Day 423: The Thing

John Carpenter's 'The Thing' is the only monster movie that can compete with 'Alien' in my opinion. It has one of the strongest opening sequences in cinema, the most disturbing, in-your-face monster to have ever existed, and some great characters with an amazing cast to boot. From the moment the movie starts, there's a palpable tension throughout. It keeps you on your toes the whole time, never letting up on the suspense or the horror for even a second. I'm not sure what kind of messed up nightmare Carpenter had to have to envision 'The Thing' but I sure am glad he decided to share it with the world.

While the members of the scientific crew at the Antarctic station the Thing sets itself upon might be the heroes, the Thing itself is really the main character of this movie. Something that 'The Thing' does differently from many horror movies of the same era (and more modern horror movies too) is that it's not afraid to show off its monster. Our first encounter with the Thing is to see it in all its horrific glory as it undergoes a skin crawling transformation from loveable husky to the most awful looking, inside-out monster. It sprouts tentacles, makes an ear-peeling screech, and goes to work on the other dogs in the pen, subsuming them into its waiting maw. It conveys some important information besides just being shocking too. We learn that the Thing can shapeshift into whatever it eats, and from there on out, whenever the Thing can't be seen is when it's at its scariest. It could be anything, or worse, anyone. Compare this to the Xenomorph, a stealthier kind of beast that hides in the dark for most of the movie until the big reveal, and it feels kinda backwards on paper. In practice though, showing the Thing immediately, then having it hide in plain sight is an effective method of scaring the crap out of anybody watching. Combine this with the disgusting evidence that the Thing leaves behind, charred, half-morphed corpses of alien conformation, and it makes for the most disturbing monster ever in my opinion.

Leading up to Halloween, I think it's only appropriate that I start watching and reviewing more horror movies. 'The Thing' is only the first of many to come in the next few weeks. Be warned, the spooky season is upon us!

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley