The Thing (1982) Starring Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley & Keith David Directed by John Carpenter Written by John W. Campbell Jr. & Bill Lancaster

There was a time when remakes where not a thing to dread. There was a time when they actually done for the love of doing it and not a cash in. John Carpenter was one who would offer a remake that was done for the love of a vision. He would remake an old scifi film called "The Thing from Another World" where scientists dig up and unfreeze an alien ship and an half plan half human like alien.

Carpenter's film however would re-define SFX and gore as he would create an alien that can never be matched again. This film would simply be called "The Thing".

We then see a US Research outpost with Station Commander Garry, Doc Copper, Bennings, Doc Blair, dog handler Clark, Radio man Windows, Childs, Fuchs, Nauls, Palmer, Norris and Helicopter Pilot MacReady are stationed there. While the others pass time in the main station, Mac plays computer chess in his shack and after it cheats him, he pours his whiskey in its CPU.

Attracted to the noise outside, everyone goes out to see the Norwegians firing at the dog. After it takes safety with the men of the outpost, the Norwegians land the chopper and pull out thermal charges, but one drops it and explodes with the Helicopter. The other fires at the dog, grazing Bennings' leg before Garry shoots him.

As Windows is unable to reach anyone through the radio, Copper gets Mac to fly him out too the Norwegian Bass Camp despite his warnings on the weather conditions. While they're gone, the dog they saved wanders around the camp site, eventually heading into a room alone with an unforeseen person (we only get to see there shadow).

We next see Mac and Copper land at the site. Once inside, they in the station in shambles and frozen over from the cold. After exploring, they find a guy frozen in a chair, with blood almost shooting out of his cuts.

Moving along, Copper starts to collect papers and videos, while Mac goes exploring more. In a room in the back, he finds a giant slab of ice with a large section missing. Leaving, the 2 notice something in the ice. Getting closer, they see what looks like a human, yet isn't and were burnt in a hurry.

Back at the US outpost, they reveal to the rest of the crew what they found, the dog watching as well. Eventually, they do an autopsy on it and find only what appear to be normal human organs.

Later on that night, the dog startles Bennings who has Clark put the dog in the kennel with the other dogs. He takes it in, but with reluctance on its part. Instantly he can tell that something isn't right. After he leaves, the other dogs start to growl and get hostel with it. Sensing they know it's not one of them; it splits open and becomes something else.

When Clark returns and opens the door, the surviving dogs flee while he sees tentacles reach out for him. Mac hearing the disturbance and sensing something isn't right, sounds the fire alarm and sends word to Childs to get the Flamethrower. As everyone gathers at the kennel, they all see in as the former dog now a mutated monster has a hold of the other dogs and screams at them. They open fire with guns but they do nothing. Finally Childs arrives and right as it attacks, he burns it.

The next day, Blair does an autopsy on the creature in the kennel and makes a startling discovery. He reveals to the rest of the crew that the creature is something that takes a hold of living creature, eats them and imitates them perfectly. They simply stopped it before it could finish.

Watching the videos, they find that the Norwegians found something buried in the ice a few miles out from there camp and blew it out. Mac, Norris and Fuchs all fly out (despite choppy weather) to the blast sight and find deep in the crater an alien ship. Down below, Norris figures it's been buried for 100,000 years at least. Up top again, they find the hole they dug it up at.

Back at the outpost, they debate about what happened, with different views from different guys. Blair though remains quiet among the whole thing. Back in his private quarters, he studies a simulation of how the thing spreads. The computer warns that there's a 75% chance that 1 or more men at the outpost has been infected. Worse, that if it were to reach a civilized area, that global infection would be projected to happen in about 27,000 hours after first contact. Blair then reaches for a gun in his desk.

Wanting to keep the bodies of the things to bring back, the guys start to clear there stuff out of the storeroom. Fuchs arrives and requests to meet Mac outside alone in the tractor. Windows leaves Bennings alone in the room with the things, unaware that they are still moving and reaching out slowly.

Outside, Fuchs tells Mac that Blair has locked himself up in his room so he took his notes. Mac isn't interested until Fuchs brings a part that the bodies aren't completely dead yet.

When Windows returns, he finds Bennings' clothes off and blood and he covered in tentacles. He quickly goes to get Mac and Fuchs. Back inside, they find Bennings fleeing out the window and into the snow. Outside, everyone comes out to find the thing almost replicate Bennings except for his hands. Pouring gas on it from a close by barrel, Mac uses a torch to burn it.

Gathering the rest, they pile snow around the bodies and pour gas on them before Mac uses the flamethrower on it, destroying what they think is left.

