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The Thing (1982) Review | John Carpenter’s Sci-Fi Body Horror Classic | Half Hour of Horror Podcast
213 Plays2 months ago
The frights you forgot — revisited in half an hour.
In this episode of Half Hour of Horror, the horror film podcast from Love Horror, we revisit The Thing (1982), John Carpenter’s legendary sci-fi horror classic set in the frozen isolation of Antarctica.
Starring Kurt Russell as helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady, The Thing follows a team of American researchers who encounter an alien organism capable of perfectly imitating any living host. As paranoia spreads through the remote outpost, trust quickly dissolves. Anyone could be the creature, and no one can be certain who is still human.
Although The Thing (1982) was initially overlooked on release, it has since become one of the most influential 1980s horror movies, widely praised for its intense atmosphere, Rob Bottin’s groundbreaking practical effects and its unforgettable creature design. Today it is regarded as one of the greatest examples of sci-fi horror and body horror cinema.
In this horror podcast episode you’ll get:
• A spoiler-filled synopsis of The Thing (1982)
• Our honest horror movie review and discussion
• Behind-the-scenes trivia about John Carpenter’s production and Rob Bottin’s iconic practical effects
• Discussion of the film’s themes of paranoia, isolation and identity
• Our final verdict and horror rating out of 5
If you enjoy horror podcasts, creature features and classic sci-fi horror movies, this episode explores why The Thing remains one of the most celebrated films in horror history.
Half Hour of Horror is a horror movie podcast presented by Love Horror, the UK’s home for horror reviews, interviews and features.
Subscribe now for new horror podcast episodes revisiting classic horror films, cult favourites and forgotten genre gems.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Half Hour of Horror'
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello everyone and welcome to Half Hour of Horror with Love Horror. This is a podcast that looks back at the films that we missed or didn't review the first time around. And sometimes that's for a good reason and sometimes I'm not really sure how we missed it.
Banter and Introductions
00:00:29
Speaker
ah My name is Tom Atkinson and I'm joined today by my good friend and colleague, Alex Humphrey. Yes, sir. I thought you were going to say mine. Yes. Yes. And I am your good friend and colleague. Yes, that's what I am. I am that. And
Missed Film Reviews and Ambivalence
00:00:45
Speaker
you're right. This is a film.
00:00:47
Speaker
Why did we miss? I don't know why we missed this film. This is this is a film that did not. This is not deliberate that we missed this film. I don't know why we missed this film. We're fools, but I'm glad we get I always thought. Was it not because you hate it so much? It's not one those films you really don't like. Is that the reason why you didn't want it? Well, I've actually talked about this film on two podcasts.
00:01:06
Speaker
ah My other podcast, Science Fiction Rating System, I've talked about this film twice on those podcasts. So this will be the third time I've talked about this film. So I don't know. Do I hate it so much I like talking about how much I hate it? Or do I love it so much I like talking about how much I love it? Well, who knows? You'll find out.
00:01:24
Speaker
This is going to great test to see if talking about it three times is too much to talk about any film. Like if you just dry up on partway through, like we'll totally forgive you for that. god I can't talk about this anymore.
00:01:37
Speaker
You know the bit, you know that bit where this happens. Oh, everyone knows. Come on, come on now. What
Focus on John Carpenter's 'The Thing'
00:01:44
Speaker
film is it? What film is it we're talking about? So today we're talking about a film that's had a very checkered history.
00:01:51
Speaker
The Thing, the John Carpenter version from 1982. So I'll do a little intro and then we can go into our other bits and pieces before the full timer sets off.
00:02:03
Speaker
go So in this episode, we're traveling to Antarctica as we talk about the thing, John Carpenter's reimagining of an earlier book written by John W. Campbell called Who Goes There? Now, this sci-fi horror classic is one of those films that now feels completely untouchable in its reputation.
00:02:27
Speaker
But it's not always been that way. In fact, when it was released, it was famously mauled by critics. And when I say mauled, I mean mauled. ah Robert Ebert, one of the sort of best known critics in the world, called it a bath bag of a movie. It was dismissed as instant junk and grotesque. junk.
00:02:47
Speaker
And it was quickly written off in the box office in the shadow of more optimistic, crowd-pleasing films that were in the cinema at the time.
'The Thing's' Legacy and Special Effects
00:02:56
Speaker
Now, one film in particular was E.T. So it went up against E.T. in the box office. So people have attributed that to... I mean, that's mad. Exactly. It'd be pretty funny if you were like, I really liked E.T. Oh, look, there's another sci-fi film coming out. Oh, should we go see that? going to be about same sort thing. Yeah, it'll probably be about the same. Yeah, let's go that. You'd get bit of a shock, wouldn't you?
00:03:16
Speaker
god you So, um as I said, it's ah based on John Campbell's original novella, but actually ah there was another film ah made before that, 1951, by Chris Nyby, and that was called ah The Thing from the Other World.
