John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
For a short while in the late 70's and early 80's there was only one Horror director in America who made intelligent, well crafted Horror films and his name was John Carpenter. Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York (yes I know it's an action film!) and of course The Thing completed a classic quartet of films that he has never really been able to replicate but when the films are this good then we should all be thankful how good they were. Most directors are lucky to make one classic film, let alone 4 in succession and I can think of few directors with consistent output in such a short space of time (1978-1982).
The Thing is a loose remake of Howard Hawks 'The Thing From Another World' (for fact fans it's a film that a character is watching in Carpenters film 'Halloween') but is a much darker and claustrophobic piece. So dark in fact that it bombed upon release in the same year of the much more audience friendly 'E.T' which was also about alien visitation.
The Thing is set in the Antarctic with a research team finding a lone dog traversing the icy landscape and a helicopter following the dog trying to shoot it. Unbeknownst to the American team, the dog is infected and a Norwegian researcher is trying desperately to kill the dog but due to language barriers they presume that the shooter is suffering from 'cabin fever' and let the dog into their compound. A final attempt of killing the dog results in the sole survivor dying by his own hand and an end to any clues to the why's and wherefores.
The American group find the abandoned and destroyed Norwegian site that the helicopter was from and evidence that they have found something dangerous within the ice but now cut off due to radio malfunction are unable to communicate with the outside world. The Thing now living within the dog housed within their own kennels is a parasite that can mimic any living thing it comes into contact with and it eventually hides itself within the crew and paranoia rears it's ugly head as the isolated crew battle not only their own fears of isolation but also the fear that anyone of them may have been infected.
Where The Thing scores so high is in the tense, volatile script and the superlative special effects. Outside of the now common CGI, the effects (in my eyes) have never been bettered before or since with 'The Thing' not having any particular form, so it's identity and shape is manifested in all sorts of unusual and original ways.
Much of the film was shot on purpose built soundstages with temperatures akin to the conditions that the film is set in which only add to the isolation and helplessness of the characters. The ending is also ridiculously downbeat with no final outcome which only adds to this.
The cast are magnificent throughout with Carpenter fave Kurt Russell once again on great form in a subdued role, ably assisted by Keith Gordon amongst others.
The film has been seen as many things and not least an allegory on the AIDS epidemic of the 80's but this is coincidence. The film is quite simply a masterpiece with gut churning and original special effects allied to a superb tight script and minimal scoring by the legend that is Ennio Morricone. Along with Halloween it is a film that I can and have watched multiple times and never get tired of it. Simply brilliant.