THE THING (1982) MOVIE REACTION - WHAT IS THIS!? - First time watching - Review
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- čas přidán 22. 09. 2023
- Welcome to our first-time reaction to The Thing (1982) movie. This incredible Sci-Fi Horror film directed by John Carpenter filled us with paranoia, suspense and fear! First time watching this and what impressed us the most was how effective this movie was at making the mundane truly terrifying. This film sets a whole new standard when it comes to suspense. The groundbreaking practical effects however make this film truly special. There were moments during this movie that made me go "how the hell did they do that!?"
With a different setting than what we are used to this film is smart to be set in an isolated Antarctic research station known as Outpost 31. We were pleasantly surprised to learn we were dealing with a shape-shifting alien that immediately provokes chaos and wreaks havoc. Absolutely loved the atmosphere in this film. Very much like Alien it had that claustrophobic atmosphere with some incredible psychological tension all over it. Again the practical sets do an incredible job at selling us the horrors of what it would be like to be stranded in the middle of nowhere with a shape-shifting monster.
We hope you enjoy our reactions and commentary as we discuss the film and how it has become a stapple of sci-fi horror but also how this movie made an impact by having complex characters who's decisions come strictly out of survival instinct. The way this film utilized it's awe inducing practical effects and how it deals with identity. This film and it's horror had the paranoia element at the forefront and we are pleased to say it is still a very effective horror film.
So get ready for more suspense, more horror and a shape-shifting alien thing. Sit back and relax as we embark in this absolute nightmare.
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Rob Botton was a genius prosthetic and practical effects maestro. Total Recall, American Werewolf in London, and the Thing are just some of the films he worked on.
You HAVE to watch the greatest parody of "The Thing:" czcams.com/video/udjoXfrHpcU/video.html
A horror film with ONE jump scare. Great movie.
@@wesleyrodgers886SNAP!!!! you said it.
Such a talented man! His work here was truly astonishing!
I'm so happy that John Carpenter has lived long enough to see the world recognize this as the masterpiece that it is after it was panned when it came out.
Coming out around the same time as ET didn't do it any favors with the public
@@raymcevoy3845 Oh no doubt. With Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars and ET bubbling in the common consciousness the public really wasn't used to nasty, murderous evil aliens at that point :D
Not just this film. They Live, Big Trouble In Little China, Prince Of Darkness in particular, In The Mouth Of Madness, Vampires. They've all had a 2nd life, but the Apocalypse Trilogy of John Carpenter:
The Thing
Prince Of Darkness
In The Mouth Of Madness
Time is a filmmakers best friend
@@stobe187Actually Alien (1979) was mega successful so the public were ready for nasty aliens.
Each and every reactor I watched so far: _"Don't hurt the doggo!"_
Me, every time: *grins like a Cheshire Cat*
Haha! They got us! Doggos are our weak spot! We never saw that one coming 😂
@@OfficialMediaKnights In all seriousness, though, the Husky they got for the role was incredibly well trained. I don't know how they got him to move at such a measured pace or stand so incredibly still, but it worked out. Proof that Dogs can *act*. RIP
@@kuribayashi84The dog was a wolf hybrid whose real name was Jed. He was also in The Journey of Natty Gann (1985) and White Fang (1991) as well as a couple of other movies. He was very well trained. I read that he was very quiet and well behaved on set. R I.P.
I watched a reaction by a Norwegian woman who, when the bloke from the helicopter was yelling, said "Oh? It's not a dog, it's a monster!"
@@Murdo2112 I watched that reaction too.
"That dog is probably traumatized as hell, look at the poor boy"
That dog IS the trauma itself. I love how many spectators didn't suspect.... a thing.
Aliens do dad jokes!? 🛸👽👾😂🤣
Many of the reactors I've seen try to rationalize the dog's unusual behavior from the perspective of it being a real dog. But most can tell it's not acting normally. One reactor made what I think is a shrewd observation: "It's like it read a manual on how to act like a dog." Which in a way, it did.
@@danieldickson8591 Part of the explanation for that is it was a half-dog / half-wolf they used. So a lot of its strange creepy behavior was how wolf-dogs often act. Always a little bit wary of humans and not overly friendly.
"Always trust animals, man!" Oh no! OH NO!!
Fr the movie couldn't have opened any better. Like dogs are such natural ways to instantly make people sympathize, they're naturally cute, adorable, innocent, loyal etc. so for the movie and the monster itself to use it as bait is genius.
To this day and no matter how many times i see it i still think that dog deserved an oscar
The way it enters that cage and lays down is chilling.
Jed, the dog, was part wolf. Its behavior on set made the actual cast uncomfortable.
@@MakoBallistic All the time we see it, it's watching everything going on, with a focus and intensity normal dogs don't have. You can feel it thinking, assessing, planning.
When it slowly peers around the doorway during the long-shot down the hallway, hair-raising stuff. That’s when most people I’ve seen react to this realize something is up with it. These guys went longer than most believing it was chill.
Agreed! I don't care about the whole January 6th shit. What I want to know is how the dog did not get an oscar! We need a congressional investigation into THAT.
40 years later, this is proof positive that practical effects done well are much more memorable than any modern CGI.
Modern CGI can do amazing things.... when used right. Many great modern movies and series would not be possible without CGI. But bad CGI (cheap looking effects, or overused effects in the wrong place) are worse than good practical effects. Also, often CGI is used in places the viewers don't even realize it's CGI... like a CGI helicopter plus its reflecting in the glass of a skyscraper, which these days is easier, cheaper and safer than to hire a real helicopter and let it fly in a real city and crash into a skyscraper.
@@TF2CrunchyFrog Exactly. CGI isn't the problem, but talent, time, and dedication often are. Speaking as an old-school Gen-X child of the 1980s, I love practical effects, and I love well-done CGI. What works is finding the best technique or combination of techniques to best realize each shot. For example, Jurassic Park wouldn't have been possible without the CGI used in places where animatronics couldn't do it all.
Yep, the prequel to Carpenters film is a testament to that.
Watch 'The Ninth Gate'. The CGI is so good you almost certainly won't even realize they are effects. And that's from 1999.
It's not the tool...it's the skill and imagination of the craftsman that matters.
@@charmawowThe 2011 thing can't hold a candle to the 1982 version as far as special effects go. They had planned to do the 2011 thing with practical effects and had much of the props done. But they cheapened out at the last minute and made everything CGI bad CGI at that.
This is one of the few horror films that manages to perfectly balance the suspense of waiting for the monster to show up again, and the batshit horror of its appearance every time it attacks. It’s like each new encounter with the Thing is a brand-new monster.