00:03:33
Speaker
yeah um But in the early 80s, producers from Universal Studios decided they wanted to do another version that stuck more closely to the book. Fast forward a few decades and the story could now not be more different. The things come become like a cornerstone of horror and sci-fi cinema.
00:03:50
Speaker
um It's endlessly sort of cited by yeah people like us for having things like suffocating atmosphere, you know, nerve shredding tension. And also, of course, the unforgettably amazing, brilliant special effects by ah rob Bottin, the SFX genius behind this film. All physical stuff, obviously. Although there are one or two odd little bits of um CGI I noticed this time watching. um It's also one of the defining collaborations between John Carpenter and Kurt Russell as well. So that's a long sort of standing partnership they've had for many years. And now in 2026, and so this is a very long intro, isn't it? I'm not as succinct with all this as you, Al. In 2026, the film's legacy...
00:04:39
Speaker
has now been officially cemented. The thing has been added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, and it's been recognised as a work that is culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
00:04:53
Speaker
All of them. Which is a pretty remarkable turnaround, really, isn't it? Yeah, it is. From being completely ripped to shreds and people hating it and... You know, yeah, that you leeah you're right. Absolute flop when it came out.
00:05:04
Speaker
Audiences hated it. Reviewers hated it. Everyone hated it,
Cultural Impact and Personal Tributes
00:05:07
Speaker
didn't they? It kind of ruined John Carpenter's career at the time. He was set to do big things and it all got derailed by this film. It's just mad to think that. i can't It's insane. It is mad, isn't it? And I'm not, so you know, people listening to this will be like, oh yeah, but it's easy to say that. But I'm pretty convinced that if I saw this back then, i mean, how what year was it? was 82. I mean, I couldn't have. I would have been um Four? No, yeah. quite four Couldn't have watched it at four. But if I had seen it at an age that you could watch this film, um i I'm sure I would have liked it. There's no way I wouldn't have liked it. and i think the same for you. And I don't i just don't get...
00:05:46
Speaker
it must have been yeah it's just kind of mainstream i guess it's that that these days a cult audience and a horror audience has a lot more power than they used to do you know things like terrify which feels like you know like so out there can be a smash hit because there's such a great horror audience out there one like great people great community back then horror wasn't really didn't have that community it was kind of you know people in their basements or in the back of the video shop and being like, oh, have you got that? Have you got like that? It wasn't really seen as being as acceptable or mainstream. so But yeah, it's unbelievable that people hated on this.
00:06:23
Speaker
It's masterpiece. Yeah, it's weird actually. saying it already. Yeah, there wasn't... It's funny. It's funny. It's almost like horror didn't used to have connoisseurs and a a fandom. What had was more like thrill seekers. yeah So it's people that were daring each other. You've got the guts to watch this. yeah also like yeah It was also a good excuse to take someone you fancy to the cinema and hope they'd get a bit scared and snuggle up a bit closer to you. So yeah, it's a very different mindset, isn't it?
00:06:50
Speaker
Genre films just like like this one weren't respected. They weren't thought of as... worthy and it's i still i still think there's a stigma to horror films regardless of people being like oh we're in a renaissance i still think that there's horror isn't really widely accepted not really not it's always like oh this is a horror you should watch if you don't like horrors or oh this is a this horror is different to all the other horrors and it's not just like you know it's not yeah but yeah masterpiece and we're saying it already i love this film gonna say it straight away no hiding yeah spoiler One spoiler that's not a spoiler for the film, but one sort of, guess, being open at the beginning of this is this is a film we both do love. And I think lots of people will join us in that. So get ready for a lot of the thing butt kissing and John Carpenter butt kissing, no doubt, on the
Review Structure and Plot Overview of 'The Thing'
00:07:41
Speaker
way through. So in true half hour of horror fashion now, we have our tributes, don't we? Yes, we do. Where we give a tribute or two to the film.
00:07:52
Speaker
do have two, actually. To mark the occasion. I thought you might have two. Let me do mine first because, as usual, I don't have confidence in mine and I feel like yours are going be worth the wait. um i i I was trying to get something specific for this. i really gutted. I couldn't get It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be to get it. But in the thing, MacReady drinks this particular brand of whiskey.
00:08:18
Speaker
J&B. I really... And I wanted to get a bottle at least, you know, just to have... I wasn't necessarily going to drink it because I didn't want get in trouble or something. But just to have the bottle.
00:08:28
Speaker
That'd be good. So i sadly, couldn't get a hold of it in time. But sorry I'm wearing... Tribute number one is this yeah rather fetching woolly hat, which is going to help us to speed through the half hour as well because I will be slowly melting because I'm wearing a parka as well. was going to say, you wearing the arctic you're wearing a full-on coat as well. Yeah.
