This is the period when the shapeshifting monster of “The Thing” resonates more strongly in our emotions, no matter how many times we have seen it. For the past two years, the globe has been plagued by fear of the unknown. Anxiety and paranoia have spread quicker than the virus at the same time. Have not we all suffered long periods of isolation and boredom in the same way as the characters in the film did almost 40 years ago?
The virus has been killed by our doubts and fears about whether the individual next to me is an asymptomatic carrier. The narrative “Who Goes There?”, by John Campbell was built around this element of mystery. Apart from John Carpenter, Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby adapted the same scenario for their 1951 picture, ‘The Thing from Another World.’ However, they had removed the crucial aspect of uncertainty and suspicion from their film, making John Carpenter’s “The Thing” the more authentic adaptation of the source material.
Although Ridley Scott’s “Alien” is credited with introducing the current sci-fi horror genre, the fear in “Alien” takes a long time to build up. The suspense in “The Thing” begins with the opening scene and continues until the final frame. Actors like Kurt Russell, Keith David, and Wilford Brimley play parts with a high level of realism.
Regardless of what the critics had to say about the film, the monster effects by Rob Bottin were universally praised, and are still regarded as a milestone in special effects after four decades. The creature effects cost $1.5 million out of the $15 million budget for the picture. Unfortunately, the film was released at the wrong time, with only $19.6 million in box office receipts during its theatrical run. “The Thing” was appreciated as ‘one of the best sci-fi horror movies ever made when it was released on home video and television.
The 2011 film is a direct prequel to the 1982 film, which was directed by Matthijs van Heijningen and written by Eric Heisserer. The plot is set in Antarctica during the hard winter when a team of American and Norwegian scientists discovers a parasitic alien encased deep below the ice. When they realized the Thing was still alive, it was too late, and they had to pay a horrible price. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, and others star in the key roles. Let us revisit the thrills, tension, and terror of the two films with the same name.
The Ultimate in Alien Terror- The Thing Released in 1982
An alien spaceship entered the Earth’s atmosphere near Antarctica, but nothing was known after that. The scene changed to the cold winter in Antarctica, when a Norwegian helicopter pursued a sled dog as it ran into an American Research Base, Outpost 31. The Norwegians kept shouting in their native language, while the Americans stood perplexed and witnessed one of the Norwegians accidentally pulling the pin on a grenade and exploding himself along with their helicopter.
Yet the other Norwegian kept firing at the dog, still shouting in Scandinavian, and was shot dead by Garry, the American base commander. Apparently, the words he yelled were,” Get the hell outta here. That’s not a dog; it’s some sort of Thing! It’s imitating a dog; it isn’t real! Getaway, you idiots!” Unfortunately, no one understood his warning, and after killing him, the American helicopter pilot, R. J. MacReady, and Dr. Copper flew down to the Norwegian base to investigate.
They found the base, totally gutted in fire, and amidst the charred remains and frozen bodies, they found a malformed humanoid which they brought back to their base. The biologist Blair found human organs after performing autopsies on the remains at the beginning.
As the sled dog was put in a kennel, it metamorphosed into a hideous creature with tentacles and crab-like structure, absorbing all the other dogs. The unworldly groan of the strange Thing and growling of the dogs alerted the team as they assembled in the kennel and incinerated the creature. On that note, this Norwegian dog was called Jed and considered to be an excellent animal actor.
After Blair performed an autopsy on the new creature, he revealed the shocking truth that ‘the Thing’ was an alien that attacked and digested other forms of lives, while it imitated and shapeshifted itself as the animal or person it consumed. The team then watched the recovered videotape showing the Norwegians circling around an object in the ice and trying to retrieve it.
The next day, MacReady, Norris, and Palmer flew to the site they saw in the video and discovered an alien spaceship in the crater, which Norris estimated to be entombed for more than 100,000 years. Back at the base, Mac stated that the Norwegians must have thawed the ice and awakened the dormant creature, which had immediately commenced its attacks.