Well said. It is not a type of "one trick pony" when it comes to scaring you. You may only wonder who will be next victim and what he will turn into. Top movie in terms of invoking paranoia and gut wrenching anxiety.
Everyone's first time watching this movie:
*"No, don't shoot that poor dog!"*
Everyone's second time:
_"Should've just torched that damn dog..."_
Probably one of my favorite aspects is that the people don’t feel stupid. It feels like they are competent in trying their best to survive with the information they have for the majority of it.
Windows was the biggest fool, mostly due to blind panic. But the rest, yes, they did their best to think through the problem rationally. Blair was the smartest among them, the first to realize the implications of the Thing. I liked how the others clearly deferred to his expertise, until he "went crazy."
"Don't hurt the cute dog" gets me every time 🤣🤣🤣
If I only had a dollar for every Thing review that begins like that lmao
Heh. Yep.
Me: that’s no dog.😂😂😂
That dog's traumatized.
That dog IS the trauma 😈
Everytime one of these channels reviews this film lol.
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?"
Lol, oh you'll see.
One of the greatest sci-fi horror films of all time. The Thing is a masterpiece.
There is so much to unpack here and learn from. This was incredible!
The greatest in my opinion
If not one of the greatest films ever, not including horror
What amazes me is that when it came out the critics absolutely savaged it. The reviews were overwhelmingly negative.
Awesome cast, funtastic practical effects, and a cruel, claustrophic atmosphere that might be the best in horror history.
Way back in 8th grade (1996-97), I show The Thing to my friend Mark for the first time, and when the dog-thing starts to transform and it’s head splits open, I remember him light up and say, “Dude! That is so cool!” Makes me happy to this day.😊
That's the Thing in a nutshell. Incredibly gross and terrifying, but also incredibly cool.
I remember watching it on VHS in high school with bunch of classmates. Only thing I knew was that it was a most scary horror ever, and I told it to the others.
When the movie started, everyone was laughing "come on, snow, light, no way it's a horror movie". Then it soon turned into "hey, don't kill the doggo you bastards!". Few moments later laughs were gone, and when the dog scene kicked only we could here were screams of horror 😂
Once we were done, everyone agreed it's the best horror the've ever seen ❤
Loving it 30 years later 😊
Thanks for watching it with us! 😅
Still one of the best horror movies after all these years, despite no CG.
They went all out on the practical effects! This was so impressive. Definitely something other films could learn a thing or two about!
It's better because there is no crappy waxy CG.
Practical effects are far superior to CGI!!
Rob Bottin, who did the practical effects, spent a year straight working on the movie. He then suffered a breakdown and went right to the hospital.
There was a prequal, and they did use a lot of practical effects, only for all of it to be scrubbed over with CG anyway coz the studio didn't like how the practical effects looked
The mistrust among the crew was almost as scary as the monster. Fun fact since you guys love movie making, they used the burned out remains of their own camp to film the Norwegian camp. Also, the first Norwegian pilot was yelling “it’s not a dog! It’s a thing!” , in case you don’t speak Norwegian.
Mynd you, døg bites Kan be pretti nasti...
@@ianstopher9111
A mønster bit mi sister...
Or Sweedish.
My bum is on the swedish
@@rsrt6910 HEY SWEDEN!
One of the best movies of all time.
As you pointed out, cinematography, the music, lighting, acting. A very well balanced cast that gelled together..
The direction that allowed for the intensity, paranoia, the f/x.
This is John Carpenter 's masterpiece.
John Carpenter authorized an official sequel to this movie in a 2002 video game. It was highly acclaimed. It was confirmed that the only survivor was R.J. MacReady; Childs having died due to exposure before the rescue team arrived a couple days after the explosion. It was a great game and I wish it got a remaster.
Blair has such a sad story in this that doesnt get completely thought through: he was the first to realize the scale of the Thing and how catastrophic it would be in the outside world, he destorys any means for it to leave, saving the world from its grand entrance, only to be seen as crazed and locked away to be essentially fed to it on a silver platter. RIP
They shoulda let him come back inside.
He got as far as building a noose... And then he got turned.
He was already the Thing after the autopsy
@@normandavidtidiman9918 No
@normandavidtidiman9918 Anyone who believes that is an idiot. If he was, he wouldn't have sabataged the helicopter.
The best thing about 70's and 80's horror is that less is more. They're not trying to dazzle you, every few minutes, instead they take their time to slowly unnerve you. Stuff like this ranks alongside Shining and The Fog - two other quality horror films from the early 80's.
Great reaction, guys
The Shining is another masterpiece. Slow burner horror films are the best when done correctly and this one got it right from the get go! All atmosphere and incredibly effective paranoia inducing sequences
In The Mouth of Madness is the best Lovecraftian movie despite not a single Old One appearing
Yeah, I gotta agree with 'In the Mouth of Madness' .. it's a underrated (and underappreciated) gem. And as you say.. probably one of the finer Lovecraft adaptions without really claiming to be.@@whade62000
@@whade62000 It is funny to me that you mention In The Mouth of Madness, because my students just earlier this week asked me what my favorite horror movie was and I named that one without a second hesitation. They had never heard of it, but some of them were going to check it out. I did a brief blurb describing the movie as capturing the style and feelings you get from reading many of Lovecraft's works. The rewatch value on that one is just amazing. The Thing is a close second for me. I had a great scifi lit course in college and we read the novella "Who Goes There?" which is what John Carpenters The Thing is based on and I have to say the movie is considerable better. The novella has so many characters in a short story that you get lost trying to keep track which does add to the paranoia, but gets way too tedious.
The Fog is my favourite along with The Thing. Classics.
It feels great to see young people nowadays watching something which is classic and really appreciate it. This is how Art should be appreciate and story-telling is an Art as well.
Just imagine witnessing your whole crew mutating and morphing while you cant escape or do anything about it
The scene of the guy/thing howling outside feels so omnious and hopeless, one of my if not my favorite scene.
It's the unsettling impact of the strange juxtaposed with the familiar, that utterly inhuman howl coming out of a completely human-looking face.
A stone cold masterpiece. John Carpenter is a genius. One of my favorite films of all time.
Indeed! They don’t make ‘‘em like this any longer.
Agreed. It is 1a, 1b, or 1c as my favorite horror film of all time. The 3 at the top are interchangeable, and I simply can't pick a 'best one' from them.
Alien and The Exorcist are the others.
I've only seen one reactor who spoke Norwegian, and she was able to understand the guy at the beginning, who basically outlined the whole plot.
😆😆😆
Hahahaaa well f*** that must've taken away some of the anticipation 😂😂😂
Who was it??
