Transcript
Speaker: Ooh, yeah. It had no countdown. It had to get done, that's so exciting. This is so much fun. Oh my gosh. Okay. Yes. Oh, I need to pick up mine. I need my Club Tropica too. We are Club Tropica sponsors.
Speaker: Well technically Tiny Rebel is the company. Yes, Tiny Rebel, Club Tropica's the flavor. I boxed myself in on this couch. Oh yeah. What did you think of the thing? I enjoyed the thing. Nice! I'm two for two. You are. But the thing about the thing. The thing about the thing.
Speaker: This is the one I've seen before. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I knew I seen the thing, but I thought I'd seen the 2011, but no, I've seen this one. Yes. Yes. The 1982 one. 1982. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was kind of surprised when you said you hadn't seen it because it is such a classic.
Speaker: I was kind of like, oh, and especially like the fact that you were like, oh yeah, I've seen like 80s horror. Yeah. And this isn't 80s. 80s horror and the thing. Wait, 80s horror, classic, and hasn't seen the thing. I was a little bit like, come on now. What are we doing? Where am I at? Yeah. But no, yeah. I had seen it, except this time my viewing experience was a little different. Mm -hmm.
Speaker: I watched it all in Italian. Ooooh. Yeah. Por cois? Por cois? That's French. Por cois? Por cois? I don't, I don't know why. I'm just, you know, I'm doing that, you know that bingo sheet you've got? Yes. Yeah. Well, on my list, it's I want to start learning a new language.
Speaker: And after I figured out I'd seen it before, I thought, right, I'll give myself a challenge. I'll watch it in a different language. That was Italian. So I watched it in Italian. Still enjoyed it. But I still don't know what language I want to choose for this year. Okay. Because, you know, watching it in a gluten sense for a podcast is not a challenge at all.
Speaker: I love your viewing experience. You're like Nosferatu, but I gotta chop my bell peppers. Yeah, I was chopping those red bell peppers. You're like, but I gotta learn my Italian. Yeah.
Speaker: But I know some of the basics of Spanish and of course, because it's Latin -based. The romantic languages. Yeah. Some of the words intersect. So when I was watching it, some of the sentences or words I didn't need the subtitles for, I was like, ooh. Maybe a Latin -based language is what I need. Yeah, yeah. Did you, were there any fun exclamations?
Speaker: Okay, so there was this one point. I knew the other bass, the first bass was the Norwegians, aren't they? Yeah. Yeah. Not Swedes. Yeah. In the English subtitles for the Italian one, it kept switching between saying that that bass was Norwegian and Swedish.
Speaker: is that, that isn't, that's in both. Oh, wait, you said that's in English. Yes. The English subtitles. Yes. So the thing with that is that Macready, we'll do the whole plot in just a second. Macready keeps calling them Swedish. And the people around him are like, they're Norwegians, not Swedes. And he's like, ah, same diff.
Speaker: okay so yeah that makes more sense now but because I was watching it in Italian I didn't I don't know what the Italian is for Norway or Sweden yeah I was like do they not know which country
Speaker: Guys, it's Europe. You're on the land Europe. Why are you not understanding? Like the English, at least, they're on their own silly little island. There's reason to be confused. No, no. That is a thing with McCready. Should we do the plot? Oh, okay. Oh, yes. The plot. Okay. So, do you want to start?
Speaker: Okay, so yeah, there's this group of American researchers. Before even that, can we talk about the music to begin the spaceship?
Speaker: I love that it starts with a spaceship. I love that. And it gives the audience something like an in that the characters themselves don't know. And it's just like, you know, this tiny little secret you're sitting there, you're watching like, I know something you don't. And there's that there's moments like that throughout the film that I just love. Yeah, yeah. And then and then the bit that I love at the beginning is the font of the thing. Yes.
Speaker: Yeah. And beautiful. So beautiful. And, um, I'm going to speckle in my extra goodies as we go this time, I reckon. Um, so with the thing, the font of it, they did that because you know how it kind of burns in. Yeah. Essentially. Oh, it was, they had like a goldfish ball and they had, um, it was all blacked out and then they had a bin bag.
Speaker: Okay. And then with the font written, like it was written in the kind of blacking out of it. And then they had a bin bag and then they lit the bin bag on fire and it burned away revealing the font. I think was how they did that. I think that's what I found in my research.
Speaker: Yes. And so it's like this super kind of, again, what we're going to talk about a lot in this film is practical affairs. Yes. They were amazing.
Speaker: So to have like the burning away of a beanbag, it's like buckle up. It's like you've got those effects, you've got to go straight from the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. And I think as well, it was extra good, essentially, that it was the burning because of the burning throughout the film. It kind of ties that. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah. No, it just hits the ground running with like, this is a sci -fi.
Speaker: This is, because just like the font of it is so like, yeah, so good. So yes, continue. Yeah, so it starts off, we see this spaceship and then we see this, essentially it starts off as like a documentary type, style with a camera.
Speaker: yes which we've kind of found out shots yeah and we kind of find there's a link to that later on um and it's is it then it's the norwegians we see first isn't it yes yeah and the helicopter and they're trying to shoot down this dog and yeah it's like this yeah it's a husky dog and
Speaker: you just you feel for the dog it just drops you in it you have no idea what's going on no and the music as well it's like that adventurous it's got the suspense in it yeah and it's like okay so there's there's something going on that we don't quite know why they're shooting at this dog for a reason why yeah but also such a cute dog why are you shooting at a dog what's wrong so that dog um
Speaker: Oh, I did have the name of that dog, but I can't quite see the notes now, but it's part wolf. It's like a husky, but it's also like part wolf. And that is, remind me of that because that's really like, there were shots that they only really managed to do because this dog is not whole dog, if that makes sense. But yeah, adorable dog and it's just running and it's being shot at from this guy from a helicopter. And you're like,
Speaker: What the fuck is going on? Why have you been killing the dog? Don't kill this dog. Yeah, the dog, he looks like he's just like running around having fun, just being all playful. And you've just got this like machine gun from a helicopter just pointing at this dog trying to shoot it down. Yeah. And then you cut from that to kind of
Speaker: the American base. Yeah. And you get to, you start meeting... Where the dog arrives at the American base and you... Yeah. Yeah, with the helicopter. Before he arrives, you meet McCready. Yes. And McCready is playing chess with like, it's like online chess. And I always think this is such a good introduction to McCready's character, because he is playing chess, he's getting really cocky, and then he loses
Speaker: And when he loses, he immediately, yeah, he opens the computer up and pours his drink in it, breaking the computer. He has just broken his, like, it's, it's everything you need to know about this character in one. It's because chess is like this cerebral kind of game. So he, he's a planner. He likes thinking he's, but also he's not great at it.
Speaker: Yeah. And when it doesn't go his way, he gets frustrated. And he self -sabotages. Yeah. The fact that he breaks his only entertainment. Yeah. In an isolated place. Yeah. Yeah. The other thing that I, through my research, was pointed out, so the voice of that computer is John. The only female voice. Yes. The only woman. John Carpenter's wife.
Speaker: is the voice because it's John Carpenter's film. His wife voices the computer and yet it's the only female voice in this whole film and he calls it a bitch. I know. But it's again because he's not flirting with a voice. But his only form of female contact is that voice. And when he thinks he's winning,
Speaker: he says, oh, you're losing your touch, baby. And then he loses and he calls it a bitch. And that is everything about, I was gonna say the female experience, happy day after International Women's Day. But it's that thing of like, when the goings good, hey baby, hey. When the goings bad.
