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The Thing (1982)

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The-Thing 1982

The Thing poster

The Thing (1982)

Director: John Carpenter

Synopsis[]

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

Male Deaths[]

Female Deaths[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  1. John Carpenter has stated that of all his films, this is his personal favorite.
  2. Keith David wears gloves throughout most of the film. This is because he had broken one of his hands in a car accident, and needed to cover up his cast.
  3. A tradition in British Antarctic research stations to watch The Thing (1982) as part of their Midwinter feast and celebration held every June 21.
  4. One day after shooting a scene with the flamethrower, Kurt Russell pulled a practical joke on John Carpenter by covering his face and head with bandages and claiming he had gotten burned.
  5. Unused music composed for this film was later used by Ennio Morricone in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015). Ironically, Morricone's Thing score was nominated for a Razzie for the worst score, while his score for Hateful Eight won him an Oscar.
  6. John Carpenter was sold on making the film by the blood test scene. He was also adamant to create a monster movie where the creature wasn't played by a man in a suit, something that had bothered him somewhat while watching "Alien (1979)."
  7. John Carpenter considers this to be the first of his Apocalypse trilogy. Prince of Darkness (1987) and In the Mouth of Madness (1994) comprise the other two parts of the trilogy.
  8. Nick Nolte turned down the role of MacReady, as did Jeff Bridges. Bill Lancaster wrote the script with Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood in the lead role, and both men were considered. On top of this, a relatively unknown Fred Ward campaigned for the role.
  9. Opened the same day as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982). The similarities don't end there; both movies met with unfavorable reactions by critics after the premiere and they were beaten by the more positive and kind Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the biggest hit of that year. From the early 90s ahead The Thing and Blade Runner are considered some of the greatest films ever made.
  10. According to John Carpenter, he takes all his failed movies pretty hard, but the film's initial negative reception disappointed him the most. Not only was it a box-office bomb but critics panned its gory effects, tone, and characters. Vincent Canby, called it "too phony looking to be disgusting. It qualifies only as instant junk". Dave Kehr wrote that it was "hard to tell who's being attacked, and hard to care." Likewise Roger Ebert was disappointed by the "superficial characterizations and the implausible behavior" and dismissed the film as nothing more than an Alien (1979) knockoff. Carpenter was particularly upset when Christian Nyby, the director of the original The Thing from Another World (1951), publicly denounced Carpenter's version, saying, "If you want blood, go to the slaughterhouse. All in all, it's a terrific commercial for J&B Scotch." In response to the commercial bombing of the film, the studio canceled the multi-picture deal they had with Carpenter who noted that his career would have been different if the film had been successful. Not surprisingly, he was extremely relieved when the film enjoyed a rich cult success following its home video release along with the critical re-evaluation it received.
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