00:08:47
Speaker
So if we overrun by more than half an hour, I am going to be sweating. I might pass out. Don't need a timer. You'll just be fun melting. But if I get hungry, i also have this really handy the Arctic Explorers pack of dinner. It's basically a horrible meal that you can just stick in a pan and heat That's pretty decent. Come on now. That's a shelf fly good one.
00:09:12
Speaker
It's got a shelf life of about 12 years, I think. So, um great. That's pretty good. Come on. don't Don't put yourself down. That's a good one. I haven't tasted it yet. Let's let's see what it tastes like. then Well, I've got two. My first one I'm wearing, which is my Outpost 31 sweatshirt. Oh, Outpost 31. Which is a sweatshirt from the last ex last exit to nowhere. So, yeah, I'm wearing that. Now, my second one, i stumbled upon this.
00:09:41
Speaker
So again, much like my dream, ah if people have been watching our podcast, listening to it, actually you'd have to been watching. Do you remember my misery frame? I kind of stumbled upon that and that's that was a pretty good one. I also stumbled upon this. I didn't know this existed. It's pretty cool.
00:09:57
Speaker
Are you ready to see it? Here we go. It is. It's a thing. it's a USB light. I know. How cool is this? I know. I just stumbled upon it. found it in a charity shop. How cool is that? What the hell? Yeah, I know. What the hell?
Alien's Menace and Tension
00:10:11
Speaker
What I'm going to do. Dare I ask, can you remember how much it cost?
00:10:15
Speaker
Oh, it wasn't. No, it wasn't much. No, it was like four pounds, I think, or like that. Damn it. You find the best stuff in charity I It's not going to look great, but just line that up. Yeah. No, it's got to be in the background. Does that look in the background there?
00:10:29
Speaker
That looks so cool. Okay, good. Under my nice new picture. You've got some nice artwork up as well. It's not the thing, and but it's the you know it is a thing. I'm going have to do a lot better in the next episode. I'm going to have to like, I don't know. I'm going to have to. I think I've done all my big ones. I'm not going to give I've shot all my big guns, as it were, in the last few episodes. It's going to get pretty rubbish after this bit. going to really be dialing it in after this. No, you can relax. It's my turn to up my game. Damn it. So, in terms of this film. Are we going to start the timer? Before we go, can you remember the first time you watched it?
00:11:07
Speaker
Did you love it straight away? i did love it. I was shocked by it. i The first time I watched it, I think I was extremely shocked by the effects, by how out there it is. um i mean, you know, going to getting into it without getting into it, it is a very extreme kind of body horror.
00:11:24
Speaker
And I do is I can't say that I'm it's scary. I think the first time I saw it, I was scared of it because it's just so disgusting and out there. It definitely made me jump.
00:11:36
Speaker
I don't find it scary anymore because I've seen it a lot of times. But I think the ideas in it are scary. And the the it just goes to some really weird places. And I do remember the first time I saw it, I was pretty, pretty shocked by it.
00:11:48
Speaker
um But I don't remember when that first time was. Quite what a long time ago. I think it was an early one I saw, definitely. Definitely. Yeah, I mean, i I think I saw this a little bit later. So it would have been the 90s. This wasn't like one of the sort of earlier horror films I watched. And I think it's probably a good job because I think it was probably too extreme for me when I was really young. Like a lot the stuff I saw when I was really small was...
00:12:12
Speaker
the sort of tamer stuff but this this is full on isn't it in terms of gore and stuff and um but I remember it being one those films that once I saw it once I then um my god is it in there ignore me ignore me so it's all falling apart it's come alive yeah I just remember it being one of those films that once once I saw it once I then sort of got a bit obsessed by it and then watched eye it and tape and I was watching it over and over and over again hell yeah so I don't know many times I've watched it a lot of times Yeah.
00:12:43
Speaker
Hell yeah. But anyway. Great film. Let's kick off the timer. going to start the timer. But what' how will we know when the time runs out, Al? I don't know. is it a dog barking? There'll be a noise.
00:12:56
Speaker
There'll be a noise. And this is the noise you're going to hear. When you find the time, <unk> rather not spend the rest of this winter tied to this fucking couch!
00:13:09
Speaker
That is probably favourite line. That is my favourite Will we have to bleep that out? other I think it's everyone's favourite line from this film. Surely. It's a great line. It's very loud as well this time. It's great. I like it. That will definitely stop us if if i when we get hit the 30 mark. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Anyway, I'm going to start the timer now and then you can you can kick off with a synopsis. When Gary yells at us, we'll know it's time to stop. So, okay. Right. Yeah. As soon as Gary shouts...
00:13:35
Speaker
Ready. Okay. So, opening some time in space where we see a mysterious flying saucer pass the Earth and disappear. We then move to 1982 in the Antarctica where a team of 12 men man the American's research base Outpost 31, all performing different roles...