In the evening, Blair studied the cells of the Thing on his computer as they attacked and replicated other kinds of cells. The computer analyzed the report and stated that there is a 75% probability that one or more of the team members might be infected by the alien. It will take around 27000 hours after the first contact for the alien to infect the Earth’s population.
While Windows and Bennings were making arrangements to store the remains of the Thing, suddenly, it began to move and attacked Bennings as it enfolded him within its tentacles. Bennings’ transformation was almost complete except for his hands when Mac burnt him. Blair killed the remaining sled dogs and destroyed the helicopter and communication equipment to prevent the Thing from taking over the world.
The team members locked him after using sedation. The following day, everyone was scared and suspicious as nobody knew who was the Thing among them. More than the alien monster, this growing element of distrust, the uncertainty among the characters makes this film one of the greatest horror films of all time, and this is the ideal time for us to relate to the film.
As the main suspects, Gary, Copper, and Clark were quarantined by Mac, a snowstorm hit the camp, making them more miserable. The assistant biologist Fuchs, having only little theories from Blair’s notes, recommended that everyone should prepare their own meals and eat out of cans. As Fuchs continued his research, Mac, Nauls, and Windows soon found his charred body in the snow.
While returning, Nauls found Mac’s torn clothes in the shack. Convinced that Mac had been assimilated, he abandoned Mac in the snowstorm. Mac armed himself with a dynamite stick and threatened to blow everyone if he was not allowed to enter. Amidst the commotion, Norris collapsed, appearing to have a heart attack.
As Dr. Copper tried to revive Norris, his chest transformed into a big mouth, biting Copper’s hand and killing him. Mac killed the Norris-Thing, but Norris’s head sprouted legs like spiders. Tt was destroyed too. Mac was forced to kill Clark as he was about to attack him with a knife.
Mac eventually tied everyone and tested their blood samples with a heated wire. Palmer was found to be infected as he transformed into a monster and tried to engulf Windows, as Mac killed them both. Mac, Nauls, and Garry decided to destroy the entire station to kill the Thing. While they set the explosives, Blair killed Garry, and Nauls disappeared.
The huge Blair-Thing destroyed the detonator. MacReady somehow managed to throw a stick of dynamite at the Thing and set it on fire along with the entire base. This final confrontation with the Thing required fifty technicians to assist. Suddenly, Childs returned, stating he was lost in the storm. The exhausted men sat together, with distrust in their minds, as they shared a bottle of whiskey, waiting for the cold to consume them.
”The Thing” exhibits features of both science-fiction and horror. The intelligent alien, the crashed spaceship, human vs. alien confrontation constitute the sci-fi features, while monsters, isolated settings, gore, suspense include the horror elements. Carpenter effectively used low lighting, nighttime settings, and eerie music to create his masterpiece, one of his favorites.
The charismatic presence of the actors expressing all the major shades of human emotions is beyond expression. The claustrophobic research base, isolated in the sub-zero climate in frozen Antarctica, is still considered one of the most effective sets in cinema. Now what to say about the special effects of the film? It has created a benchmark that is even hard for CGI to achieve. The extensive amount of effort put in by Bottin made him so exhausted that he had to be hospitalized.
Carpenter never wanted a man under the suit to create the horror for the film, and thus the multi-headed dog, jaws from a man’s chest, a head that sprouted legs had given the revolutionary effects of those times. The ambiguous ending could have led to a box-office failure, but that is what made the film different from the rest. Either of the last two survivors might be the Thing, or they might succumb to the cold; anything was possible. Carpenter had allowed the viewers to theorize the end.
It’s Not Human, Yet – The Thing: Released in 2011
In the winter of 1982 in Antarctica, the Norwegian research base ”Thule” had discovered an alien spacecraft and an alien body engulfed inside the ice. They believed that the creature had survived the crash for 100,000 years.
Paleontologist Kate Lloyd was recruited by scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam to join the Norwegian research base to investigate. They were flown in a helicopter piloted by Carter and Jameson. They met the camp’s members Edvard, Juliette, Karl, Jonas, Henrik, Colin, Peder, Lars, and his dog in the camp.