After it's destroyed enough, Mac is about to come in when he sees someone leave his Helicopter. After checking it, he sees it's been destroyed inside. He then hears gun shots inside the outpost. He and everyone else find Blair has lost it, using an axe to destroy the radio equipment and keeping everyone at bay with his pistol. Childs also goes to find he destroyed the tractor and killed the remaining dogs. Eventually, they manage to knock him out before he kills anyone (Windows in particular who was trapped in with him).

Putting him out in the tool shed with food, they lock him up for his and there own safety. Blair warns though to watch Clark who was alone with the dog for a good while. Outside, Mac warns that someone in the camp isn't who they say they are and that they need to figure out whom. Copper comes up with a blood test idea.

When they get inside though, they find the storage blood has been ruined and someone got to it with out breaking the lock (using the key). After everyone arrives, they figure that ether Copper (who would be the only one who'd need the key) or Garry (who holds the key) could have gotten to it. A fight eventually breaks out with a lot of finger pointing until Windows in a fearful panic runs for the spare guns. Garry catches up and makes him drop it, then relinquishes has authority as no one trusts him, which Mac takes up.

Outside, Mac burns the blood and back inside has Clark, Copper and Garry drugged and tied as they're the most likely to be a thing. While they're taken care of and Fuchs goes through Blair's work, Mac records a tape to hide later, warning about what he knows and that they're all scared out of there minds.

He then goes to check on Fuchs who has a few ideas, but after he leaves, the power in the room dies and he goes to find out why. But when he's about to leave the room, a shadowy figure walks by. Fallowing it outside, he finds Mac's torn jacket out in the snow.

An hour later, Mac informs the rest that Fuchs is missing and after some arguing has Windows and Nauls go with him. They go to ask Blair if he's seen him, but Blair just begs to come back in. Heading back, they find Fuchs burned remains and figured he burned himself rather then be turned. Windows heads inside to tell the rest while Nauls and Mac string line up to his shack due to the lights being on.

After Mac and Nauls have yet to return, Childs decides it's time to secure the doors. While doing his, Norris (who's suffering from internal chest pains) finds Nauls heading back alone. Once inside, he shows that up at the shack he found a shirt of Macs that was torn and figured he was a thing, so he cut his tow line and left him in the snow. The debate begins of whether he's a thing or not and while they argue some more, Mac eventually finds his way back but isn't allowed in. The rest debate weather or not to let him in or let him freeze, until Mac finds a storage room window.

Taking an axe to the locked door, Childs and the rest break in, only to find Mac has several sticks of dynamite and a burning flair and threatens to blow the camp. Norris and Nauls sneak out and through the window to jump him from behind, but Mac fights them off. After falling, Norris suffers a heart attack and Mac has everyone where he can see them.

While Copper tries to help Norris, Mac keeps everyone at bay with a flamethrower and dynamite while they argue amongst the findings Nauls found. While they argue, Clark secretly takes a surgical scalpel.

Unable to get a pulse from Norris, Copper gets the defibrillator and tries it on him. To everyone's horror, his body caves in and forms a mouth, biting off Copper's hands and kills him. Mac gets everyone out and burns the body. What Mac and everyone else fails to notice until after the bodies' burned is that the fake Norris' head has detached itself and grown legs. While trying to flee, Mac burns it as well.

Coming up with an idea from the detached fleeing head, Mac orders everyone tied down. Childs refuses and Mac forces him at gunpoint. Clark then tries to attack him with the scalpel, but instead is shot and killed.

After everyone but Windows and Mac is tied up (including the deceased Copper and Clark), Mac gets some sample containers and gets blood from every one. He then gets a needle from wire ready and tells them his idea. He figures that unlike humans, that every last cell of the Thing is a living creature that would break free and try to survive. He plans to test each blood sample and find who's human and who's not.

Mac then heats the needle and pokes it in Windows blood which just creates steam. He then does his own, Coppers and Clarks, all of which indicate they're human (which makes Mac a murderer). He then plans on testing Palmer, but Garry criticizes the whole test. Mac points out that only Garry could get to the blood now and he'll be tested last.

When Mac puts the needle in Palmer's blood, the blood jumps out and flees. Palmer then starts to convulse and his face starts to bulge and get blood as he breaks free. Mac tries to burn him, but the Flamethrower misfires. After it's free, Windows tries to shoot, but is frozen in shock when its head splits open to form a mouth.

It then bites onto Windows's head and throws him around the room before dropping him bloody on the floor. Mac finally burns it as it breaks out into the snow. As it falls down, Mac finishes it with a stick of Dynamite. Back inside, Windows is already starting to be turned when Mac burns him as well.

