A group of scientists working at a remote Antarctic research station uncover a mysterious object in the ice, unleashing a terrible force that will pick them off one-by-one, in John Carpenter’s classic sci-fi horror.
Helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) and his crew of Antarctic researchers aren’t used to visitors. But the arrival of a Norwegian gunman, pursuing a dog through the snow, sets off a deadly train of events. Visiting the Norwegian’s camp, they find something buried in the ice, and soon find themselves being picked off one by one by a relentless parasitic alien, one capable of pursuing the form of its victims as it seeks to evade detection. Knowing that The Thing is among them, the group are driven to the depths of paranoia and self-destruction, as it becomes clear that no one among them can be trusted.
Receiving largely negative reviews upon its release in 1982, The Thing has long since become recognised as one of the true classics of the genre, and (we would argue), John Carpenter’s greatest film. Remaking Howard Hawks’ 1951 sci-fi classic – which Carpenter originally referenced in 1978’s Halloween – Carpenter brings together an amazing cast of grizzled character actors – Keith David, Wilford Brimley, Donald Moffat, and David Clennon among them – drawing on Hawks and his own Assault on Precinct 13 to create a thriller about a group of men forced to come together in order to survive the night.
Mapping out his claustrophobic setting before the mayhem ensues, it’s The Thing’s intense standoffs and bloody action, headlined by Rob Bottin’s pioneering special effects, that make Carpenter’s film one of the most gnarly, brilliant creature features in the history of cinema.