00:13:53
Speaker
And I'm going to tell you all their roles, which is I've never, um so segue, I've never known what all their jobs were, but someone on the internet, well done them, has got put all their jobs down. So if you ever wanted to know what everyone's job was, I'm about to get everyone's job. So you've got the doctor, Cooper, the microbiologist, Blair, and his assistant, Fuchs, the dog handler, Clark. I think most people knew that one. Radio operator Windows, meteorologist Bennings, Cook Knowles, geophysicist Norrist, station manager Gary, who's going to yell at us, mechanics Charles and Palmer, and the he helicopter pilot McCready played...
00:14:32
Speaker
amazingly by kurt russell uh so as the bitter and in his spot in his inhospitable that was the word winter is about to start the team are surprised for the arrival of a dog being frantically chased and shot at by some norwegian researchers from another facility taking the dog in they conclude the norwegians must have gone mad from the isolation and harsh conditions but decide to investigate the outpost they came from just in case Finding it ravaged by violence and the rest of the foreign team dead, the most disturbing discovery of all comes when they find a corpse in the snow, mutated and mangled and barely human.
00:15:07
Speaker
From here, things go from strange to insane as the team slowly realise they've come in contact with an extraterrestrial life form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms.
00:15:18
Speaker
Unsure is who is human and who they can trust, can the crew kill this thing before they kill each other? There you go. That's my synopsis. Had some spoilers in it, but sorry.
00:15:30
Speaker
ah Yeah. this ah As we always say, though, this that there will be spoilers in this podcast. so yeah it's best that you either have watched the film or you listen along while you're watching it or something crazy like that.
00:15:42
Speaker
It's true. It's true. It's fine. It's 1982. I think a lot a lot of people but should at least know enough about this film if if they haven't seen it. okay Fair enough.
00:15:53
Speaker
So should we jump straight in? I love the opening of this film. Let's in, It's a brilliant opening. It's a brilliant opening as the dog's getting chased and a helicopter and the Norwegians shooting at it. I love this opening.
00:16:05
Speaker
Credit, massive credit to this dog. This dog is an amazing actor. I'm sure there's more than one dog, yeah but the dog is so good. The dog is freaky. It's not like a real dog, is it? It's like a part human dog.
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. and is it's It's obviously to do with how it's shot as well and how Carpenter kind of like lingers on the dog when it's in the base and it kind of just sitting there and how is. But it's also...
00:16:33
Speaker
The performance of the dog is amazing. So it is great. I do. I do love. Apparently the dog is part, it's part Husky, but part Wolf. So it was actually a different, it was that the the other dogs there were a different breed and apparently that mix, the Wolf aspect of it made it extra.
Themes of Paranoia and Trust
00:16:52
Speaker
it just basically didn't act like a normal dog. So a lot of that weird behavior that it has, I mean, I'm not a dog owner, so I don't know im a massive amount about dogs, but there's one particular scene where the dog walks into the kennel with the other dogs and it looks like it's a human and it just sort goes in, sits down and then just stares. Yeah.
00:17:11
Speaker
And that sort of behavior apparently is the sort of thing these kind of wolf mix dogs do. So, ah but it was quite challenging to work with because that wolf mix apparently is quite a sort of bit of a edgy sort of dodgy dog anyway.
00:17:26
Speaker
so she doke A brilliant dodgy dog. Well done to him. I do. Yeah. I love how the film kind of just, you just get thrown straight into it. You know, you, you do see, you do see a bit of the people in the base and like McCready plan computer chess and pouring his JB into the computer when it, when it, when it beats him and stuff like that. You see a bit of them, but you are kind of just kind of thrown into it. You don't really know everyone's jobs. You don't really know why they're there, what they're researching.
00:17:51
Speaker
ah you don't know, like you say, you don't really know why these Norwegians are chasing this thing. Although, you do I'm sure you know this fact, if you can speak Norwegian, there's a massive spoiler at the beginning of this film.
00:18:03
Speaker
So do you do you know what the Norwegian pilot says? It's something about it's not a dog or something. He 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. So anyone who's Norwegian who watched this was like, oh, oh okay. Well, it's kind of spoilers. spoil that Spoilers from the first last minute of the film, basically.
00:18:26
Speaker
But how unfortunate, what different film it would be if that Norwegian guy could just speak English and he just shouted in English. but How this film would have panned out if that had just happened. it would have been so different, wouldn't it?
00:18:37
Speaker
No, they just think they've gone mad and they kind of, they well, Gary shoots one of them. They blow up their own helicopter, don't they? It's all a bit it's all a bit of a mess. but Gary's a good shot, isn't he? Doesn't he get him right through the eye from like a really long distance away? Yeah, does.
00:18:51
Speaker
Yeah, he does. Yeah. But and what do you think about the music at the beginning? that sort of I like the music. It's one of it's um it's not scored by Carpenter, is it? It's Ennio Morricone. It is, I think it was because Carpenter, it's too much for him to do the the music as well.