With proof now that it works now, Mac tests Nauls, Childs and Garry, all of which are human.

With Childs holding down the camp, Mac, Nauls and Garry go out to test Blair. When they go out, they find the door open and Blair missing. After investigating, they lift the floor boards to find a tunnel. Below, they find Blair's been using parts from the destroyed parts to create a mini spacecraft to flea.

While they ready some dynamite, Nauls sees Childs suddenly flee the camp. As they watch, the camp suddenly dies on power and is on back up. They figure that the Thing has now taken out the Generator with intent of freezing the camp site and being frozen for the rescue team. With no other options, the 3 agree that they're not going to survive to be rescued, but that they won't allow it to survive either.

They light the Dynamite and destroy the craft below. Back inside, they use dynamite and flame bombs to destroy the camp section by section, until all that's left is the generator room below. Down below, they find that the generator itself (which is rather large) is completely gone.

Setting up the trigger, the 3 begin work setting up the dynamite in opposite ends of the lower area. When Garry tries to fix his headlamp, Blair arrives and literally shoves his fingers into his face and covers him from screaming. After he kills him, he drags him by his face away.

While Mac continues to set up the trigger, Nauls wonders into the old storage room alone. When Mac checks on him, no sign of Nauls can be found. He then takes out another stick of dynamite and lights the long fuse.

The ground then erupts in a straight line for Mac, knocking him down. A hole is made below and takes the trigger away. The Thing then erupts and reveals its true form, a large worm like creature with a beasts head, with the old mutated dog erupting out after him. Mac though, grabs a hold of the dynamite and throws it, saying "Yeah and fuck you too!" then runs.

The blast then kills it and causes the other dynamite to explode, blowing the entire campsite. Alone now with a bottle of Whiskey, Mac sits down in some wreckage. When he turns, he finds Childs there.

After he tells him they're all that's left and that it's dead, Mac questions where Child was. He claims he thought he saw Blair in the storm and went after him but got lost. Childs and Mac question weather the other is who they say there are, but both are too exhausted. With the fire keeping them warm for the time being, they question how they'll survive, but acknowledge that hey most likely won't. They then just sit there and wait while drinking Whiskey as the camp burns into the night, with there fate un-known and us questioning as to weather or not they killed every last trace of the Thing.


Both this and the 1951 film where inspired by John Campbell, Jr.'s novel titled "Who Goes There?" and this film has been credited as more faithful.

The film has had a Comic book Mini Series and a Novel written about it.

Carpenter intended to let the outcome of Mac and Childs not be known, but in 2002 a Video game Sequel was made showing what happened. Childs had died with Mac's fate not known until the end of the game. In it, you play as Blake who discovers the wreckage of the US outpost and the Alien Craft, but later learns that things are more serious then he though, and just from the aliens.

The game has been me with mostly favorable reviews, even from Carpenter himself, although a few haven't been so kind.

This film is 1 of 3 in John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy" where the films aren't connected but all deal with the same theme, a possible end of the world scenario. The other 2 are "Prince of Darkness "and "In the Mouth of Madness".

There's been talk for years of a remake/prequel, possibly from Scifi Channel. It seems they're doing a prequel of sorts showing what went down at the Norwegian camp.

The film was considered at the time for to have the latest special affects, particularly with the mutation scenes (Norris' head popping off being one of the most memorable).

The film's theme of an Alien parasitic invader would inspire other films such as "Slither" which also had an alien invader and "Leviathan" which took place underwater and dealt with human genetic experimentation.

The novel that inspired the film also inspired the X-files Episode "Ice". In it, Mulder and Scully investigate an Alaskan outpost that within a short amount of time, has gone from peaceful too a bloodbath. There, they find a worm like species that's been frozen and can infect humans, which causes distrust and fear.

The film was listed at #48 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

The reason behind the rating is no mystery. The film is filled with lots of gore as humans are literally torn apart and change into horrifying alien creatures. Curse words are also in abundance. Not to mention access drinking and pot use. And of course since your not sure who's who, there's some major jumps and scares for first viewing. The only other big thing I look for that's not in this is sex and nudity, and there's not a single female character here.

Warning: Please be advised that a NC-12 is not specific on the exact age range that the film is recommended for. The rating implies that the range is at 12 and anywhere above, where above is your decision. It can range from at 12 or a year above to higher at later teens, the choice is yours. Watch this yourself first and decide. That's it for this episode of Scarries for Kiddies. Next time, we'll see the classic horror film that first launched Stephen Spielberg's career.

Until then, happy scaring.