I'm pretty sure in Norway they replaced the language with German or something to not give it away, I guess she saw the English version 😛
@@jesusramirezromo2037 Centane.
Sorry for all the comments, I've seen this a million times.
@@OfficialMediaKnightsWe don't get to see if Kurt Russell dies or survives this.
I've always loved that "heart beat" in the score throughout the movie. It added so much tension. I need to go back and watch the end again just to see if we could see Childs' breath in the cold like we could see McReady's.
You don't see Childs' breath fog out, but John Carpenter has said that wasn't intentional and he didn't even notice until someone else pointed it out. The shots of Mac and Childs were taken at different times with different lighting angles.
thats totally irrelevant since you can clearly see during ending that mcready infects charles with that bottle
@@divacroft1034You mean the bottle that we never see MacReady actually put to his lips?
My husband and I went to the theatre on opening day of this masterpiece of a movie. We were blown away at the practical effects and watched several people get physically sick at the scenes of the dog, the defibrillator scene and when Blair shoved his hand into Gary’s face. The blood scene made me actually jump in my seat too. Afterwards, on the way home; we discussed who was the Thing at the end - MacReady or Childs…. Or both. This is our favorite movie, even though we’ve seen it a billion times; we watch it every Halloween (and when the mood hits lol).
We went to the cinema to watch the prequel and… it’s not so bad but the use of CGI really hurt the mood and atmosphere of it. The studio should have stuck with practical effects.
When your special effects guy had to immediately check himself into hospital for exhaustion after filming you know the effects are gonna be amazing.
This movie will ensure Rob Bottins legacy
That man poured his heart into this! It definitely paid off on the long run.
This and his work on The Fog. He even played the Captain of the doomed Elizabeth Dane wearing his own make up designs
Robocop too?
There is a great behind the scenes on the effects of The Thing. In the scene with the defibrillator, the actor was actually missing his arms, so they made fake ones with a tube of fake blood in them and a real mechanism to cut them in half. Also, during the same scene, they used chemicals to get the head to melt off. The fumes filled that room so bad that they had to evacuate for fear of an explosion occurring. They were buck wild back then.
Saw The Thing in the theatre back in ‘82 and like Alien, it still holds up impeccably to this day. The two girls sat in front of us hardly saw any of the film though as the spent half the time covering their eyes……wonderful stuff!
A perfect example of fantastic practical over cgi, is the lacklustre prequel, in which they totally replaced practical for cgi. But on every level Carpenters film is streets ahead. I also enjoy the original The Thing, released back in 50’s, directed by Christian Nyby and produced by Howard Hawks…..a brilliant classic black and white SF film.
The 80s were a real Golden Age where 50s horror classics were remade into worthy successors. 'The Thing', 'The Fly', and 'The Blob' all had wet, disgusting, wonderful practical effects that are still impressive decades later.
I do agree with you on that. It's why I still love some remakes because sometimes the remake is way better than the original version but it does depend on the movie.
Which?
I'll add that the images in this flick also look ORGANIC - not plastic or cartoony (like a lot of other movies).
This isn't really a proper remake though. This is another adaptation of the same source material as the movie from the 50's. This one's also quite a bit closer to the novella both are based on.
I watched all the three films you mentioned in the past couple of days and the practical effects still look impressive today! Definitely timeless.
Fun fact, at the end. MacReady said it was 100 below. If you noticed, you could see his breath. The other guy, you couldn't see it. It implies that HE was the Thing because it doesnt have body heat.
When Benings-thing is screaming , we see his breath. The thing is a perfect imitation, forget that.
Nah. The actor explained he was closer to the fire and with his face to the wind.
@@TheJosep70 You can actually see a little steam escape Childs' mouth just before Mac hands him the bottle. It looks to be mostly a matter of lighting for Mac's breath to be so much more visible. Carpenter has said he never even noticed it until someone pointed it out after the film's release.
The book "The Thing" is based on had a pretty haunting line. It was in reference to Blair. One of the guys guarding him said to the other guard something to the effect of. "The craziest thing about this situation is that the one guy I'm certain is human is the one guy who I know is hell bent on killing me and everyone in the station. And to be honest, if things get much worse, I think I'd be inclined to let him loose so he can get back to it."
Facts.Blair literally did everything to stop it then got locked up and essentially feed to it on a silver platter.
@@brandontrammel4581 If Blair hadn't realized the danger and done what he did, the Thing would probably have escaped Antarctica and doomed the human race. He was ready to kill all of them, including himself, to save the world. Blair was the real hero of the story -- so unfair that the Thing got to him.
@@danieldickson8591 exactly he was a hero
@@danieldickson8591 He did try to save them, but in doing so also doomed them. He figured out everything about the threat, then methodically disabled its every means of escape. But I think the way it got to him, didn't even occur to him. One idea is observe how during the dog-thing autopsy, he touches the eraser end of his pencil to the carcass, then later touches the same end to his lips as he has a habit of doing.
It's not just the human race that would have been doomed. Think about it to the logical conclusion:
The Thing can consume or infect ANYTHING and copy it.
A human... a dog... Useless in Antarctica when there's NOTHING else around and it can't survive long enough in the cold to get to the coast.
But...
If it DOES get to the coastline of Antarctica...
The REAL horror begins.
All it needs is a Penguin. Or a seal. Or even a Seagull.
It doesn't HAVE to copy a human to remain intelligent. It just has to have enough biomass in one concentration. A dog is big enough. Likely so is a seal. But it doesn't NEED to remain intelligent. It can act on instinct alone and STILL end ALL LIFE ON EARTH!
A seal-thing latches onto the side of a whale. The whale thing eats and duplicates other whales. Or sharks. Or fish. Crabs.
Completely unseen and unknown by humans or any other land creature, the ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM of the ENTIRE OCEAN FLOOR can become biomass for The Thing. Even if you manage to burn it out down at the Southern Tip of South America or Africa. Even if somehow a Thing-Human doesn't make it onto a plane and infect several areas of the above-ocean landmass at the same time - once the Thing reaches the coastline of Antarctica - IT'S ALL OVER. Not just for us. But for every bit of organic life on the entire surface of planet Earth, from the top of Mount Everest to the depths of the Marianas trench - the entire planets biomass - plant and animal alike - is ALL THE THING.
And the REAL horror?
How many times has this happened to carbon-based life-bearing worlds across space?
What if we are the one exception here on earth?
What if the rest of the GALAXY is populated by nothing but THINGS?