00:19:08
Speaker
But I think considering it isn't a Carpenter score, it's a very good score and it does have those elements of Carpenter in them. And that is kind of, yeah, that theme is, yeah, that that's the best bit. That theme is the best bit. um Normally with Carpenter films, there's a bit of music where you lots of bits of music you remember. But with this, I think that's the best bit. I think it does a good job. Yeah.
00:19:28
Speaker
It's funny you should say that because I really thought I thought i assumed it was Carpenter. And then when I read up about it, it was saying about Morricone being the guy behind it. And then that made and then basically Carpenter had wanted to get him involved because he liked all the European films like the giallo and stuff that yeah that he'd been working on. And he was trying to bring a bit of that into it. But then in the end, he ended up playing him like Escape from New York um as inspiration because I think Morricone wasn't quite giving him what he wanted.
00:20:01
Speaker
and so in a weird way, Carpenter pretty much basically said, make it sound like mine in a roundabout way. mean, he's not wrong. Carpenter scores are always amazing. So like, you know.
00:20:14
Speaker
It's just a bit weird to get someone else who's got a different sound to do the music for you and then go, oh, can you just make it sound like my stuff? Cheers. But um it works. Yeah, it works. Carpenter gets to do that, I reckon. I reckon you're allowed to do that if you're if you're if you're John Carpenter. You can say that. He's in charge.
00:20:31
Speaker
He's the boss. But the the the films, I like this film so much because it just it just keeps going. It's like, it's the pacing of this film is brilliant. So like straight away, they're just like, right, what happened with the Norwegians? That's a bit weird. That's ah odd.
00:20:43
Speaker
Well, like, okay, well, should we just go and go to their base? see we See what's going on with them? So, you know, I think other films would have had about half an hour. They'd probably had for half an hour where nothing happened, where you just introduced the characters. You've got a bit of like, oh, life on the base. Like,
00:21:00
Speaker
Other people would have made this film differently and they'd been boring as hell until something happened. But this is just not what happens in this. It's just straight in. You know you just you just get going, which is great. um And I really like when they go to the... um So, yeah, MacReady goes off with... um is it but It's him and Blair, isn't it, that go to the other other base, I think?
00:21:21
Speaker
Yeah. they go off to, the yeah, so they go to the other base. And, like, i really like how that that base is all destroyed, isn't it? And it's kind of the aftermath of, well, I get to, well, I mean, have you seen the prequel?
00:21:37
Speaker
I've not watched it, no. ah so the pre that So that's all about the Norwegian camp, is it? Yes. The prequel basically is it treats that scene as almost like a crime like a crime scene. And it basically is how it got to that.
00:21:53
Speaker
So it's the characters and how they got to what happened with that. So it's actually, I mean, I quite like the... prequel lot people didn't but i quite liked it so but yeah like i you know there's the axe in the door and then there's the guy with like the where he's cut his wrist and it's frozen like it's there's so many yeah that bit's crazy yeah you just don't really know what's happened it does kind of look like they've gone mad doesn't it like and again i think another film would have just left it like that where you don't really know but then you also get this huge bit of ice that's there don't you that they've they've taken and then you get that that corpse that's something missing out of it
00:22:29
Speaker
Yeah. And then you get the corpse they find, which is just like, oh yeah oh, it's just, that's the first, this is the first of the kind of out there effects. And it's kind of got these like two faces. Like yeah it's just absolutely horrible. And again, it's really, well, it's just so well filmed as well, isn't it? Because you don't see much of it. You just see enough to know that it's something like unearthly, like it, and because it is, it's more horrible because it kind of is human, but not.
00:22:59
Speaker
Like, I think that's the power of this film. It's these kind of, it's this uncanny valley thing of like, it's nearly there,
Key Scenes and Iconic Moments
00:23:06
Speaker
but not. And that makes it so much kind of worse and so much more disturbing.
00:23:11
Speaker
So, yeah. So, yeah. Just on that, actually, i was just thinking about like, McCready, right? He's like, literally the coolest mofo in the world, right? Because... That whole first scene where the Norwegians are shooting, um Norwegians getting shot, there's dog running around. He's just standing there with his bottle of whiskey.
00:23:30
Speaker
he He doesn't drop the bottle of whiskey. By the end of the scene, he's still got the whiskey in his hand. He's just sitting there drinking, standing there watching, drinking whiskey. Yeah, that's true. And even when they go to this camp and then they find all that horrible stuff, he's not all like, oh, God.
00:23:44
Speaker
He's just like, know wow, look at that. i think it He's just like, nothing phases him at all. No, I think it's, I mean, in that great guide I found about all the characters, it seemed to say a lot of them were supposed to be Vietnam vets.
00:23:55
Speaker
So they've seen some ah they've seen some shit. But also I think the type of person who wants to work in the Antarctic You've got to be a very specific type of person. I'm sorry if I'm offending any Antarctic or Arctic researchers out there, but i think you need to be a certain type of person to want to work in an isolated, you know, all male, like maybe they're not all male anymore, but like that kind of it's a weird world. You need to be trying to get away from things maybe.
