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The Thing

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8.1/10 • 7K

1982-06-251h 49m

HorrorMysteryScience Fiction

Man is the warmest place to hide.

In the winter of 1982, a twelve-man research team at a remote Antarctic research station discovers an alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Soon unfrozen, the form-changing creature wreaks havoc, creates terror... and becomes one of them.

Directors
John Carpenter
Editors
Todd C. Ramsay

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Kurt Russell

    Kurt Russell

    MacReady

  2. Keith David

    Keith David

    Childs

  3. Wilford Brimley

    Wilford Brimley

    Blair

  4. T.K. Carter

    T.K. Carter

    Nauls

  5. David Clennon

    David Clennon

    Palmer

  6. Richard Dysart

    Richard Dysart

    Dr. Copper

  7. Charles Hallahan

    Charles Hallahan

    Norris

  8. Peter Maloney

    Peter Maloney

    Bennings

  9. Richard Masur

    Richard Masur

    Clark

Reviews9

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Oct 31, 2015

10/10

Flips the scenario round from the original to great effect. John Carpenter shows how much he loves the 1951 original by giving it the utmost respect that he possibly could, the only difference here is that Carpenter chooses to stick to the paranoiac core of John W Campbell Jr's short story. The secret to this version's success is the unbearable tension that builds up as the group of men become suspicious of each other, the strain of literally waiting to be taken over takes a fearful hold. Carpenter then manages to deliver the shocks as well as the mystery that's needed to keep the film heading in the right direction. Be it an horrific scene or a "what is in the shadow" sequence, the film is the perfect fusion of horror and sci-fi. The dialogue is laced with potency and viability for a group of men trying to keep it together under such duress, while Ennio Morricone's score is a wonderful eerie pulse beat that further racks up the sense of doom and paranoia seaming throughout the film. The cast are superb, a solid assembly line of actors led by Carpenter favourite Kurt Russell, whilst the effects used around the characters get the right amount of impact needed. But most of all it's the ending that is the crowning glory, an ending that doesn't pander to the norm and is incredibly fitting for what has gone on before it. Lets wait and see what happens indeed. 10/10

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$15,000,000.00
Revenue
$19,629,760.00
Keywords
spacecraftspace marinebased on novel or bookisolationmutationparanoiasnowstormresearch stationalien life-formalienremakesurvivalcreaturehelicopter pilotantarcticashape shifting alienalien infectionsurvival horrorsled dogsalien monsteralien parasitesisolated placeuncertaintybody horrorambiguity