Speaker: bitch. Yeah. That was really interesting given that that's the only female voice that we ever have in this film and we get both sides of that coin. Like straight away within like a minute. Yeah, less than it's like, it's literally just like, yeah. So, so we get that introduction to, to McCready and then, yes. And then the,
Speaker: And then the Norwegians and the dog are approaching Cap. So Norwegians have bad grip strength. This guy goes to throw a grenade and he just drops it behind him. And one of one of the Norwegians is like, damn Vasogona legs him. You have the Norwegians like,
Speaker: Let me find this grenade that I've already used for Pin of Honey. Let me just find it as it's about to explode and then go to pick it up to throw it in the intended direction. Just use Run and use a different one. Yeah. How many do you have? Cool. Run. Dude. I guess it's hard to have grip strength when you have like arctic level gloves. Yeah. And with like the icy coals that plays into it at all.
Speaker: And with a high stress in situation. Yeah. I'll let it slide. Yeah, but you still wouldn't run to a grenade that's about to explode. Yeah. Or maybe, you know what, maybe that Norwegian is the Captain America. Yes. He's jumping on the grenade for his friends. Yeah. God bless him.
Speaker: I love that scene. It's so good. Okay, the thing that's great about this scene is the language barrier. Yeah, they don't understand each other. And yeah, they just automatically go to fighting to killing because they don't understand each other. Yeah, yeah, it's just it's just thing where we have this language barrier. And
Speaker: Yes, so often in films, you have that moment where people just go straight to fighting. And you think, come on, use your words. Come on, what is this? But the thing that's so great about it is because there's this language barrier, you can't talk through it.
Speaker: No. And the fact that he's... Because you don't understand. Yeah, you don't understand what he's saying and he's shooting. Yeah. Because one of the Americans... And he's shooting at a dog that's running through the Americans. Yeah. The Americans also think they don't understand. There's this yelling. There's a gun pointed at them shooting towards them. And one guy gets shot in the leg. Yeah. Before anyone draws a weapon on this Norwegian, a guy gets shot in the leg. Of course you're going to retaliate. Yeah. Do you know what the Norwegian says?
Speaker: No. The Norwegian says, and hey, this is the end of the spoiler free zone of the podcast. The Norwegian says, get the hell away. That's not a dog. It's some sort of thing. It's imitating a dog. It isn't real. Get away, you idiots. Yeah. Perfect.
Speaker: perfect and it that again gives the audience something that because there's subtitles for the foreign speaking parts um so there's so the audience gets that message but you had that subtitled did you not no so you didn't know no in in the english version
Speaker: none of the foreign languages subtitled, so you don't know. Oh, I feel like that kind of ruins it for you. Oh, quite possibly. But I also, it also means - But you had already seen it. You had already seen it. Quite a few years prior. Yeah. Yeah. But I think having, so we've got a different experience of that scene. Yeah. Yeah. So I think I liked having that subtitle for it because it made me have this
Speaker: understanding a bit more as to what's going on but also the fact it lets you in on the film essentially it gives you an in and you've got this this feeling that you know something that they don't know how are they going to find this out
Speaker: I think it works, I get what you mean, it's kind of nice to have that in. I think it works so well, have not no in, but then find it out after because it is just that thing of like, oh, everything was there. That Norwegian guy did everything he could have done. Like he was trying to get that sorted. You're trying to get the message across. And he just that language barrier, that language barrier. The first time I ever
Speaker: I guess came into contact with this film. A friend of mine had watched it the previous night. This was when we were probably a near 10. Yeah. And she said, she was like, oh yeah, watch this film called The Thing. And you know, like, oh yeah, what's it about? Oh yeah, it's about this shape -shifting alien. It's a really good film. This film starts and you think, oh my gosh, why are they shooting this dog?
Speaker: And then by the end of the film, you're like, God, I wish they killed that dog. Yeah, that is it. That's the synopsis of the film. Yeah. Oh, no. Oh, God, they should have. The film gets you in your feels and invests you emotionally from the very beginning because of that scene with the dog. It's so cute. I know. But yeah, I love the fact that the
Speaker: yeah the Norwegian guy slays it all out yeah he's like right this is what's going on this is happening yeah you need to get your shit together because something's going down but because no one understands him boom headshot gone and then there's no way for them to know until shit goes wrong yeah because they've killed the only person who they've killed the source yeah yeah
Speaker: So, yeah. And then it's like not long after that, they go to the Norwegian base just to see what happened and they go there and find us all up in flames. And then that's their first encounter with the thing that they know of. Because of course they don't know about the dog, which is technically their first encounter. Yes. The thing I also like about just to put an end on the Norwegian scene. Yeah. As in when we meet them, not at the base.
Speaker: I can't remember who says it, possibly the captain, but he says, first week of winter. And I think it just, the whole of that first scene beautifully sets the scene. You have this total idea that you have been dropped into the film. Right in the middle. Yeah. And you don't know what's happening. It feels like the end of a film.
Speaker: And there is a prequel, so it kind of is. Yeah, so the 2011 Vision is the prequel. Yes. Yes. And that is... And actually, I haven't seen that film. I haven't seen the prequel. Have you not? No, no. It follows the Norwegians. The Norwegians, yeah, yeah. I've heard about it. I think it's a really good idea, but I've just never got round to watching it. But you have this situation and you don't know what's happening, okay?
Speaker: you have these characters that are beautifully set up in terms of like Macreedy and this dog. And then you get First Week of Winter. And it's just this idea of - Yeah, and Shits where I did hit the fan. Yeah. It's just like perfectly tells you like, and also the like establishing shots of the Arctic.
Speaker: are so empty, are so cold. It shows you just how isolated they are that there's nothing there at all. Yeah. And yeah. It just perfectly gives you like location, character, and time. It's just... Yeah, because it splashes up winter 1982. Yeah, you don't need any more information. It's just... It just sets it up straight away. Yeah. The set.
Speaker: So the way that they set, they filmed this was they had a set that, they did do some filming in, they did do some establishing shots, I think, in Antarctica or Arctic. I'd never remember which one, but the majority of it was filmed in - Antarctica. Yes, because it's the one with land, not the one that's just ice.
Speaker: So yeah, what they did is they built a set, and I think in, is it British Columbia? It's like a place in, I think, Canada. Yeah. Where it's very cold. And they built this set. Alaska, Vancouver, during winter? No, because wasn't it filmed during August? Yeah, but it actually snowed. So they built this set, they allowed it to snow.
Speaker: And then it got snowed in and then they got loads of shots. And then when they were filming on a sound stage, like a set like that, they refrigerated the sets, essentially. Essentially these actors were actually cold. Yeah, they were freezing. Yeah. And I just think you can tell. Yeah.
Speaker: It adds to the madness of it, kind of. Yeah. Because like in some shots as well, you can actually, like in the end shot, you see MacReedy's breath. Yes. Yes. So we, we have the, we have the scene where we meet the dog. Yeah. We have the scene where,
Speaker: first week of winter. Then Macready takes for doctor to the Norwegian base and we see the chaos is the Norwegian base. Yeah, it's very dilapidated. It's burnt basically to the ground. And you get your or their first no in account of this strange thing, which looks like a human.