00:24:22
Speaker
And again, the power of this film is it doesn't go into their backstories. It doesn't really give you much on some of the characters. Some of the characters you barely even, like I some of them, you don't even know what their jobs are. You know, they're kind of there and gone. And I think that's definitely ragtag bunch of scientists, aren't they? Even though, as you've explained, they're all scientists. but No, no, no. I think it's better that you don't get too much character stuff because...
00:24:45
Speaker
the why one of the reasons why this film is so good is it's really about human nature and about trust and about how how And kind of chaos and how there's not much holding society together.
00:25:01
Speaker
These people's relationships, there is not much holding it together. And it just takes, okay, ah an immensely mucked up thing, but it just takes this one thing and everything just is falls apart and they go absolutely mad. It's kind of like Lord of the Flies, isn't it? Yeah.
00:25:16
Speaker
I think if you went too much into the characters, you don't need to go into the characters because what happens to them is a very human thing. It's what all of us would experience, like man, woman, whatever race, like, you know, anything. you would all This would happen to you because you would just be so mucked up by what is happening to them and you would just start to distrust everyone and go crazy and and all that. and Totally. That's why it works. You don't need massive backstories and flashbacks and all that because...
00:25:44
Speaker
what they go through is is understandable to everyone. And that's the one of the biggest... You've hit the nail on the head then. Yeah, that is the most important thing about this film. And it's actually, it might not be just this film that's responsible for this, but this is the core element in so many different sub-genres of horror now and so many successful films, particularly like zombie movies, where yeah you think it's zombies that everyone should be afraid of, but at the end of it, it's humans, yeah how they turn on each other.
00:26:14
Speaker
that's the problem and this is a really good early example of that done well isn't it and also you need but but why horror is such a great genre is you can take something as crazy and as mad as this idea and throw it at throw it at this very human drama and you know you can watch the thing and just enjoy it for the gore and the spectacle and be scared or yeah you can just go right in and see it as basically just this immensely brilliant drama about humanity and about and about paranoia and about how we interact as people and that and that's like it works so well because of that you kind of you know the the thing is a metaphor or like but it but it but it's also not it's also this disgusting horrible monster that pretends to be them and just completely mucks up mucks up their heads because they just don't know what's going on um
00:27:06
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it talkative i mean the the the dog, that bit you said when the dog goes in and then its its head opens. It's just horrible. It's so horrible. like it's And I think it still looks good. I think the effects still look good today. Definitely. like I think that's actually one of the first bits that really distressed me in that film, like from my earliest memory of it, is that scene. Because it's the when it all splits out, it's horrible. Yeah.
00:27:31
Speaker
It's also the bit where in trying to shoot it or or actually, no one of the other dogs gets caught by it. So they shoot the dog to like put it out of its misery. And then that's when Clark flips because he's like protective of the dogs. But like that whole scene is really stressful. Yeah. The other dogs panicking and like trying to bite their way out of the fence and they're like covered in liquid. yeah It's got these tentacles around them. It's it's just just horrible. Like it really It's horrendous. Like I say, I'm not scared of this film, but it's still difficult to watch. Even though I love it, it's still hard to watch. and The fact that I'm still affected by it all these years, you know, and all these viewings, I think that's pretty impressive.
00:28:14
Speaker
You know, that you can still pull that, you know, that is... It's weirdly like like you're saying, although there might not be the most character development in there, but all the characters are easily believable. They're very much believable, relatable. It's very much the way people would act in that situation. And like you've said, even the dogs, like, yeah you know, and there's not one bit about the film that feels melodramatic or hammy. It's all really like gritty and real.
00:28:40
Speaker
Yeah, and it runs at this great speed that while the characters are making their decisions, the audience, it's running, it's one one of the things I, you know, to me a great film runs at the same speed as the audience. So while the audience is running at the speed going, what the hell's going on?
00:28:56
Speaker
the characters are running at that speed as well. So as you say, the, you know, the dog, is you know, you see the dog and you're like, ah, Sang is up with that dog. And they're all a bit like, hmm, that's a bit weird, that dog, you know? And then, you know, and then that happens and they're all like, right, what the hell is happening? Right, we need to get these bodies, right? What is happening with these bodies? And then I think from then,
00:29:16
Speaker
I don't know, is it from then that he, that Blair then, well, they do these, these the you know, they do autopsies on the on the on the aliens, don't they? And they kind of discover that it's, When they get inside it, it's it's that it's it's kind of, it takes things in, doesn't it? And then it tri and it replicates them. So inside, like, yeah the dog was like other dogs or whatever. Like, it yeah this it's all just gross. but um And then he's got that kind of, Blair's got that kind of computer program, very old school 80s computer program. love that ritual. Shows about the, yeah, about the the organisms and how,
00:29:50
Speaker
It basically says, doesn't it, that the whole world will be completely taken over if he doesn't. Like 27,000 hours or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's, it's like, yeah, it's it's like, it's hardly any time at all. And then the the whole of the, the whole of the world will be just like taken over by this thing. And they also, yeah. And they also quite quickly go back to the Norwegian base. They find, oh yeah, they've got the videos, don't they? They find the spaceship, And they, you know, yeah you could say it's unrealistic that they all just go, it's a spaceship. This must be an alien. But then it would be more annoying if they would just spend three scenes freaking out like.
