Last night I was tinkering around on Netflix and saw that one of the best horror movies of the 80's was watchable instantly. I kicked back with a mountain dew and hit play on The Thing.
The film is about a parasitic alien being that takes over and imitates other organic life forms. Kurt Russell stars as helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, a character who always has a short temper and a loaded gun. Quickly you realize that he will become his groups leader once the alien starts taking over different members of the crew. The setting of the film is a scientific research station in the middle of Antarctica with terrible blizzards and no contact with the rest of the world. As each new man succumbs to the parasite, the remaining crew lose a little more of their sanity as any one of them could be next. The film has an open ending with the outcome left to the viewers imagination. The acting was top notch and aside from Kurt Russell the cast included Wilford Brimley and Keith David who would go onto be in They Live, another John Carpenter film. The effects were spot on by Rob Bottin who also did the FX work for The Howling and The Fog. The Thing didn't do very well in the box office which some attribute to the fact that E.T. came out around the same time and had a more positive outlook on aliens. A prequel of The Thing comes out later this year and so far from what I have seen looks very interesting. In my opinion, The Thing stands as one of the best horror movies ever directed by one of the best directors in horror history.
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