1982’s Sci-fi horror film ‘The Thing’ is regarded as one of the best horror films of all time. It sits at a solid 8.1 rating on IMDb and has 85% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this was not always the case. When the film was initially released, it received extremely negative reviews. Starring Kurt Russell in the lead, this film follows a group of American scientists who encounter a scary beast while on Antarctica’s expedition. It even got a reboot of sorts in 2011, but it was not received as initially. Before directing ‘The Thing,’ John Carpenter worked on a cult classic- ‘Halloween’- that made him a celebrated name in the horror genre.
How the film was crushed at the box-office
When ‘The Thing’ first came out, critics did not appreciate the workings of the film at all. They found the cast’s performances to be dull, and said that the film lacked any amiability. Even the plot of the film was said to be pointless as characters kept dying left and right and the film was compared to big names like ‘The Thing from Another World’ over and over again, in addition to the film already battling it out at the box office with ‘ET: Extra-Terrestrial’.
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What made it possible for the critics to change their minds?
All this backlash was not devoid of consequences to Carpenter’s overall career as a filmmaker. Right after the failure of ‘The Thing,’ Universal cancelled a previously made multi-picture deal with Carpenter. However, as time went by, critics began to change their minds about the film. Just like with ‘Halloween,’ ‘The Thing’ gained such a huge cult following in the horror and sci-fi world that critics had no choice but to evaluate the film from a fresh perspective. ‘The Thing’ went from Cinefantastique’s “most hated film of all time” to one of the milestones in horror as we know today. It was way ahead of its time and just needed to be viewed by the right kind of audience, even if they came generations later.