00:30:30
Speaker
I don't want them to be going, Oh, like what? I mean, you know, you do have the big discussion. Like there's a bit with, isn't it? It's, um, Charles is just like, it's a load of rubbish. and then the other guy's like, Oh, chariots the gods, man, you know, Palmer, like, Oh, they came down. They, they, they built the pyramids. Like it's, that they've been here for years and all And he actually, he's the one that's right, isn't he? Because it's, yeah it's been there a hundred thousand years.
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah. That's like really old ice. Yeah. Yeah. It's been, it's been there the whole time. So Like, yeah, I mean, i yeah i yeah, I like how, like I said, i like how the film like how the film runs at this really great speed.
00:31:08
Speaker
it it it You're kind of trying to work it out and they're trying to work it out and you don't. you're you're rewarded because you're running at the same speed as them. You're not going, oh, it's obviously, you know, it's not like half an hour of just the dog wandering around and maybe something happening and maybe it not happening. That doesn't happen. it it' it's It's, you know, it gets disgusting and gross and mucked up very quickly, um which is great. You know, I love that.
00:31:34
Speaker
Yeah, it is. It's ah when, well, yeah, just the body count just starts stacking up then, doesn't it? Oh, hell yeah. once Once there's that first incident, then it just seems like just everyone starts getting like, you know. Yeah, I mean, the next. Taken over here and there.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah, which one's, who's next? can't remember who's next. they chimps they take the bodies, they haven't they haven't worked they work out too late that the bodies, although they're dead, they're still alive. That's why you need to burn them. And I think one of the guys, is it Fuchs or one of the guys gets got in that. And he's, he's got those like horrible, like it's his fingers. is Yeah. That's one hand. He runs out into the snow and he just does this really horrible scream in the snow. Yeah. And they, they burn him on. And that's actually, but that's one of my favorite scenes is when they're kind of all standing around him.
00:32:25
Speaker
Yeah. and they've like, like they've burned him and they're all kind of standing there, aren't they? And, and watching him. And I think MacReady does that big speech about like, yeah, I know that some of you ah you know, that it's you you some of you aren't you, but at the moment yeah you can't attack me because there's too many of us versus you, but that won't be the same. But like right now you're hiding because you don't have the numbers kind of thing.
00:32:50
Speaker
But like, I know you're kind of, that you're in there. And the great, again, the great thing about the film is it doesn't really at that point, say look it's this person or it doesn't give you there's some hints of who it might be or who it isn't but you don't ah ah don't think you really know do you i mean ah don't think you know who it is um then blair goes mad even re-watching it even after having seen it like you sort of forget the order in which it happens as well yeah yeah because then you're bit like wait is is he like it there or does it happen later on or you know yeah yeah the people that do change yeah Blair goes mad, um starts smashing up everything, which to to Blair's credit is actually the correct thing to do. He smashes all the snow plows and the helicopter a bit because he doesn't want the organism getting very just simply being in a human form, getting in a helicopter and flying to a populated area, which is what it wants to do.
00:33:42
Speaker
um But they interpret and he smashes all the radios and all that. They interpret his behavior because they don't really know. They think it's because he's I think they think he might be possessed. That's one of the only things where you're kind of, you can see why he's doing this, but they don't really understand why he's doing it.
00:33:59
Speaker
um And then they lock him in his cabin. And that's also one of my other favourite bits is when later on when they go and see him and they're like, oh, hey, Blair, like that. And he's got kind of a noose just hanging. like, guys, I'm all right now. I'm fine. You can just let me out. Like, I'm sorry about what happened. I'm fine. He was obviously going to kill himself. I just like it.
00:34:21
Speaker
And I think that's the, I think the key of that scene is that that he isn't he isn't Blair at that point because the thing wouldn't kill itself, but Blair would.
00:34:32
Speaker
So I think it obviously made that he went to kill himself before he was taken. And then when he was taken, yeah he wouldn't do that because it it wouldn't do that to itself. oh But yeah, yeah. and yeah, the film just kind of, yeah, the film just kind of barrels along from here. Then i think the next big, big bit is...
00:34:55
Speaker
The next bit... was going to say, actually, there's the bit... Which which is the part when... oh yeah, no, no. I think it's the bit you're coming to, actually. Sorry. Is it the bit when MacReady gets cut off?