The creature was transported to the base within the block of ice, as Dr. Sander ordered them to retrieve a tissue sample from the alien in spite of Kate’s protests. Soon the co-pilot of the helicopter, Jameson, saw the creature escaping from the ice block. As everyone started looking for it, they found Lar’s dog dead. Henrik And Olav found the Thing hiding under one of the buildings when it suddenly impaled Henrik with its tentacles and consumed him.
As Olav screamed, the others came to their rescue and finally set it on fire. Everyone was in shock and panic, but Dr. Sander said that they must take this opportunity to study the Thing. During the autopsy of the Thing, they found the upper half of Henrik’s body while Kate pulled the titanium bar Henrik used to stabilize his fracture. As Kate and Adam investigated, they theorized, the Thing’s cells were alive and were replicating Henrik’s cells at a fast rate.
The next morning, Kate found some blood-soaked dental fillings and lots of blood in the shower. Kate ran outside to warn the others, but the helicopter had already taken off with Olav and Griggs. Suddenly, Grigg’s face split in half, while tentacles appeared from his chest as he attacked Olav. Kate and Sander watched in horror as the helicopter went out of control and crashed.
Back inside, Kate explained her theory about the replication ability of The Thing. However, it is unable to imitate any inorganic matter, and hence it is throwing things like silver fillings or titanium plates from its victims. At first, no one believed her, but soon, Juliette got converted into the monster and tried to attack Kate. As Kate fled, Juliette-Thing killed Karl with her tentacles before being killed by the flamethrower.
As they burnt the remains outside, they found the pilots, Carter and Derek half-frozen, but had survived the helicopter crash. Some members were desperate to kill them as they were convinced that they had also been transformed into the alien, but Kate convinced them to keep the survivors isolated till a test was performed.
Sander and Adam prepared a potential test, but the lab was set on fire as soon as they moved out. As tension increased among the crew members, Kate suggested a simple test to identify the Thing. She started checking the fillings of the teeth, which segregated Sander, Adam, Edvards, and Colin as they didn’t have any dental filling.
They were held at gunpoint while Kate asked Lars to bring Carter and Jameson. Lars and Jonas found out that Carter and Jameson had escaped, and soon Lars was pulled inside, and others anticipated that he was killed. A fight ensued between the pilots and the remaining team members, where the pilots killed Peder, and Edvard was severely wounded.
Carter and Jameson forced everyone to go to the record room but suddenly, Edvard’s arm detached from his body, transforming into small crab-like creatures, injuring Adam and Jameson. While the Edvard Thing attached itself with Adam and escaped into the snow, Jonas was consumed by the arm-Thing and was burnt, along with dead Jameson. The Edvard-Adam-Thing attacked and assimilated with Sander. The Thing which followed Carter was killed, but the Sander-Thing escaped in a snowcat.
Carter and Kate followed it to the spaceship, which was preparing to take off. Kate encountered the Thing and blew it up with a grenade. As Kate and Carter prepared to leave, Kate noticed Carter’s earring was missing. As Kate burnt him, his unearthly screams proved that indeed he was the Carter-Thing. Kate climbed into the other snowcat and moved towards the Russian base.
Between the end credits, a helicopter landed at the Norwegian base. Colin was found dead as he had committed suicide to avoid the Thing. The Norwegian pilot, Matias, shouted to see if anyone was alive, and we saw that only Lars was alive and uninfected, who had been hiding in the building.
He ordered Matias to show his teeth at gunpoint when the Thing shapeshifted as Lars’s dog, jumped out of the wreckage, and ran off. Lars and Matias followed the dog in the helicopter and led us to the opening scene of the original 1982 film.
Enumerable screenshots of the original film were kept in this prequel set to ensure the smallest details of the Norwegian set. The creature effects were accomplished mostly with cable-operated animatronic robots as the director felt that CGI would be incorporated if required. However, most of the special effects by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff were replaced by CGI, which made the special effects team very depressed.
