The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

Directed by John Carpenter

Written by Burt Lancaster

Starring Kurt Russell

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert once described the summer of 1982 as the "summer of Steven Spielberg," and with good reason too. Spielberg produced (and according to some others, also directed) the Tobe Hooper horror film Poltergeist, and then later released the alien film E.T, which became the highest grossing movie of all time during its initial release.

However, there was a film that had an alien in it and also incorporated themes of horror in it, and that was John Carpenter's The Thing. This film centered around an alien that could take the shape of an actual human being, thus causing paranoia among a group. The film was overshadowed by the two Spielberg films at the box office. However, perhaps the box office performance was inevitable, once a person factors in the facts.

(1) The Thing was rated R, E.T was rated PG and therefore had secured the children market.
(2) Spielberg was a much bigger star than Carpenter, although I'd rather watch Halloween (1978) and Escape From New York (1981) over Jaws (1975) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) myself.
(3) Perhaps somewhat restating point 1, Carpenter's film was less optimistic and family-friendly, thus having less appeal.

The Thing was the second Carpenter film I saw, after Halloween. Much like the critics, I too thought the movie was nothing more than a special effects showcase. My Carpenter-fan buddies kept telling me to just to keep re-watching it, but even that didn't seem to work. Recently, I got to see this film on the big screen at the Aero theater in Santa Monica. Seeing this film on the big screen finally made me appreciate it for the masterpiece that it is.

Kurt Russell and a group are in an arctic area, where a parasite alien appears. The Alien can take the form of any of the humans. Thus the humans all become distrusting of each other and must find out...who is The Thing?

The strength of the movie is Carpenter's direction. Its impossible to guess which human is secretly the Thing, thus Carpenter keeps us in suspense in this sci-fi horror masterpiece.