Speaker: But its face is slightly... Yeah, it's distorted. Yeah. To me, it looked as though they were conjoined twins. That would be a certain science. Yes. Yes. Or I always think it kind of looks like... Like with the heads. Because it looked like it had two heads. Yeah, I always think it looks like, you know, on... Ooh, what's the word? On a laptop.
Speaker: when you have a camera and then you have photo booth. Did you remember the photo booth challenge that was round like on YouTube where people went on photo booth and they did various different like filters and stuff and you had to make the other person laugh? Oh, I didn't, I wasn't there for YouTube during that time. Ah, you know, that was before my time. Yeah, put me in, put me in, live in the frame.
Speaker: Yeah. So we, um, it's, it's this thing where you can kind of like move the face and kind of separate out and it looks really much like that. Oh, yeah. Like this TikTok filters that happened during, that happened during quarantine. And there's this, I can't remember the name of this person, but she uses those filters to create portraits. Okay. Very cool. Yeah. Um,
Speaker: But before we actually see that, we see the body of a Norwegian guy who's killed himself. And that's the first kind of like, it's, he's like sliced his neck and wrists open. And there's blood that has frozen. It's like coming out. It's like time has stopped. Yeah, yeah. And it's very good at kind of impressing upon you the seriousness of it straight from the get go.
Speaker: Yeah, it's like, oh shit, shit has gone down. They, this person had no other choice what was, so by what was going on. Yeah. And then you see this block of ice that looks so out of the fifties. It's just proper like rectangle block of ice. And then you see the burned body of the thing. Yeah.
Speaker: And they think, geez, this is great. Let's bring it back. Hmm. Let's do it there. He brings, Doc brings it back to do an autopsy and the autopsy's like, yeah, everything's fine. All the human organs are here. There's nothing wrong. This is just a ruined body. Yeah. All the human organs are here and they're all a hundred percent human. Yeah. Yeah. There's five. So.
Speaker: we're like okay what is going on this is not human huh yeah there's like this this big question mark yeah and then the dog is put in the kennel with the rest of the dogs someone's kind of like he is i can't remember his name he's licking the the wound or something of the guy who got shot and he's like jesus get this dog out of my face i've just been shot
Speaker: Yeah, I don't need this jumpy, playful dog around me right now. Yeah, you keep saying jumpy, playful. So this is where I say about this dog. He's so still. And it's something that I feel like when I thought about it, and when I kind of watched it with this in mind, I noticed how still this dog actually is.
Speaker: It's like when he's around people in Crowder spaces, he's this dog, he's like more playful sometimes, but then you see him in background shots. Where is he playful? I think there's a bit when they're in like the mess hall and there's that first bit. I think it's mainly just those two, but then like when you see him in... There's a bit where he's jumping up on them when he's running away from the Norwegians.
Speaker: And then there's a bit where he licks the guy's hand or like kind of nips at the guy's hand. But I feel like that's not playful. He's just kind of there. So while I was going with him just being there, was that in some of the shots you see him in the background and you can see him watching. Yes. And he's observing. Yes.
Speaker: It's this thing that you don't necessarily notice, but he doesn't act like a dog. Dogs rarely sit back and just watch. This dog doesn't really bark ever. No. When he's running, he never makes a sound. It's just silence. And that's because he's part wolf.
Speaker: wolves are really quiet and it's this thing that John Carpenter likes these long dolly shots where like the cameras pan in past and the thing is you can't do that with a dog because a dog will see a camera move and go, ooh, what's that? Ooh, I might be involved. It's like a dog come up with the squirrel. Yeah, but wolves don't care.
Speaker: So that's how they are able to get these shots of this dog, air quotes, and just standing there not reacting. And it's really good because he looks entirely like a dog. And it's not, I feel like if you watch it without thinking, this isn't a dog, this is an alien. You don't notice how dog -like he acts.
Speaker: But then once you know, you're like... I know with my first watch, when I was like mid -teen, I didn't really notice the dog behaving weirdly, but this time around, I think it's because I pay more closer attention to watching it this time around. But it's like you could see some of the weird behaviours.
Speaker: Yes. He's just so silent. Yeah. And there's this other scene in the mess hall and he's, it's as if he's scouting all of the people. He's sneaking around them all as if to find, so who's next? Yeah. Yeah. It's such brilliant dog acting. Shout out to that dog. Shout out to that wolf. Shout out to that wolf dog. Yeah.
Speaker: So then the dog gets put in the kennel with the rest of the dogs. Yeah. And they sense something's not right almost straight away. Straight away. And oh my gosh these powerful dogs. You see them howling. The bit that always gets me is the dog who's trying to bite its way out. It properly is tearing at the fence and it gets open and it nearly gets out and then
Speaker: the very last minute yeah it starts spewing like fluid at it i don't know if that's like stomach acid or like its way of starting to combine yeah so what it is it's the thing it's something in the cells of this alien creature yes so he it's the his
Speaker: the creatures individual cells will pick up the other the organism that it's trying to imitate. So it doesn't even actually have to fully touch you it can just spray you with this fluid and it's already got you. Yeah and then I think to fully
Speaker: imitate. I think that he does that as a way to be like your mind, essentially. And then I think he eats them, like the victim person so he can he has all of the cells and the organs of that person he needs to imitate. And the cells will like essentially regenerate and mutate to turn himself into
Speaker: What he's just done. Because he definitely sprays the fluid and then wraps his tendrils round and pulls it in. So the way they film that... It reminds me of a spider. Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. A spider with its prey. It's definitely like, yeah, the wrapping of the tendrils feels very web -like. The way that they film that is it's actually filmed in reverse. So essentially they have all these tendrils out and they like pull them back in.
Speaker: And then when you reversed a shot, it looks like they're shooting out really quickly. Well, they did that very well because I did not notice it was in reverse. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, um, it was really fun researching the howl.
Speaker: They filmed a lot of this because again, it's all practical. Yeah, I use a lot of like mechanical parts, foods and chemicals for these effects. And I think that's, I think what I like about the older horrors is how they create these effects. Yeah. It's not all just CGI and stuff. In fact, hold on. I need to work. I need to. So.
Speaker: Exactly right about what you're saying about all of the different things that they went. So a lot of the special effects, most of the special effects was done by Rob Botin. Yeah. I've heard it said Botan. I've heard it said Botin. It's B -O -T -T -I -N. See, I would say Botin. Yeah. Because I do phonetical.
Speaker: Yeah, because you're Welsh. I just, I always clinked it up because I remember this one time my friend who is Welsh said, Welsh is the easiest language because every single word is always said fanatically. And it's like, yeah, with a different set of letters. Yeah. Rob Bowton, I think I've heard the most times. Yeah.
Speaker: He did lots of the special effects and he is essentially KY Jelly everywhere. You went into his trailer, filled to the brim with bottles of KY Jelly. How else is your trailer supposed to look? You know, you gotta get that slick look on some of the dogs. But yeah.
Speaker: That's like what you were saying, you gotta make do with what you have. And what he had was a lot of KY jelly. God bless. And he used it very well. He used it well. And that's the impressive bit, is that he used it well. God bless him. God bless him. So then the dogs have to be, well, then they get a look at the thing.
Speaker: Yeah, this, you see it. Everyone brushes in. Yeah. And as the alarms start going off, everyone's panicking. And in true macho man type form, they immediately think flamethrower. We need to flamethrower this thing down. God bless them. Yeah. And to be fair, McCready has seen that, like, the Norwegians had a lot of fire. Yeah, they used fire.
