE THING.

Set in the present day of 1982, a group of American researchers based in Antarctica, led by R.J. MacReady (played by Kurt Russell) encounter the alien invader who was discovered buried in the ice. Unlike the original film, however, their ill-fated experiences come to them almost by accident. Beginning with a Norwegian helicopter pursuit of a sled dog to their research station, the American witness a Norwegian helicopter passenger gone mad with a rifle, hell-bent on killing the dog. Because of the foreign language, the Americans can never know why the dog is such a threat. The Norwegian is killed, leaving open the great mystery of what took place at the foreign base without investigation. Among the charred ruin and frozen corpses that MacReady and a member of his team discover, they also find the remains of a malformed humanoid which they decide to bring back with them. It's not long before our mysterious sled dog reveals itself to be a victim of alien metamorphoses. This is not only the point where the team discovers just what they're up against, but also where the movie's audiences discovers just how sick and gross THE THING really is. In fact, even to this day, I still watch the film with an unnerving sense of dread in knowing that the alien creature effects continue to be some of the grossest things I've ever seen on film (we can thank effects men Rob Bottin and Stan Winston for that!). In fact, that scene with the defibrillator and arm chomping still makes me cringe...

Amidst the chaos of alien attacks and defense in the form of bullets and flamethrowers, the entire American team is slowly picked off, or shall we say "alienated", drawing parallels from the process of elimination in Ridley Scott's ALIEN or even Agatha Christie's classic tale of AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. But even more than the physical attacks and action of THE THING is the psychological paranoia that exists among the men and the horrible reality of not knowing who is, indeed, human and who can be trusted in the midst of the 1980's Cold War era, proving the classic cliché that man is very often his worst enemy. Even when the alien, which we can always physically see, but are never entirely sure of its true identity, is predictably destroyed in the end by a massive explosion that will inevitably lead those left of the team to freeze to death, we still can't be completely sure of whether or not the monster is truly dead yet, especially since it has returned with a vengeance multiple times throughout the film. In the end, it's really just the pleasure of watching Kurt Russell's "I don't give a fuck" attitude as he sits in the snow with a bottle of J&B scotch, watches the camp burn and waits to die. This ending is considered ambiguous and may have even left things open for a sequel at the time (thank goodness, it never happened).

The film never explains or gives much of a motive for its actions, but rather ruthlessly pursues its goal in the name of pure survival, and that also speaks true for the alien creature itself, which attacks, consumes and absorbs as a result of its own fears and paranoia of being a "stranger in a strange land". The men, however, are still considered free-thinking individuals of free will, though that will is easily stripped away when "the thing" enters their lives and quite literally, enters their bodies. Perhaps one of the more optimistic moments of the film amidst the chaos of uncertainty is when MacReady declares to the rest of the men, "I know I'm human!", thus declaring to all of us that we must hold onto whatever optimism of human reason and compassion may remain within these frightened individuals, and remember that it's always better to be human than it is to be an alien imitation. Even the blood test scene of THE THING may invoke the unpleasant memories of the AIDS crisis in the early '80s in determining who was healthy and who was not, thus also determining who would be treated like human beings by those who allowed their fear, paranoia and mistrust to get the better of them.

Favorite line or dialogue:

R.J. MacReady (just before destroying the alien): "Yeah, fuck you, too!"