The major problem with this film is the handling of the paranoia. The 1982 film’s projection of the isolation and rising fear among the team members had been its trump card, which was profoundly lacking in the 2011 film. The loud scream of the creature was monotonous rather than scary. The scene in the Carpenter film, where everyone was being tested, gave goosebumps while in the 2011 film, it hardly had any impact at all.
The characters in the movie had no depth at all, and the CGI effects were also relatively ineffective. It is not that the film is without merit, but when it is under the scrutiny of a masterpiece, the director should have been more careful with the details of the film.
Shape-Shifting Extraterrestrial Organism Explored
What could be more appropriate than the dialogue from the film, ”This Thing doesn’t want to show itself; it wants to hide inside an imitation. It’ll fight if it has to, but it’s vulnerable out in the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies.
Nobody left to kill it. And then it’s won.” The ability of the Thing to assimilate other forms is what makes it so deadly and hostile. It is impossible to know the Thing’s appearance and motivations as it is assumed that it has assimilated over thousands of life forms before crashing into the Earth. As it is evident from the two films, the alien has no predefined anatomical structure while the cells undergo assimilation at the genetic level.
It is also understood that the Thing could assimilate only organic matter and not any inorganic matter, which presented the members a potential way of discriminating the normal person from the alien in the prequel. The monster can only be killed by fire or molecular acid, as it can reconstitute itself under any other modes of attack and continue with its threat.
We had seen that even when the body of Norris was destroyed, the head had sprouted legs and continued attacking other members. Unless the assimilated form had been incinerated, it couldn’t be destroyed. However, it places itself in cryogenic sleep, in freezing temperatures, waiting for the right time to wake up. It is estimated to have been in cryogenic sleep for more than 100,000 years. Only when the Norwegian scientists dug the creature out for research and let the ice thaw, did the creature resume its hostile activities.
The Thing can imitate any organic life form that comes within its proximity, where it latches onto its host and replicates its cells. If the host is wearing any form of clothing, it will be shredded, or any form of metal like tooth fillings, metal plate for structure, or even earrings will be thrown away. If the Thing is out in the open, it reveals its true demonic form and attacks at random, as we have seen in many cases.
The third form of assimilation is through any contact with the blood or saliva of the Thing. There has not been any direct evidence of this method in the films; it is evident that many of the assimilations must have occurred in this method. The strength, speed, and stamina of the alien were so immense that no human had the capability to overpower it. If the host cells die before replicating, then they are of no use to the Thing as they cannot imitate dead cells. If the Thing splits, it becomes different creatures and operates separately.
Also, if the attacking Thing is not big enough compared to its host, it just adds the biomass of the host to increase its size and strength. The Thing will sometimes break into separate forms and attack different hosts and assimilate.
We are also astonished by the intelligence of this alien. Starting from the dog to many other persons, after assimilation, the Thing has maintained the normalcy of life so that it can plan its next assimilation in a smooth way. Even in the 2011 prequel, we find that if Kate had not noticed the earring on Carter, it was not possible in any way to identify the Thing.
That was the problem from the very beginning. No one could identify the dog as the Thing, which gave it ample time to plan for attacking the next target. When the Thing assimilates the host, it gets the intelligence, abilities, and memories along with it. That is how the alien successfully camouflages itself amidst the others. There are endless theories about ”The Thing” which cannot be included in one video, but there are plenty of videos by us on the Thing which you can definitely enjoy.
The Thing Reboot
In 2018, an interestingly additional 45 pages of ”Who goes There” by Campbell were unearthed titled ”Frozen Hell”. Universal Studios and Bloomhouse Productions were immediately thrilled to start a remake of ”The Thing” with these included pages. Some fans might be thrilled about another adaptation of the same story, but others may feel that after the classic masterpiece by John Carpenter, another adaptation is totally unnecessary.
The news is in the air that Carpenter himself will be directing the reboot, but he didn’t disclose whether it will be a prequel, sequel, or reboot. The project is still at an early stage, and no other news has been revealed. It’s only a matter of time before we come to know whether the horror fans shall receive yet another masterpiece from this perfectionist filmmaker. ”The Thing” must go on.