Starring: Kurt Russell

Director: John Carpenter

Synopsis: A simple Antarctic expedition turns into a fight for survival when the taking in of an Alaskan Malamute ends up with the twelve teammates discovering something abnormally dangerous.

Having never seen The Thing before, I went into watching it with high expectations courtesy of comments I’d heard about it, but mainly because of it being a John Carpenter directorial effort. Halloween is one of my favourite horror films and though I didn’t expect better, I certainly anticipated a similarly thrilling horror with an immense soundtrack. I was immediately excited to learn in the opening credits that Ennio Morricone composed the score for this one, and really liked hearing his homage to Carpenter’s own style throughout. When I see Morricone’s name attached to film my immediate thought is the soundtrack of the Dollars trilogy, and there couldn’t have been greater contrast here to showcase the talents of Morricone. The same brooding feeling of dread that’s evoked in Halloween is also evident here because of that thudding score, and also because of Dean Cundey’s camera work, as there are some excellent panning shots over the course of this one hour and forty minute film. What’s particularly excellent is, for the film’s themes of isolation, the amount of wide open space captured from the very start. It’s an effective technique by Cundey and Carpenter to show just how big the Antarctic is, as it’s soon shown that there’s nowhere for our characters to run.

Usually, when I watch a highly acclaimed film that’s been out for years I’ll be aware of major plot details, however that wasn’t the case in this instance, which as you can expect made the viewing experience more enjoyable and thrilling. The plot is rather simplistic and in several aspects it’s similar to Alien – Ridley Scott’s most famous film preceded Carpenter’s first major studio project by three years – in how it focuses on a group secluded in a dangerous environment where nobody can reach them for an extended period of time, but with enough differences to where it doesn’t appear to be too similar. For example, it’s mentioned that a rescue team are due to arrive in a couple of months, and this film’s antagonist doesn’t methodically pick off each team member one-by-one – even if one of the deaths does also involve the startling opening of a person’s torso. The key difference and strength, of course, is that this antagonist can take the form of any team member and be amongst them for days, weeks or months. It’s very similar to one of my favourite episodes of The Twilight Zone, “The After Hours”, in that nothing is ultimately what it seems.

It’s also worth noting that the above-mentioned scene in which a torso is opened up would be nowhere near as startling if it wasn’t for the excellent work of the then-23 year old Rob Bottin, whose designs and effects to bring the film’s antagonist to life still hold up very well, to the extent that the first time that distorted face comes on-screen, or the first time those dogs transform, it’s still capable of making the audience grimace.

As far as our characters go, there’s a blend of those we’re clearly supposed to like and dislike with Bennings (Peter Maloney) being unlikeable due to his dislike of the Alaskan Malamute saved at the beginning of the film and his wish to have it locked in a kennel (the turning point of the film). Despite there being twelve members of this team, the only one we’re given any real impetus to care about is R.J. MacReady (Russell), the cowboy hat wearing, scotch swilling protagonist who we first get a glimpse of sitting by himself, losing to a Chess Wizard computer game despite his blatant confidence. On his own in his cabin, which is a fair few yards away from the camp itself, the audience are instantly informed of his disconnection from the rest of the team, which is important as the film progresses and they have to work together to defeat the thing that seeks to murder every one of them. There’s also the fact that Kurt Russell is the only cast member mentioned in the film’s opening credits that allows the audience to think (and be right in thinking) he’s the only one of any importance. However, the lack of emphasis on the other twelve actors has its benefits in how several of them surprise us with how well they portray their roles. Blair (A. Wilford Brimley) is the standout in that regard, with him going from likeable, to a mixture of hilarious and concerning in his descent into insanity, and finally with him becoming genuinely sinister.

The Thing strives, much like the aforementioned Halloween, in how it’s paced. Carpenter succeeds in not wasting our time with irrelevant details and to our and the film’s benefit, informs us of the key aspects. One example that I really liked is how early on it’s made apparent that the thing can be killed with fire, as it gives the protagonists a chance against an antagonist that isn’t too overpowered, and it additionally makes for one of the most intense moments of the entire film when MacReady’s flamethrower doesn’t start straight away as the creature goes wild with Childs (Keith David) and Garry (Donald Moffat) tied up and unable to escape. Another aspect similar to Halloween is how the film’s ending is very good in its ambiguity. The audience can find relief in it not being too tragic, however, there is the bleak reality of the situation.

The Thing isn’t perfect, but it’s a really enjoyable watch. It’s a shame that from the opening we aren’t given a reason to be bothered about about any character other than Kurt Russell’s MacReady, but you sense while watching that Russell would’ve been able to carry this on his own given how entertaining he is throughout. I wrote at the start of this review that I anticipated a thrilling horror with an immense soundtrack before watching, and while it’s far from the scariest film I’ve ever seen, I was still provided with a jump scare or two and a soundtrack from Morricone that might well be on the level of Carpenter’s soundtrack for Halloween.

Rating: 4.5/5