This film really focussed on being consistent with its narrative and it shows; the Norwegian actually explaining himself in Norwegian is one example. Then there's the guy who found Bennings being digested actually dropped the keys to the blood store in panic, which is how the thing got to it later. A whole bunch of things take on new context on a second viewing.
@Madman13k It would only be an assumption that those are the same keys. As has often been pointed out, the alien can operate down to a cellular level. So, it could have slipped itself in through the gap around the fridge and destroyed the contents within, without ever having to open the door.
It was never addressed if it could spread from single cells and slowly over take. So when you realize that Blaine was poking it with the same eraser he puts to his mouth later, the amount of time any one character was off screen too much by themselves, the warnings they come up with to avoid contamination but ignore when shit hits the fan as they focus on the bigger creatures and forget how it spreads. There's SO many little details that have surprised viewers over the years by never really addressing things but showing everything in every frame.
@@Nester665 yep. These people are all very competent professionals, and they all make mistakes in the moment that are minor and understandable, but often backfire on them. I actually really respect this film for getting that balance right. You see plots driven by stupid decisions far too often.
@@crazyfvck Conceivable, but unlikely. The blood wasn't "destroyed," the bags were opened and drained. Gary had all the base keys because he was the official commander. If the keys were accessible, which they were, much easier for a Thing in human form to just open the locker, open the blood bags, then lock it again.
@@Nester665 Fuchs did suggest that a few cells of infection would be enough to eventually take over an entire organism. But if you look closely at the autopsy scene, you'll see that while Blair did touch the eraser to his mouth (which John Carpenter says was not script-intentional), the pencil never actually touched the corpse. Hovered close to it while Blair was pointing, but didn't make contact.
My 7th-grade video production teacher showed this to us in class in 1993. We did stop-motion films and other things. He never stopped talking about this movie.
I was nine years old when my dad took me to see this in the theater. That defibrillator scene literally had me leap out of my seat and nearly run out of the auditorium. Now even at that young age I'd already been brought to see Jaws 2, The Fog, Scanners, Halloween 2, Terror Train, etc. I was a seasoned horror movie veteran by then (thank you Dad! ❤). STILL.. nothing beforehand prepared me for Carpenter's "The Thing." It was not loved on release. It took about 4-5 years removed when it really began to increase in appreciation. It's a masterpiece.
One of the greatest if not THE greatest horror and suspense thrillers ever made. The monster is almost secondary to the paranoia and tension. A masterclass of film.
Without the paranoia, it's just a cool special-effects creature feature. That extra dimension of doubt and suspicion is what makes The Thing, The Thing.
Can you believe this movie was panned by critics and a flop at the box office?
Now it is regarded as one of the best sci-fi horror movies ever made.
It is a masterpiece in my opinion.
Goes to show the hive mind mentality some “real” critics have. They see others destroying the movie so they do it to. If a single one of them had actual knowledge about filmmaking and were honest the movie would’ve gotten the praise it deserved from the get go.
Most movie goer's at that time were not ready for the gore of this movie. The only other I can remember before that was The Exorcist which had people sick in the theater
@@elpollodelamuerte2550How sick are we talking about, like throwing up in the theatre and getting sick for a few days?
@@OfficialMediaKnights I think it has a lot to do with the indocrination. Show them X movies, tell them they are the gold standard, never go off the talking points. Then the critics hate anything that does not follow the pattern that they were taught. The hilarious part is how many critics hated it at the time, but have completely changed their tunes and now act like they always knew it was a classic
@@TheGodofChaosItself184 Throwing up in the theater, yes, pretty often, for both The Thing and The Exorcist. Fainting happened frequently too, particularly during Exorcist. I can't speak to prolonged physical illness, but nightmares for days after watching both movies were very common. Still are today.
Creepy, gruesome, tense, a guess who detective element....terrifying and a perfect bleak ending where no matter the outcome no ones coming out alive...then throw in a great soundtrack and perfect storytelling... quite simply the greatest horror movie ever made
Yes. Thank you.
Guys - well done. Your sincere, intelligent and committed reactions are a pleasure to watch. No snark and a strong love of great filmmaking. Keep up the good work please.
The flamethrower was likely malfunctioning because McCready had the setting turned down all the way to heat the wire for the test. He suddenly had to amp up the setting to a lethal level and was having difficulty finding the right one. Also, if you remember the beginning, when the dog was walking around, it walked into an office and the silhouette had curly hair. It might have been Norris or Palmer
He also dropped it when the blood jumped him. I don't know how durable flame throwers are but I'd think a hit like that when it's heated up can't do it much good.
Or that the pressure had dropped enough since the flamethrower was left on the entire time.
You're correct, this is the assimilation breakdown as far as I can tell: Norris, then Palmer, then Bennings, then Blair, then Windows, then Childs, then Garry, then Nauls (there was concept art of him being killed and assimilated but it got cut because of budget reasons). Mac is human at the end.
About the silhouette it was a separate actor so it doesn’t look like anyone we can’t take visual clues for this
It was the bus driver that took the actors into Juno Alaska.
The makeup/practical FX designer Rob Bottin (pronounced Bow teen) was only 23 years old when this was made. At one point Stan Winston (of Terminator and Jurassic Park fame) was brought in to complete some of the animatronics because Bottin suffered a collapse of exhaustion due to overwork on the intricate models and the incredibly tough, time consuming demands of executing those splattery, spectacular FX on camera. The producers certainly got their money's worth out of Bottin. I can only hope he was paid well.
After all the work he did we can only hope he got a good paycheck! Those effects make this movie such an incredible experience. It was really jaw-dropping. Definitely learning as much as we can from this one!
@@OfficialMediaKnights Another Bottin masterpiece that I highly recommend is, RoboCop (1987 - Director's Cut). No wasted scenes, practical effects still holds up, and is considered a classic in the Sci-Fi/Action genre.
Hope you react to it at some point! :)
@OfficialMediaKnights if you'd like to see some early examples of Rob Bottin's talented work pre The Thing you'd do no better than to check out his werewolf makeups and transformation FX in Joe Dante's The Howling (1981). He also worked on the fish monster costumes in a slightly earlier film, produced by Roger Corman- Humanoids From The Deep. It's fun for FX heads like me to chart the creative growth of FX artists from humble beginnings to a career tour-de-force like The Thing. Not to suggest his earlier work was crappy, far from it. Bottin's groundbreaking prosthetic work on The Howling is amazingly good. The Howling would be a good film to review for this channel, I recommend it unreservedly. Just steer clear of the inferior string of sequels (which didn't use Bottin or director Joe Dante) and stick with the first, original Howling. Humanoids is a fun little monster romp, nothing special but showcases Bottin's developing talents as a monster designer, with impressively mean looking, toothy Fishman mutants terrorizing a small coastal fishing community. You can really trace the growth of Bottin's skills from those films to The Thing within just a couple of years. He was a very talented and dedicated, hard working young man. I also second the recommendation of the commentor here who suggested Robocop, another great job by Bottin and a kick ass movie all around.
Robocop is absolutely top rate @@darkhorse1280
Incidentally, Stan Winston requested he not be credited for any of his works on the special effects, as he knew how hard an industry it is to make your name known in and didn't want to take any credit away from Bottin. They finally settled on putting a special thanks at the end of the credits to acknowledge his contribution.
The part of the movie that always gives me goosebumps is when Mac says "We're not getting out of here alive."
They all accept the fact that they're gonna die out here. But they all know they gotta kill this "Thing" no matter what.
are you stupid or missed the point that mcready was infected for almost entire movie?
I'm Gen X. I was about 11 when I saw this. For me this is a 10/10 perfect movie. As an artist that draws monsters and aliens, this movie shaped my imagination for all of my life.
Loved how much y'all appreciated it and how much behind the scenes stuff you can discover. I've watched it so many times throughout the years and always find something new to appreciate.
This and An American Werewolf in London are my favorite movies of all time.
I'm so lucky to have grown up during the age of 80s horror movies.
The sound effects of The Thing when it transforms are that of Bears, Alligators, Horses, Crocodiles, Rattlesnakes, Pigs squealing, and human screams played backwards or sped up or slowed down to make it sound otherworldly.
What a creative solution! No wonder the sound was so disturbing!
My colleagues who worked in the Arctic weather and military stations loved this movie. Wore out many VHS tapes of this flick.
Haha wooow, that's so great to hear!! Did they find things to be realistic??
I imagine that watching this movie in the same environment would increase the immersion, and so the scare factor / level, 10x! - Imagine having to go outside the station in the dark, afterwards? - NOPE...
I worked on a mountain at a weather research station for a few seasons ... This movie was always very popular. The first time I watched it with the rest of the crew I had to ask where our flamethrowers were, but strangely we didn't have any 😅
WHITEOUT is another movie they should love...
Heard they show this to "new guys" when they arrive in Antarctica.
“Please keep the Doggo safe…” and I’m laughing 😂
Practical effects were mostly down to one man, Rob Bottin. Who worked so hard on this movie, by the end of the shoot he was hospitalised from exhaustion. The dog sequence was done by Stan Winston who was better know for his work on the terminator movies, the animatronic work on Jurassic Park, and a certain Alien Queen.
This was the Director of Special Effects first movie, and he had to get Medical Attention for Exhaustion once the filming was done.
I'm excited to see more reactions from you guys!
My dad took me to see this in 1982 when I was about to turn 15, it’s my favorite horror film to this day. Thanks dad, R.I.P.
Even that opening title is a practical effect.
They filled a fish tank with smoke, drew the title on an animation cell and stuck it to the back of the tank.
They stuck a black bin bag (garbage bag to you, probably), to the outside of the back of the tank, so it blocked out a light that was further back, behind the tank.
Then they simply set fire to the garbage bag.
As it burned, it let the light shine through the logo, and the smoke.
The 80s when people knew how to entertain the audience and so many classic horror movies like Friday the 13th , the Chainsaw Massacre Nightmare on Elmstreet Hellraiser and The Thing became an instant cult classic🍻
Rob Bottin raised the bar so high with his practical effects on John Carpenters the Thing, still the most impressive practical effects in a movie to this day.
This film is over 40 years old, and the practical effects are still giving people the WTF vibes ever since.
the defibrillator scene was epic but the one scene that always struck real fear in me was when bennings-thing gets exposed and surrounded outside in the snow. great performance by the actor.. you really feel like he's some unfathomable monster wearing the face of a human.. dead eyes and howling in frustration that he's found out. the howl was perfect too.. it wasn't campy. it sounded both animalistic and alien at the same time; like there's something ancient behind it
John Carpenter has said that howl was the Thing "scrolling" through all the voices of all the creatures it had ever imitated, trying to find Bennings' voice.
On Blair...he destroyed the helicopter and the radio so The Thing would be trapped and not able to escape to the civilized would. He at one point is the hero of the story...before he gets infected (probably while he was locked up). I think he made the noose when he realized he was infected, but it took over before he could carry it out.
The actor who played Blair was Wilford Brimley. He was a well-known spokesman for Quaker Oats and talking about his diabetes. But before he became an actor he was a real life cowboy, then spent time in the U.S. Marines, was Howard Hughes' body guard, then became a blacksmith, a ranch hand, and horse wrangler. Then he got into show business as a stuntman, then acting. So in real life the guy really was a bit of a badass.
I have to compliment the two of you for picking up on more of the implications and subtleties of this movie than most reactors do. Your reactions are very natural and expressive, and your commentary is insightful.
"Always trust the animals, man." Awaits dog head split for total terror... Also, an interesting bit of trivia: the scene where they view black and white footage of the Norwegians at the crash site of the UFO is a direct copy of the 1951 movie, called The Thing From Another World. The 50s film is also shown on TV during the babysitting scene in Carpenter's Halloween from 1978.
Exactly. The men standing in a circle to outline the size and shape of the ship buried in the ice, and then planting thermite charges to uncover it, come from that earlier movie.
The Thing is one of my favorite horror movies! The sense of paranoia and unease is so scary! The special effects are so freaking good to this day.
Notice the black dude right at the end didn't have any warm air moisture coming out of his mouth when talking to McCready. Such a brilliant touch to end the movie that pretty much everyone misses.
Ari: "Always trust animals." Me: Spits out coffee laughing... seriously though, the dog reveal is the best.
I was having soup. At work. At my desk. They owe my employer a new keyboard.
Great that this movie was never spoiled for them one of the best parts is not knowing who the thing is they had no idea that pupper was a thang!!!
I was lucky enough to watch The Thing in high school over 20 years ago. It was the end of the school year, and we'd finished the Chemistry curriculum a few days ahead of schedule. So the teacher brought in the movie for all of us kids to watch. It quickly became one of my all-time favorite movies. I've watched it countless times and could probably quote all of it verbatim. The tension and paranoia are palpable. You're right there with them, desperately looking for clues and watching everyone just in case they reveal something. Repeat viewings are interesting because some scenes come off completely differently when you know who's infected. One of the more subtle ones I noticed was during the standoff between Garry and Windows at 29:31. Pay close attention to who is positioned where during the confrontation. Norris and Palmer - the only two present who are infected - are standing off to the side in the hall with Fuchs. _They were trying to isolate Fuchs while the rest of the group was distracted._ And though he's out of focus in the background, look at where Palmer is staring: _directly at Fuchs._
Some other tidbits: The film was shot in LA, Alaska, and British Columbia. It was actually really hot during production, so they had to refrigerate the set to make it realistic. When Mac and Copper reveal the corpse of the Thing they recovered from the Norwegian camp at 12:27, everyone is coughing and gagging for real, because the production team used smelly AB smoke fluid for the effects during the scene. The TV broadcast also came with brief character introductions. MacReady used to be a test pilot before getting into a confrontation with top management, then resigned and took the pilot job in Antarctica. Childs is an expert mechanic who used to work in the airline industry. Garry has a 30-year career in the army and became an officer. Clark is doing a study on the effects of extreme cold on animal behavior. Palmer intends to open his own business as a mechanic after his work there is done. Norris is a geophysicist and was a professor at Cal Tech. Copper graduated from Harvard, trained at Massachusetts General Hospital, but an unknown personal tragedy caused him to leave and move his work to Antarctica. Bennings has been in the meteorology field long enough to be published many times. Blair is a microbiologist who specialized in cellular growth and laid the groundwork for genetic engineering, and Fuchs worked with him at the Rockefeller Foundation.
There are dozens of other interesting details, so you should do some reading. You've seen the first movie in Carpenter's Apocalypse Trilogy, so you should definitely check out the other two: Prince of Darkness and In The Mouth of Madness. Happy viewing!
Welcome to The Thing fandom.
Another great aspect of this film is you can revisit it time and again and it still delivers every time.
I enjoyed watching your reactions, and listening to your analysis/perspectives. I watched this movie with my family when I was very young (like 3 or 4), and to this day it’s one of those films that I both love and deeply fear. I still cannot sit through the dog scene.
If you guys haven’t seen “John Carpenter’s The Fog”, it’s an absolute horror masterpiece. Lots of creepy atmosphere (pun intended there) and GREAT music.
It often gets looked over but it's a good one
Stan Winston did the dog, Rob Bottin did almost everything else. I just saw about a week ago, someone talking about how the FX team on this movie used literally Every Trick In The Book to get what they wanted. Every type of practical and camera effect they had.
I love that Stan Winston also asked not to be credited, because he knew Rob Bottin was an up and coming fx artist and he didn't want his name overshadowing Bottin's work.
@@claireeyles7560 That's so sweet.
I always say that technology is helpful, but it can't replace Art. The people who worked on The Thing were real artists, who transcended the limitations of the technology they had to work with.
Anyone who appreciates practical effects and dark humor like you two must see "An American Werewolf In London"! Its work that holds up very well to this day.👌👌
"Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors."
"Beware the moon".@@Dystopia1111
Watching this movie when it came out as a 12 year old... utterly horrifying and amazing at the same time.
LoL
I still love this movie and the fact it holds its own again some of the CGI and special effects of todays films.
Also very happy that you enjoyed it as much!
I'm not a huge fan of horror movies. It seems like a lot of them are just jump scares and gross-out effects. But this SUCH a well made film. The script, the music, all are crafted to be light and effective. And as far as the cast, Kurt Russell is a go-to guy who will always deliver a great performance. He can do a lot with a little, or can do a lot with a lot. Andt the reminder of the cast (Richard Dysart, Wilford Brimley, Richard Masure, and especially Keith David) are all strong actors; you've seen them all in a million movies and tv shows and it's so cool they're given a chance to just SHINE with good material. Excellent choice! Thanks for another great video.
In case nobody else has said it so far, it was filmed in Alaska. And the burned out Norwegian station is actually the American station, after it had been burned up in the finale. So much efficiency to save money. I think that actually makes it a better movie in the long run. Damned fine movie. One of my favorites!
The station set was in British Columbia, near Stewart, but the access road did indeed take the crew through Hyder, Alaska before crossing back into Canada.
The score was written by Ennio Morricone, one of the greatest soundtrack composers.
Some of the score was done by Carpenter himself, notably the heartbeat theme.
Saw The Thing in the theatre back in ‘82 and like Alien, it still holds up impeccably to this day. The two girls sat in front of us hardly saw any of the film though, as they spent half the time covering their eyes……wonderful stuff!
A perfect example of fantastic practical over cgi, is the lacklustre prequel, in which they totally replaced practical for cgi. But on every level Carpenters film is streets ahead. I also enjoy the original The Thing, released back in 50’s, directed by Christian Nyby and produced by Howard Hawks…..a brilliant classic black and white SF film.
I remember this movie being ravaged by critics when it was released in theatres. They thought it was a grotesque indulgence with two-dimensional characters and always compared it negatively to the original movie. As with so many movies, time has favored this remake and it deserves it. other John Carpenter movies that failed with critics and the box office was Christine and Big Trouble in Little China. With computer generated special effects, movies with practical SFX and stunts gain respect. I had a blast watching your reactions to this movie.
The backstory with both Childs and Mac are that they are Vietnam vets and so if you watch the movies they are both pretty resourceful but clash on direction because they're both strong characters. also it has been pointed out that the characters did everything right. The made the sort of decisions you or I would make in those situations based on the information they had. But it didn't work. The Norweigians did the same things, and it didn't help them either. Bleak, there's a reason it is referred to as part of Carpenter's Apocolyse trilogy.
This is gonna sound weird, but I bet the pilot(s) of the flying saucer we saw at the beginning did too.
@@rsrt6910 I totally agree. there probably was a reason the saucer looked out of control as it crashed to earth. I can imagine the struggle in the cockpit.
@@pedrolopez8057 I mean, the saucer doesn't LOOK damaged so obviously the pilot(s) were dealing with SOME kind of issue. I'm betting they intentionally sacrificed themselves by crashing it into the nearest uninhabited (at the time) planet hoping to burn up on entry and destroy The Thing so it didn't get loose on an inhabited area.
100,000 plus years later...
And the curse of The Thing is that the cycles repeats endlessly.
@@rsrt6910 That's a pretty neat theory. Maybe trying to escape their planet that's been taken over and infected, only for a thing to get on the ship...
Rob Bottin ended up in the hospital for heat exhaustion and a bleeding ulcer. Stan Winston had to help create The Dog Kennel Sequence, and that Winston was given "Special Thanks" during the rolling credits
Whoaaa that's insane!! The show must go on, eh? Especially with how difficult it was to create the dog kennel scene from what we read!
Great review! I love how you both appreciate the practical effects, music and atmosphere of the film. And the sense of isolation and claustrophobia.
honestly giggling to myself when you guys were thinking the dog knew something and was traumatized. Such a great movie and it still holds up 40 years later.
thats why you always shank the dog first...if not that dog mcready wouldnt have been infected...
John Carpenter knows how to make a movie, and write a score. He has so many old gems you need to look for, like The Fog, Prince of Darkness, and They Live. It's also amazing how his films seem to get the very best cast (in this movie you have to give screen creds to the dog's performance). Although this version stayed closer to Campbell's short story you still need to watch the 1951 version of The Thing from Another World. Great reaction.
Don't forget about his all time classic Halloween
There's a great short story "The Things" it was published by Clarkesworld Magazine and its the entire movie told by the perspective of the Thing.
I loved that story. It blew me away honestly. Peter Watts is the author. I was fascinated by reading the thoughts of the alien.
It was so crazy how different the alien saw the world.
@@Bluesit32 Yea it really was. I'm so glad Watts wrote this story. It was something I didn't know I needed to have.
Thanks for this. Just read it online and it's super interesting!
John Carpenter is one of my favourite directors, and largely because of this movie. His work with horror and 80s action is just awesome.
My two favorite jump scare scenes: the defibrillator scene and the blood screaming and jumping out of the petri dish. (The latter involved popcorn being scattered...)
There’s been countless theory’s on this film. Fuchs’s death always puzzled me, my guess is Blair got fuch’s based only on the jumpscare noise matches the one when Blair jumps Gary. When mac asked Blair if he’d seen Fuchs Blair refused to give a straight answer.
He did refuse! Makes you immediately suspicious. Loved how they kept some of it offscreen and ambiguous!
@@Weapon7286 Palmer absolutely did the blood. I do suspect Fuchs committed suicide though. Not sure what he saw, but none of the Things ever seem to use fire even when it would be useful.
I think Blair was a Thing when they visit him for the second time and we get our first view of the noose.
Real Blair had reached the end of his rope, them something came to visit, bring him food maybe, and he turned.
Now despite the room screaming "I want to die!" He's all "I feel much better", I want to come inside."
I don't understand Fuch's though...
A masterclass in 80s practical effects! A masterpiece in the use of paranoia as a plot device!
Rob Botin was only 22 years old when he won the bid for the effects in this movie. This movie will always be remembered as some of the best practical effects in movie history.
John Carpenter had proven that he could make masterpieces with low budgets when he made Halloween. This was his second classic horror film, making him one of the most successful directors with very low budgets. That was why he took a chance on 22 year old effects studio owner on this film. Botin more than earned his money on this one.
Besides the awesome practical effects, this movie also has a great story, (something really lacking today) and was directed beautifully. This movie knows how to draw you in and really feel isolated, like the characters in the movie. Just like with Halloween, Carpenter proved to be a master of suspense. Both those movies are some of the scariest ever and are usually a must to watch on Halloween night.
Thank you. This was my introduction to your channel and you did it right. I can’t believe I watched the whole review. I am a new follower. I saw this as a second feature when it came out and knew nothing of it…it blew me away. My favorite horror film. Thanks again….great review!
The Dog in the beginning was a special trained incredible one, he was in a couple of movies, died in 1995 in age of 18 years, thats much for this kind of dogs. His name was Jed
You guys hit on one of my favorite aspects of this story and also one of the least talked about. Asking if individuals infected feel themselves being taken over or not.
The short answer is that there's no way to really know for sure, but given that it's not an immediate process and the way bodies shake and moan as they're being absorbed, it's probably horrific and painful, but there's another side to the question people don't often think about.
The imitations are perfect copies. That means all your memories, fears, hopes and dreams are all copied as well. That copy is, for all intents and purposes, you. What that also means is that the copy feels pain, fear, paranoia, anxiety, just as you would. It's impossible to say where "you" end and "The Thing" begins within the creature's mind, but it seriously begs the question of if someone who has been taken over knows they're taken over.
In the original short story, there was a point at which a character was horrified by what had happened to their friend, but in the very next scene they turn out to be an imitation. That's the horror of this movie no one seems to notice. Yeah, it could be anybody, *but anybody means it could be you too.* What do you do when the monster you were running from was you the whole time? Is the imitation perfect enough to try and protect others from harm, or will the alien take over the second it suspects the imitation is aware of its own false nature?
The Thing is a classic 80s movie hands down. This movie still holds up even decades later. Also fun fact The Faculty paid hommage to the blood test scene via the group taking pens laced with caffine and other house hold chemicals to see if they were infected or not. Great reaction to this one Ari and Denise and I highly recommend The Faculty as well and that movie has a bunch of big name celebs in that one too. Happy new year to you both and take care.
Great to see you two appreciating Ennio Morricone's fantastic score. Such a versatile composer!
It's interesting, that Morricone for this film choose to replicate style of electronic music by Carpenter. The main theme of the film is often confused with Carpenter's authorship, because for Halloween and The Fog he wrote the music himself in the same style.
He got nominated for a Razzie too, insane
@@biffyqueen I never knew that. You're right, it's insane. It's a brilliant score, perfectly suited to the film in my opinion.
Morricone's range was incredible. The Spaghetti Western scores are a legendary musical monument, but the slow, brooding heartbeat of The Thing's score is perfect for this film.
The practicals are so effective, the movie was a bomb upon its release. We were not ready for such excellent special effects. Only years later on was it recognized for it's brilliant movie making!
It is now considered a cinematic masterpiece!
Blade runner and E.T. coming out at the same time is the ONLY reason it bombed
The definition of "ahead of its time"
Another 80s film that didn't do all that well in theaters, but slowly built a following upon release to cable and VHS.
@@patrickbateman7369Star Trek 2 and Poltergeist also.
This film came out when I was in my teens, around this time I also saw Star Wars, Close Encounters, ET and Alien. I could never understand why this film wasn’t a huge hit because out of all these great films The Thing was my favourite with Alien a close second. It’s still awesome 👍🏻
To think that this was circa 1982...way before digital SPX. Practical effects are stellar for the time and the cast is perfect. All male..different generations..ethnicity...paranoia. The perfect singular situation. This was my perfect default movie on depressing winter days. Plus.... that sort of minimal throbbing music was Spot On for that eerie effect that Carpenter was going for. I would love to see a remaining cast reunion...talk about the making of this classic film. Both of your reactions are very genuine and organic...very original overview.....Bravo to you both. The sequel was nice...but nothing like the original. Carpenter's vision is just epic.
Still amazes me to this day that Rob Bottin was able to achieve such a high level of quality in the practical effects IN HIS 20s! Epic movie that was unfortunately panned heavily on release, but happy it's now getting the respect it deserves as a cult classic.
@leastworstgamer Unfortunately, E.T. had just been released a couple weeks prior, so people were looking forward to a happy alien movie, which this is not :D I've even heard stories of parents bringing their kids to see this, not knowing what it was about.
Also key to The Thing's power, in addition to the practical, non cgi FX is the eerie cinematography that has served many of Carpenter's films courtesy of his frequent collaborator Dean Cundey. Cundey also shot Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York and Big Trouble Little China, in other words, most of Carpenter's best films. The Thing wouldn't have been the same without Dean Cundey behind the camera imo.
The original The Thing was made in 1951 and is still a great movie. I remember being so scared when I watched it as a child. I still watch it from time to time because it was so good. This remake's graphics were more horrific than the original, but both were great. I've watched a couple of reactions to this movie and cannot understand why folks don't get from the beginning that obviously something is wrong with the dog.
Not really a remake
The Thing 1951 was based loosely on a short story
This one is a re-adaptation, Instead being more faithful
@@jesusramirezromo2037 Perhaps I used the wrong word, "remake", so don't beat me up. LOL. However, the premise is the same. Artic, Crew, Spaceship, Thing in Ice. Both movies are based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.
The fire scene from The Thing From Another World is just amazing. I don't remember whether it is the novella, but with The Thing they obviously reference the fire scene when the Thing crashes through and out into the snow.
@@ianstopher9111 Yes!!! It is really a good movie for its time.
Many people, like Ari and Denise here, are instinctively pro-dog. If they don't know the premise of the movie they're more inclined to think something was wrong with the man, rather than the animal. But most people I've seen watch this movie eventually pick up that this dog is not behaving like a normal dog.
I always enjoy seeing people watch this great movie for the first time. It's my favorite horror film so I've seen it quite a few times, so here's what I believe happens and the order in which it happens:
Norris was the first to be assimilated. Palmer was second, followed by Bennings, then Blair, then Windows after he's attacked in the blood test scene, then Childs is assimilated by the Blair thing, then Garry is killed on screen by Blair and assimilated, then Nauls is killed and assimilated (there is concept art to prove it, they just ran out of budget and cut it) and is the last to be assimilated during the run time of the film.
At the end, Childs is the thing and Mac is still human. Childs is wearing different pants and a different coat (proof of this is the coat room, which is where Childs was located before disappearing, was arranged differently after Childs left. There was a blue coat hanging there, but upon seeing the room after Childs is gone, the extra blue coat is missing. He was consumed and imitated by the Blair thing and lost his original clothing).
Windows dropped the keys when he saw the Bennings thing (you can hear them hit the ground) and Palmer thing picked them up and sabotaged the blood. Fantastic movie. I love that we can still make theories about it this many years later.
Awesome to see these classics, I grew up watching, still getting such high praise. I dare Hollywood to make a movie like this today. No CGI, crazy suspense, the mood, I dont think they can do it
I love when the youngsters discover the classics,...great reaction!
Still one of my all time favorites!! Plus, when I first saw the dog scenes I was young and our family dog of the time was a Siberian Husky!! Let’s just say my family and I looked at our dog more closely
Ending spoiled:
They introduce Russell with the bottle of JB. It's heavily featured throughout.
In the end, there IS gasoline in the bottle of JB he hands Child's. He smiles because the 'Child's Thing' has the memory of alcohol from taking Child's, but not the actual experience. So, the harshness of the gasoline doesn't raise any red flags for 'Child's Thing'. Carpenter had once disputed this as he wanted audiences to make their own minds up about whether they would escape, but later went back and acknowledged this was the intention.
Child's not having any steam coming from his breath in the end scene was an 'accident', or at least they didn't plan that in any way, and just happens to add to the evidence. But, Child's is The Thing in the end, and there is evidence in the background throughout the movie.
It's always so entertaining to see how people reacting to 80's movies in current day :D
It's wild to think this is the kind of movie I was watching when I was 10. Maybe 11, once it was on cable....I don't know that my mom could have taken me to the theater for this. We always talked about HOW the effects were done before we would go and afterwards, and I never really got scared by horror movies because of that. However, the paranoia in this one is REALLY intense and did scare me, yet now it is sits among my favorite films of all time. Keith David being young somehow always surprises me.
My mom took me to the movies in the 70's until the 80's, and I always treasure those moments. This was just an awesome ride.
Saw this at the drive in with Dad. He didn't want to cook and they had hamburgers. So we ate hamburgers and watched The Thing. I was 11 lol.
@@MiRuina69 wow! Eating burgers as a kid while watching the Thing for the 1st time is next level awesome!
@@StoryTimewithMissAnna it was so fun. Dad took me to all the horror movies. 🥰
Do you remember the ending they put on the cable version?
What a great film! I'm so happy to see it here. I really enjoy sharing these with you two. This will be exciting: Good story, story-telling, practical horrors, mysteries, misleads, unanswered questions... I'm excited! Here we go! :)
This film blew us away! The storytelling, complex characters, suspense and practical effects this movie has it all! We had a blast! Thank you for watching this with us❤️
I just want to say something about the Chess Wizard moment and how it plays into the characters of both Garry and MaCready.
As we saw in the beginning , Garry wasn't under "normal" circumstances a bad leader per se. When his the men at the station, out of the blue, come under attack, he leaps into action and neutralized the threat immediately. That threat was a man with a gun. A familiar idea that fits into familiar patterns of response. When the threat is a shape shifting , human absorbing alien life form... Eh, Garry is on shakier ground. He is not built for the challenges this wholly other worldly presents, nor does it seem he's the type to grimly assess a situation as both hopeless yet still formulate a solution even if it means self destruction, at least not quickly.
Now look at our first meeting with Mac. Yes, he plays chess, he does so with relish which I think does indicate he's maybe "good" at it. What happens when he loses though? He flips the board as it were. What does he do when it's clear the Thing will just wait it out and freeze itself into hibernation? He goes suicide mission real fast.
Maybe it is generational, say a military guy who served in WWII/Korea vs a Vietnam vet like Mac, but for the antagonist in this story, Mac was the better choice to lead because he was smart, but would "flip the board" as well.
Excellent choice. As always a fine review with typically good insights. At 1:49 the logo was Carpenter's homage to the original 1951 The Thing (which added From Another World rather awkwardly post production because a novelty pop song called The Thing had become so popular it was feared it may have been related to the film! )
No horror movies can even come close to this masterpiece.....the tension & the suspense is way more scary than the actual monster
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. That defibrillator scene gets me every time. Your reactions were great.