Speaker: He's like, cool. So he's using his brain. His chest skills are coming in handy. We love him. We love him. And they flamethrower this thing. Yeah. And it's got sort of a dog's head. And its feet sort of look like crabs. And it's a bit of a mess. It's like this in between transforming.
Speaker: Yes, yes. And then they have to put down the rest of the dogs. Yeah, it's so sad. Because they don't know if they're things or not. Yeah, and it's at this point as well that they do another autopsy and it's then that dog finds out that it's the cells that imitate. Yes, and it is now
Speaker: that the film kind of becomes the paranoia first. Yes. That is one of the, that's why I think I love about this film as well. Cause the main, when you talk about this thing, you're just like, oh, it's like aliens taking over or whatever. But it's the main concept, the main theme is fear, paranoia, mistrust. Yes. Yes. And you see that heavily portrayed. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm going to say this now. I think this, I'm going to start peppering it in as I go. So the mistrust, the fear. This film came out in 1982. I was also had thoughts because I was like around the time that this film came out and it's a US film.
Speaker: And there was a lot of drama going on because they had like the civil war with the Soviet Union. So the Cold War, not the civil war. Yeah, the Cold War, not the civil war. I wrote it down. Russia and America are the same country. I'm so sorry. I love it. The Cold War between the two. And it was also post -Vietnam.
Speaker: So we mentioned previously that in a different, I think it was the first episode, that horror films tend to betray the fear of society at the time. Yes. And this film, you can kind of see the sign of the times. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It's so paranoia based and also what I was going to say in terms of fear and bodies and
Speaker: Where is the danger? It's also right around the time of the AIDS epidemic. Yes, I was going to get to that later on. Ah, okay. Well, yeah, I thought while we're talking paranoia. Yeah. Where is the danger? Who is the danger? Who has the danger in them?
Speaker: Yeah, and it's not something you can tell from the outside. It's not something that you can see. Yeah, it's not visible. It's a lot of men. Yeah. Unable to see who has the danger. Yeah. So I think it's very, well, it's because it's based off a short story. And it's pretty much to form to the short story. So
Speaker: It's one of those things where I don't think, well, it's definitely not a film that was based on AIDS, if that makes sense. But again, it's that thing of context. And when you're watching the film, you can't leave the context completely outside. This is a film that was made during
Speaker: the start of the AIDS epidemic, and here is a bunch of men mistrustful of each other, unsure who has this killer within them, and attacking one another because of that.
Speaker: It's you. No, it's you. And they're in such tight -knit group. It's a small community. And they're isolated from the rest of the world. They cannot go anywhere else. They cannot take out this fear or however they're feeling on to anything else but each other. So I think that heightens their own emotions, their own fears, their own mistrust to one another.
Speaker: and makes it this explosion, essentially. Yeah, yeah, 100%. So, um, shall we continue? Yes. With the plot. So something that I find heartbreaking in this film is that they keep doing things that make sense. Like when they're
Speaker: They see someone walking around, a bald guy who got shot with a ginger beard, he sees him walking about, and this guy who sees him immediately runs to the others for help. They're not isolating themselves to the point where they're not trusting anyone. They don't know who to trust, but they're trying to trust, if that makes sense. Yeah, that does. Yeah, they're still trying, but within that, they're isolating one person one by one.
Speaker: Yeah. It's very much that. But as a collective group. Yeah. And it is just that thing where they're trying so hard, you want it to work. Yeah. Because they're not being stupid with it. No, they're trying to be smarter about it. They're like, we need to stick together during this. But if you're displaying odd behaviors, we're all going to put you somewhere else. Yeah. So Blair.
Speaker: doctor. Yeah. He does a little tip type on his computer. On his computer. And it says, ooh, chance at whatever you use the thing. 75 % dude. Yeah. And he does that tech as well to see how quickly it would spread to the rest of the world. How long would it be when we get back? 27 million days? 27 ,000 days? I thought it was 20 ,000.
Speaker: Oh, I know I had a 27 in it, but 25... Maybe 27 ,000. Yeah. I just know I had three zeros after the comma. Yeah. So 27 ,000 days. You're like, oh yeah, that's not good. I mean, it's over a couple of years, but still. So he's like sick anyway. That's us. We're all gonna die here. Yeah. And his immediate thought as well was we need...
Speaker: to save the masses. Yeah. Oh, because they don't put down the dogs before. This is where the guy who's looking after the dogs runs to check on them and blares the one who's killed them. You have that shot of a dog with an axe in its head. Yes. Yeah. They just put them to sleep earlier. Which tugs in your emotions even more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My question is, would you be a blare?
Speaker: in this situation? Would I be a blur? I think I would feel like, okay, we need to contain this. We need to like not make it spread, but we need to do it as a group and inform people. Yeah, but how do you know that they're not the thing? You can't, the only person that you know isn't the thing is you.
Speaker: So how do you know if you get people involved and say, hey, we need to make sure nothing gets out? Well, no, because there's a thing that the person who is the thing doesn't even know the other thing. See, this is a thing. This is the thing about the thing. There are many things about the thing. So what is the thing? Do you know? Because this is something that even John Carpenter didn't really... Yeah. I say, like, essentially they didn't decide. They were like, yeah, who cares? Except to interpretation. Yeah.
Speaker: So do you know when you're the thing? See, I took it when I was watching it as in, you do not know. I think I always used to think that you did know. Because there's that line that McCready says, when they first burn like the first thing's body,
Speaker: And that again is this brilliantly horrifying scene where this guy runs out and he's only partially dressed. He's pretty much him apart from the fact that he's got these long fingers and he's almost like claw -like hands. And then he turns and he just kind of lets out this wally scry instead of talking. And it's because he hasn't fully transformed that he can't speak.
Speaker: Yeah. He's not like enough of a person to be able to talk and stuff. So yeah, I guess that's kind of what the thing actually sounds like. Hmm. Is what I, yeah. That's, that's language. He is interesting. Yeah. But Anne McCreeley says, I know, he says, I know I'm not the thing. And I know some of you must also not be the thing.
Speaker: otherwise you'd already be attacking me. I forgot he says that. So I know that some of you are still human, and so we're gonna get through this. But he doesn't know what he's talking about. No, he doesn't. He's not the scientist one. No. So it's this thing that I always thought you did know. Because if you're another being, surely you know that you have
Speaker: changed, surely the thing's consciousness. You are devoured by the thing, you are essentially inside, the thing, you are inside this thing. But if you're devoured, then surely you, as in what is the thing's consciousness? Yeah. Does the thing have a consciousness?
Speaker: Does the thing have a consciousness? I am this alien and I'm trying to control humanity because if the thing has a consciousness, if you are the thing, you know you're the thing because you want to control humanity. I know it has this sense of self -preservation which is displayed towards the end of the film. Yeah, because maybe it isn't actually a being.
Speaker: Maybe it's just this self -preserving clump of cells. Yeah. It's like a parasitic organism. Yeah. Yeah. And all it wants to do is survive. Yeah. That's what I took it as, so you wouldn't really know if you were the thing because it's just this thing. I feel like there has to be a point that you know because if you've died, then there's an end to your consciousness.
Speaker: and a start to a new consciousness. But maybe that's too much. Because that, you know, not necessarily, is anyone truly dying? Or are they just joining the conglomerate that is the thing? Maybe that's how it has become so big of a group of cells is because it takes over yours. Yeah, and you don't actually join.
Speaker: Yeah, you don't actually die, you just join. You become one with the thing. It's interesting. Yeah. Hmm. So Blair... I like to think I wouldn't go full Blair because he does just go a bit... He does go a bit over the top. He goes a bit axe -happy. Yeah.
Speaker: destroying everything. Yeah, he destroys the helicopter straight away, the only way out. Yeah, and the, like, ice cat or whatever it is. Yeah, like the snowmobile thing. Yeah, the snowmobile, yeah. And they have to lock him up. I thought this was a bit of brilliant dark comedy because they go out to check on him later on in the film. And there's just a noose
Speaker: in the foreground. And he's just there going, I'd like to come back in. I don't wanna be out here. And the whole time he's having this conversation, there's just a news. Is he the thing? When he stops destroying things and he sits in there and then says, I'd like to come back in. I'm all right now, I'd like to come back in. I think that's him the thing now.
Speaker: Yeah, because I think when he first started, when he started destroying things, I think that's when in my head, it started to think, oh, maybe he is infected now, maybe he is one of these things. And then that thought is later boosted towards the end of the film. Because he's been making a... Yeah, when he's not
Speaker: Did we say? Did we just jump to that scene? Yeah, yeah, why not? Yeah. When he's, when they go to check up on him and his cabin, this little hut thing is empty and they go and they find the floorboards loose and there's this whole tunnel underneath with this alien spaceship. Yeah. So, so he, by the end of the film, he's definitely perfect. Yeah. But at what point does he turn? I think him destroying everything is him. Yeah. And then when he stops destroying everything and is fine,
Speaker: He's the thing. Yeah, because he has that change of attitude. When he's destroying things, he's like, we need to stop it spreading to everyone else. We need to contain this. We need to not let it out. But when he wants to rejoin the group, there's that slight, there's that change where that thought that we need to save the rest of the world. We need to stop this. It's not there. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's him being infected.
Speaker: Can we talk about the defibrillator scene? Oh, I loved that scene. It's such a classic. I've seen the comparison between that and the chest burst scene. It's chest chomp as opposed to chest burst.
Speaker: I quite enjoy the chest chomp. It's this brilliant bit where they've just had all of this situation where everyone thinks McCready's the thing and they're not allowing him in, but he breaks into the store room and he's holding dynamite. He's about to blow the entire thing up because this is the thing about McCready again, he's self -sabotaging. Is he the thing?
Speaker: because there's been clothes with his name on. That have been found. Shredded, torn, covered with blood. And that is one of the signs. He's the one who earlier says, I think it rips out of its clothes to transfer. So is he the thing? He's our point of view character, but that doesn't mean that we're not having an unreliable narrator. And all of this is happening, and then Norris,
Speaker: has a heart attack. And instantly, because again, they are good men, they stop arguing, right, we need to help Norris. We need to do what we can. We need to save this person. They get the defibrillator out and this doctor goes, right, clear.
Speaker: no chest no it he just goes straight the chest opens opens chops down yeah and you see those little teeth just coming through to his arm and just disappearing gone gone and it is such an iconic scene because you had all the stress of mccready
Speaker: child's being like, you're the fucking thing, I'm going to get you. McCreedy shouting back, holding the dynamite. And then you're like, okay, okay. Norris is in danger. It's like their sense of humanity comes back for that second. Yes. And it causes a different kind of stress. You don't think about the thing anymore. Because you're like, right, we need to help Norris. Okay, nothing thing related is going to happen because we're currently helping Norris.
Speaker: Yeah, this is a different situation. This is an unrelated stressor. So they're focusing on that stressor to forget and push out the original stressor. Yeah. And then I guess it goes back to that thing of, do you know you're the thing? Because Norris just has a heart attack. Yeah. He's the thing at that point in time. And he just has a heart attack.
Speaker: So you clearly have a life of your own because they say he's dead. It is a bit of a mind fuck. Yeah. And then all hell breaks loose and the doctor's got his arms like pleated and then what happens to him?
Speaker: In my mind, his arms go and then he's out of the film. Yeah. I don't think they really focus on what happens next. No, because they set fire to Norris's body, but then his head stretches off. And do you know about this? This is one of the very common fun facts. I may not know this. Bubblegum. I did not know this. Was how they get the stretch of his head
Speaker: Oh. It's bubble gum. That's actually in, you know, Stranger Things. Yeah. The teacher who has the AV club, there's a scene where him and his girlfriend are watching the thing, and he's like, do you know how they do that? It's bubble gum. And she's like, ew, gross. See, that didn't stick in my head. Yeah, it's like one of those really common things that everyone's like, hey, that's how we did it. But yeah,
Speaker: So his head's stretching and then it gets to the floor and it grows legs and everyone's so preoccupied with the body. Yeah, that's what I love as well with the thing of letting the audience in on it. Yes. Is because only you as an audience know that although they've set fire to this, it's this thing, it still hasn't stopped it. It can still go and fire is not enough. Because every part of it's alive. Yeah, you as an audience know this.
Speaker: But the characters, they've all got their backs to this thing. They don't know what's going on. And you've just got that frustration and that excitement of, ooh, this isn't over. Something bigger's going to happen next. I love the shot of the thing just walking around in the background, with it in the background. The thing's just like, do, do, do, do, do. It feels so cartoony with his little legs
Speaker: If we go back to the wolf beginning with the dogs and they're all in that cage, I think it's at that point where it's just this head and these legs that just run out. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. It's like this creepy, it's like this spider, but its body is a head, essentially a deformed head with just these spider like legs just scuttling between the people. It like grows eyes off top.
Speaker: Like it has Norris' eyes, but it grows eyes on stalks out the top. And one of the guys says, you gotta be kidding me. And then they set fire to the head. And it's just this thing of like, as scary as it is, it doesn't take itself too seriously. You gotta be kidding me.
Speaker: You feel that frustration from this person. You feel how fed up they are. Geez, isn't this over yet? Yeah. And then they do the blood test. See, this is where I was going to bring in the HIV.
Speaker: Um, epidemic that was going on. This is where, yeah, this is where my first thought of the link to it came was because the only way you could test to see if you were the thing was through a blood test. Now at the time, this was the HIV epidemic. The only way at this point of time to, for you to find out if you did have HIV or not was through a blood test. Yeah.
Speaker: That is such a good... I didn't even make that connection. That's where my connection to it came in. Yeah, yeah. It's such a good scene because it just has all the tension of it. And again, it shows them using their brain. Yeah. And it's McReedy who figures that out. Yes. Essentially. Because he says he sees Norris's head and it makes him think every part of it is... A life. Yeah.
Speaker: So, okay, let's get some blood. And it has that self -preservation thing going, so if... And before... No, Jo, you continue. My thought. It'd be wrong. The self -preservation. But, um... Yeah, you just carry on. Before they do the test, he shoots the guy who looks after the dogs.
Speaker: Yeah, he kills him immediately. He's like, you must be this, you've been with the dogs, you've been with the thing, you must be infected. And the guy kind of goes to attack him, but he definitely shoots first. Oh yeah. And then they're doing the blood test and they test him. And he's human. And he's human. And child says, that makes you a murderer now. Yeah.
Speaker: But while all these blood tests are going on, it's Macreedy and someone else, I can't remember who it was, they're not tied down, but everyone else is not. Yeah, maybe. The Kirk who's on the rollerblades. Yeah. Niles, yeah. Yeah. And everyone else is, they're all tied to chairs. They're tied down. Yeah. Yeah. Um, because they, I think they do Macreedy's test first and then they do Niles.
Speaker: And then the guy who said, you gotta be kidding me. No, no, no, he hasn't been tested yet. No, Macready's last. No, no, no, Macready does himself first. Cause he says, no, no, no, not first. But he definitely says, I'm going to show to you what I already know. Stem me early on. And then they definitely do Niles cause then he gets untied and he's helping.
Speaker: And then there's the guy who was looking after the dogs. And then child says, that makes you a murderer. Which I love, child. Yeah. Hold him accountable. And then, and then they do the guy who said, you gotta be kidding me. Who's helping, who's, who's,
Speaker: untied? No. No he's still tied because somebody's tied to him. They do the conspiracy theorist guy who was smoking weed earlier who also says something about chariots of the gods who is a big -time alien theorist. I can't remember the guy who wrote chariots of the gods but he's like one of those
Speaker: it was so interesting hearing it now I've kind of gone down the rabbit hall of like conspiracy theory because like chariots of the gods is a bit of a not quite a dog whistle but it's like it's the name of this book that like this guy wrote who is a hundred percent the kind of guy who's like native people whoever did anything interesting must have been by aliens like that that whole thing of like um
Speaker: the pyramids were built by aliens. And I can't remember the name of the actual island, but Easter Island heads. Yeah. I thought it was just called Easter Island. I think that's the English. Yeah. I know there's not the original. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But that's by aliens.
Speaker: He's like the Aztec lines in the desert. Yeah. So he is a hundred percent a kind of white people are the only people who have ever done anything interesting and good. And anything that was not done by a white person must have been done by an alien.
Speaker: So it was very funny hearing like, chariots of the gods, man. I'm like, oh, honey, I don't. This is a no. No, no, no. But yeah, that guy, conspiracy theorist guy, they test his blood and it's this wonderful moment where they're doing it almost. It's a moment where they don't, they're not focusing on it.
Speaker: Because I think it's just after child - Something else is going on. They're slightly distracted. I think it's just after child says, that makes you a murderer. And then McCready says, I'm going to save your blood till last, essentially, because I know you're a thing. Yeah, he doesn't like that statement. So he's like, well, then fuck you, you must be the thing then. Because he doesn't like being called out for just killing someone. Which honey,
Speaker: own your actions. Yeah. And then they're absent mindedly doing conspiracy fairy guy test. Boom, he's a thing. Yeah. And chaos ensues. Rijks, Harvak is Rijks, but there's the he's still, once this test is going on, he's tied to one of the person and this person. All of them? No, they're only tied in a three and a two.
Speaker: No, no, no, they're all tied together, but there's one guy kind of right next to him, and then the other guys are tied to him. Yeah, but yeah, he's saying, get me out of here, get me out of here. I'm tied from him. Yeah. And that's when the guy who says, you gotta be kidding me, goes to attack the thing, gets got,
Speaker: And yeah, and we have another death, they deal with that situation, but the conspiracy theory guy, sorry, I've been misremembering the conspiracy theory guy is the guy who says, you gotta be kidding me. And this again is a situation
Speaker: where the Thing is not a hive mind. Because if he's the Thing, why is he surprised by Norris Thing descending his head and growing spider legs? He says it in such - If it is a hive mind, then they would know who the other person is, who is the Thing. Yeah, and he wouldn't be saying, oh, you've got to be kidding me. He'd be saying,
Speaker: Oh, yes. Hey, Nora's thing. I recognize that you're a thing, and this is what we do as things.
Speaker: Yeah and it was like this only one thing was taken back to the American base so it's this thing it's a group of cells they split off from each other then to infect other people and spread the thing further but they don't have that hive mind to communicate. There's a bit where the dog
Speaker: goes into someone's room earlier the dog goes into someone's room earlier and you see a silhouetted form with big curly hair most of these men have big curly hair yes so it's it's very hard to tell but i think that is when conspiracy guy gets finged yeah that's yeah i forgot about the dog so that there was another that's evil when conspiracy guy gets finged or when norris gets
Speaker: But you can tell someone, one of them gets thing to that scene. Yes. But, um, but yes. So then the rest of them get tested. Yeah. Everyone's fine. And then there's that bit where the captain says, I realize we're under stress, but if you don't mind and tie, I'd like, but I'd like to be untied or something like he basically has a shower at them.
Speaker: I'd rather spend the rest of this winter not tied in a fucking chair. Yeah. Um, and that's good. Again, it like, it has these really dark moments and then it does give it a bit of levity. Yeah. Um, and then kind of, and then they find out that the doctor has been themed all along.
Speaker: And then kind of all hell breaks loose. Sort of. Yeah. I think that's when it kind of goes totally down. A spiral. Yeah. Like they realise that the thing's trying to turn off the heating because it wants to freeze. Yeah. And they realise that the only way to destroy it is to burn it before it can freeze.
Speaker: Yeah. Cause if it freezes, it's going to be picked up. It preserves through cold, which there's a scene where they find on the way to the, or is it after this bit, where they go back to the Norwegian base, they find these films that they created and then they find that they found this alien ship. So they go to that location and it's through that, that they're like, this ship is like,
Speaker: two million years old, this ship's been here for like millions of years, and has now been uncovered through like movements and with them digging around and stuff. So it's an app. And so it they, this thing, these things have been preserved in this ice for so many years. And he notices that ice is what keeps it alive. The cold is what's keeping it alive.
Speaker: Yeah. And it's like the opposite to cold, ice, fire, heat. Yeah. We need to, we need to burn it. Yeah. So it doesn't have a chance to freeze. So it can't get back to the rest of humanity. So they kind of decide that they're going to die, but we're going to take it out with us. Yeah. We're not going down alone. Yeah. This thing is coming with us. You are joining us. Yeah.
Speaker: And so, bless them, they try that, but then immediately they all go their separate ways and they all end up dying. There's some more brilliant practical effects where the doctor runs into the captain and he does that thing where he puts his fingers into his skin. Do you know that bit, that bit? I think so, yeah. And his fingers are like underneath his skin and you can see it and he's kind of like shaking his head as he kind of transforms him.
Speaker: Child goes missing. Yeah, he goes missing for a while. For quite a while. And you're like, how are you? Where have you been? Is it suspicious? Yeah. But also the death of Windows. Yes. Windows, his character annoyed me. Yeah, not Niles. Niles is someone else. Windows is the kirk on the
Speaker: No. No, Windows just dies, I think. The thing tries to eat him head first and then spits him back out. Yes. Windows is the guy who I thought was the you gotta be kidding me guy. Yes. Yes. He goes, I think that was the thing kind of eating him and then kind of being like, I've already got my cells on him. Yeah. He's going to transform, but then they burn him at the same time that they burn conspiracy. Just to be safe. Yeah.
Speaker: But I love how the thing tried to eat him head first. Yes. I just love that. It's so primal. It's the bit where conspiracy thing guy is turning into a thing and his eyes pop out of his head and his head splits open into a mouth and then he tries to eat him. It's so delicious. It does remind me of one of the, I can't remember what they're called, but From Stranger Things.
Speaker: You know the star -faced Demogorgon, yeah. It does give you that vibe. So, I mean, Stranger Things is a love letter to 80s horror. Yes. So, yeah, yeah. That is actually such a good take, yeah. And then, yeah, then Charles goes missing, then you don't actually see a Miles die. He just kind of goes missing too. But you assume that he must die.
Speaker: And then the captain dies because the doctor gets his face. And then... McCready blows up the base. Yeah. And then that's when, at the end, it's just McCready and Charles. Charles comes back. Yes. The view of the final thing. The kind of big conglomerate. Something that I love about that is it's got so many aspects of what we've seen so far.
Speaker: It's got the dog's head. And also, the main kind of head part of it looks like it has Norris's hair. Yeah, it kind of takes different things from each of its victims. Yeah. And there's bits where I said earlier that it kind of looks like it has kind of crab legs. And I guess you do kind of get the idea that each time it merges with someone, it learns
Speaker: And so the fact that it has crab legs means like at some point this thing has come into contact with that. It's that thing of like, it's everything it merges with, it learns and has to have. It's ever -growing, ever -learning. Yeah. And then we have that brilliant ending. McCready's blown up a base. Yeah. Child's reappears.
Speaker: He sits down. Just out of the blue. He's just there again. McCrudy says, hey, you weren't missing. What happened to you? And he said, oh, I got all turned around or something like that. And they sit down and they say, oh, I guess we're just going to wait and see what happens. And they share a drink. Yeah. And earlier in the film, the doctor says,
Speaker: any small amount of cell. Yeah because it's the cell, each individual cell can, that's all it takes is just one cell. So he says we should start preparing our food ourselves. Yeah. Because if you even share a fork with someone they're spit. That's it, yeah. Yeah and the fact that they share their drink, who do you, okay what do you, what do you think of the ending? Because it's one of the most
Speaker: I don't quite... I have mixed feelings about the ending. Okay. I like it that it leaves you questioning, as in, are they both human or are they both a thing? It's one of them. Or is one of them and one of them not? But because they share this drink, they're both going to be.
Speaker: I just wasn't satisfied. Is it too open -ended for you? I don't, possibly. There was an alternative ending filmed. Okay, I did not know that. When McCready is saved and is taken back to her base and they do the test and he's negative and he tells everyone and that's the ending.
Speaker: and the thing is defeated. Is that better? I think that would give a more fuller, satisfying end, like an end -end. But I do also kind of like that it's, that the end that we see does leave you with a question or two. I like having a question at the end. I love the ending.
Speaker: I love the ending because I feel like they, it's the way that they look at each other when they share the drink. I think the first time I watched it, and I think every time I watch it, I have a different ending. And that's why I love it so much. The first time I watched it, I think I thought McCready was human, Charles was the thing.
Speaker: And then the second time I watched it, I thought, they're both human. They share the drink, they look at each other, they're both human. And then I think I watched it and I thought they're both for sick. So yeah, I think at least one of them is the thing. Who do you think? Who do you reckon? If you had to make a call, they're both standing in front of you, who are you flamethrowing?
Speaker: See, when I think about this in my head, I think, right, the thing, it's self -preserving. McCreedy blows up the bass because he doesn't know who the thing is, doesn't like to escape. Wouldn't he blow himself up with it? But then also, where's Childs? Where has he been? Why is he suddenly reappearing now? Why indeed? Who are you flamethrowing?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll probably film through them both for safety. Fair enough. Because both of those, the fact that just those two survive in a sense and it's like they have no way out of
Speaker: All the transport out is gone. There is no way they can get back to America. There's no way they can get back out of Antarctica. There's nothing for miles. All they have is ice and this coldness, which is what preserves the thing. I think... I think the more I watch it, the more I think...
Speaker: You know what? I think they're both human. I think they're both human and they both are aware that they're gonna die. And I think they both - And it's that last drink as a hurrah. They don't know if they've killed a thing and that's why they're not immediately killing themselves. We're just gonna sit and we're gonna see what happens.
Speaker: Yeah. In case the thing's still alive after all that explosive heat and stuff, because it does take more than just fire as was proved before. Yeah. So they keep themselves aligned for us like that backup plan to be like, in case it rises from the ashes, we're like, well, we're still here bitches. We're going to take you out. Yeah. The thing is with this film is whatever happens, the thing has won. Yeah.
Speaker: unless they did manage to destroy it. But we have no confirmation of that. So either they're both infected, McCready or Childs is, or neither of them are, but we haven't seen the thing die. So three of those four, the thing has won. And the fourth one, we're not sure. Yeah.
Speaker: Which if you're talking statistically wise and with probability, overall the thing is one. Yeah. The cinematographer, Dean Condi, basically revealed that they had a way of showing who was human. Okay.
Speaker: He said, this is a quote, he said, you'll notice there's always an eye light. We call it a little gleam in the eye of the actor. It gives life. Oh. So any time someone's human, there's a glint in their eyes. Well, the next time I rewatch, I will have to keep an eye out for that. McCreedy has a glint in his eyes and Childs doesn't. Oh.
Speaker: So according to Dean Cundey, child is the thing. Ooh, that reminds me. There is also, oh yeah, Mac can't be the thing because he has that breath at the end. Yes, that's another thing, yes. The thing doesn't breathe. It doesn't have that breath. Yeah, so Mac would still be human because he has that human breath at the end.
Speaker: But Charles doesn't. So there's also a video game. Okay, I did not know that. Yeah. Basically in this in the in the video game, it's like a first person shooter type game, you find the base and you find the body of Charles and he's just dead. So the video game says confirmation Charles was not a thing. Okay.
Speaker: and you don't see McCready's body. Oh, so McCready was a thing. And then, Outpost is completely destroyed. You encounter a helicopter. As the helicopter flies away, the pilot turns out to be McCready. But you don't know if he's a thing or not.
Speaker: So according to the video game... It's like that game is trying to play out different ending scenarios. Yeah. Yeah. So according to the video game, McCready's a thing, but also you don't ever get confirmation that he is a thing. So maybe McCready just survived. Yeah. But how? If it's ice. If Childs die from the ice, how is McCready just chilling? So...
Speaker: The way I see it, the film kind of gives the ending that McCready is a human. The video game kind of gives the ending that McCready is the thing. And I kind of like the complete unknown of it. Yeah, the mystery. Yeah, I love it. It's up to the audience's interpretation. Yeah, I think I would probably say that this is my favourite horror movie.
Speaker: It's not my favourite movie that is a horror film. That is still to come at some point, whenever that may be. But if someone were to say what's your favourite horror movie, I'd probably say the thing. Yeah, this is one of my higher up on my list. It's just so...
Speaker: It's everything that I think I want in a horror film. Yeah. Other, I'm just trying to look at my notes and see what else I have to say. Did you know that it was a flop? I did not know that it was a flop. When it first came out, absolutely flopped at the box office. Oh wow. Yeah. That is surprising. Especially as how it is such a classic to this day. Yeah.
Speaker: But it's such a downer because of that ending. Yeah. Like the thing, and it came out the same year ET came out, I think. Yeah. ET was that summer as well. They both came out during the summer. Yeah. And so you have this like fun, common of age alien film. And then you have this alien film with like rugged men.
Speaker: being sad and paranoid. But yeah, there was a renaissance essentially of alien films that summer. A lot of alien sci -fi came out, not just that summer that year, but a lot of them were in the summer. You also, Kurt Russell,
Speaker: Yeah. Who is the partner of Goldie Horn. Yes. Which is very fitting. Hey, connections, connections. Yeah. So he very nearly wasn't going to be, but he's friends with John Carpenter. So John Carpenter was essentially just kept being like, who do you think would be good for this? And Kurt Russell was like, I don't know, maybe this guy. I don't know, maybe this guy.
Speaker: And after ages, they were literally about to start filming. They didn't have a McCready. And John's like, hey man, do you want to be? And he's like, yes. So those connections, connections, man. That's what you need. But yeah, I, um, I also found out some things about Kurt Russell that I wish I hadn't he's like super Republican. Um,
Speaker: Yeah, like John Carpenter's like super liberal and Kurt Russell's his super Republican friend. It's like, cool anyway. Um, yeah, the other thing, John Carpenter basically has a quote that, um,
Speaker: Back to flopping at the box office. I'll go to the second point in half a second. He had so many films in the works. He did the thing and it flopped. And so many of those projects got canceled because it flopped. And lots of people say he could have been a Spielberg.
Speaker: So if it didn't flop, what else would there have been? Yeah. Yeah. There's a parallel universe where we have John Carpenter instead of Spielberg and who knows what that world is. Oh, who knows? Who can say? Yeah, who can say? John Carpenter has a quote, but there are essentially two types of campfire tales to tell.
Speaker: There's stories where the evil is out there. And there's stories where the evil is within the camp. Yeah. And this is definitely the evil is within the camp. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. A hundred. Yeah. Yeah. And it is just that thing. But it's that thing where it's a story where the evil is within the camp. But it's also it's an alien film.
Speaker: That's the most outside you can get. Yeah. It's a kind of a cross that you've not really seen before. Yeah. Yeah. So it's based on the short story who goes there. Um, I cannot remember the name of the author, but it was made into a film in the fifties. Oh, okay. And
Speaker: The film is very, The Alien is essentially a Frankenstein. It's a big tall man in a suit who is stumbling after people. There's also a woman that they write in to the plot. And it's, it's, it's, she's an interesting character. But when John Carpenter said he was going to do this, he said, I'm not going to have a man in a suit.
Speaker: They do not want a man in the suit. And the film is very much more paranoia based. Oh yeah, heavenly. Who goes there? So a lot of people think about the spaceship at the beginning and the block of ice and the font of the thing are all the nods to the fifties. It's a thing from another world. It's the name of the fifties film.
Speaker: So it has that kind of... The pay and homage to it. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, so yeah, I think that's, um, all the context I have for the thing. But, um... So like the central theme was fear, paranoia and mistrust and the erosion and decay of
Speaker: this huge trust you would have to have in such a small tiny community that's isolated. And there's just this one thing that's unknown and can just strip that trust down almost instantly. Yes. What I also like about the film is you kind of, again, it's the idea that you're coming into a film that's already half made. They already have their enemies
Speaker: Yeah, there's characters. Bless you. Bless me. You already get the sense that there were some characters who were annoyed at each other. Yeah, you get characters who, especially with windows. I think they... Yes. Everyone's just gets annoyed by him. There's the chef who they don't quite take seriously. Niles, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, Niles, they kind of like dismiss him, but I think that's also part we see. He listens to Stevie Wonder, so I'm involved with him. Oh yeah. But I think as well with the dismissal of Niles is because he is the chef, he's not one of the scientists. Yeah. So they're like, you are inferior. And I also feel like he seems younger. Yeah. He does seem...
Speaker: yeah because he seems more like in his 20s or as everyone else is like 30s up or 40s up if that makes sense yeah yeah that's like the impression you get so it's that huge age gap as well so they're just seeing him as this child yeah rollerbladed listening to cv wonder i do like the fact that this song is superstitious yes very fitting and i loved how he was rollerblading as well oh he rollerbladed everywhere what a man
Speaker: That's probably, you know, you could tell if he was the thing, because he probably stopped rollerblading with a rewatch and wait until the rollerblades come off. That's when he's no longer known. Were there any other themes? I did have this note on toxic masculinity. Ooh, we love a little, we love it. No, we don't actually love toxic masculinity. But we love talking about it. Yes.
Speaker: And it's, it's displayed slightly throughout the film with these men immediately thinking that they have to deal with a situation in such a powerful way. It's like it's immediately, like bombs immediately flamethrowers. And they don't try to stop and think, well, this isn't working. What else would work?
Speaker: sit down, have a little chit chat. Yeah. They're boys who enjoy these big toys. Yes. They also immediately think that they're in the right. Yeah. They're not getting other people's point of views. They're sitting down. You know, they're not sitting down. They get angry when they get called out. I'm going to shoot this guy. Shoot first, ask questions later. Yes.
Speaker: And that's another reason why I think John Carpenter was so set on the idea of not adding a woman. Because obviously the 50s version does. And that would just change the dynamic. Yeah. Because if there's a woman there, that whole idea of like, okay, let's protect the woman and it gives everybody like a shared goal kind of thing. Whereas because there's just the men,
Speaker: you kind of have that whole no man is an island type idea. There's that thing that men are much more prone to isolate themselves, whereas women are much more social. And is that natural or is that how we've conditioned ourselves? Probably the latter. Yeah, it's like women go to the bathrooms in groups, typically, and men just go on their own.
Speaker: See, that's why, okay, so if we're in this situation, let's say it's woman -based at the Arctic, no one's getting a thing because we all always pair up, no one's alone. No one's pissing alone and turning into a thing. Yeah, these men, whenever they get like in a half or something, they go off, they go on their own, and it's at that point that they get the thing. Yeah, that's fine then.
Speaker: I just I wanted to know that we'd be right in this situation. And we would be fine because we'd be pissing together all the time. Yeah. As we've done many times before. And you know what? Next time. I feel like this doesn't happen as much. But you know, when you were younger and like it was like a thing where people always like
Speaker: Why do all girls always go off to the toilet together? Because there's safety in numbers. Because sometimes there's an alien presence that was unearthed by Norwegians and thawed out. And it might take over my brain, slash become me, slash kill me. We're still not sure. But if there's somebody else with me, that won't happen. It won't happen. And that's why I piss with a friend.
Speaker: Excellent. What will we be watching next time? Next time the film chosen is The Duel. It's 2022. I watched it on a plane and loved it. And yeah, I want to share it.
Speaker: I'm glad you're excited. Yeah, I haven't seen this one. Like I actually actually haven't seen this one. So I am excited. OK. Thank you for listening to this week's episode talking about the thing. Please feel free to check us out at a underscore horror underscore shared on Instagram. And also we have an email. We have an email.
Speaker: We have a Gmail. I really want to start hearing what you guys think of these films. So feel free to... Do you have any thoughts of us? Yeah. Were you listening to this whole episode going, no, this film is actually about just how cold it is and it has nothing to do with masculinity at all.
Speaker: So feel free to email us with your points of view if you would rather that. You can send us a DM on Instagram. You can email it to us. You can get in touch in whatever way you see fit. The email is a horror shared at gmail .com. So that's all very easy to remember. So yes, next episode.
Speaker: Mog will be talking about the duel. And until next time, keep it suspicious. Oh, I was wondering what he was and as. I was wondering. Keep it practical. Keep it suspicious. That sounds very good.