00:35:07
Speaker
Yeah. where they Because they think he's... Yeah, so this was always a bit of the film I found a bit odd. So probably four viewings back, maybe. I never really liked this bit of the film. So but yeah, MacReady gets kind of cut off. And because you've been the main character. Yeah, he's been the main character in pretty much in every scene.
00:35:27
Speaker
And then suddenly he's cut off and he disappears and they find shredded clothes, which is a sign that the thing has taken you. And someone's like, the yeah, um ah what's it comes back? One of them, the the cook guy comes back, nors and he's like, yeah no I cut him off because he was being weird and all this. And and they start to suspect him.
00:35:46
Speaker
And I always, in my original viewings of this, I didn't like this. I thought this is a bit, well, come on, it's Kurt Russell. of course it isn't him. Like, this is crazy. why you Why are you doing this film? I don't like this. But in my more recent viewings, I actually really like this bit because I think what it's doing is going, it's Carpenter saying to the audience, well, you think McCready isn't the thing? How do you know he's not the thing? Maybe he is, you know? And in you do actually, I think people would go,
00:36:12
Speaker
Oh God, maybe actually is him. Maybe this is like, and it's, it's what's brilliant as well is the whole setup of him. he breaks in, doesn't he's got dynamite. He's going which again proves he isn't the thing because he's willing to kill himself. um Yeah. He's going to blow them all up and then they corner him. and um it's the other guy, can't remember which one it is, one of them faints, and he's like, dar he's like having a cardiac arrest, the doctor's like, oh, you know, we've got to do this on him. so And it's so clever because you're watching them cornering McCready, and Clark's got a knife, so he's about to attack McCready, and you're, you know, your anyone who's seen films before, in your brain, you're like, okay, what what's going to happen is they're going to get McCready, you know, they're going to attack him, they're going to bundle him down,
00:36:57
Speaker
and it'll be him or whatever. And what you don't see coming is just one of the, you know, it's probably like the most, one of the most insane bits of film. The doctor goes to put the paddles in and the chest of the guy just opens up like that just like bites his arms off. mean, it's just, it still looks amazing. Like it's such, That's definitely like the most shocking, probably the most shocking moment in whole film, that scene, isn't it? Yeah, definitely. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. I love how it happens. And then the guy's head just extends off, doesn't it? And drops off the table. It's weird as well because a head comes out of him first, doesn't it? Yes. Because there's a head sort of on there, but then his actual head,
00:37:44
Speaker
then sort of tears off and falls onto the floor it's amazing it's like so amazing and then it like and then it like sprouts eye like legs yeah and then another set of eyes and then there's a brilliant shot where they're all talking you can see it just like going to scuttle away in the background and that's like it's one of the only kind of moments of like comedy is when palmer turns and he's like oh you gotta be fucking kidding me he just like like scuttling like trying to escape they just like flame throw it it's just well before we go on to the next badger that's yeah you've reminded me of another part there um so before that happens before they uh suspect mccready uh they've worked out how to do that blood test that should tell them who's got it yes and all the blood samples have been destroyed yes now the bit i love about that yeah
00:38:37
Speaker
Yeah. Makes you start thinking it's well one of two people, isn't it? Yeah, Gary and the Doctor are the only people with the keys to that. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So the the thing that I love about it is that um obviously there's a big standoff there. And then Gary's like, this is another one of those slightly random moments. Yeah. Gary's like, well, someone else should probably have this gun. You'd feel better if someone else has got it.
00:39:02
Speaker
And then weirdly. um Oh, yeah. Childs. Childs. For some reason, Childs goes, oh, yeah. Okay. And keith day up until that point, I've had no problem with Childs. Childs seems like quite a cool collected yeah guy. Yeah. But MacReady goes, no child, we don't want someone a bit more even tempered than you. as if he's like this like wild evil person. Yeah, it makes you wonder, was there ah a few scenes missing where he's been a bit more, I mean, he's the one who vocally dis doesn't really believe that the alien theory.
00:39:33
Speaker
But I wouldn't say he's like a hothead. No, no, it's weird, isn't it? Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? but um It's odd. Yeah. But the the other reason why I think that's important is there's a scene just before all the the the head running off there, which is a really good scene where MacReady's sitting in a room and it's a really good use of space. like yeah The cinematography really good where he's got this open door behind him. yeah And you're in the whole scene while he's sitting there, I can't remember what he's doing, but he's he's sitting there and thinking talking something. He's making the recording of... um
00:40:08
Speaker
Isn't he making the recording, like the the little log for, oh, if you find this, then... That's right. Yeah, I really like that scene. it's exactly right. But that that space and you kind of think, oh, my God, something's going to go past and nothing does.
00:40:21
Speaker
But you're so tense for that whole scene. Even though nothing happens, you're tense because you see that space and you think, something's going to go No, like you said in beginning. But then it's that same sort of space that then you see the head run off in after the head removal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:40:35
Speaker
It's like you say, it's a very tense film. you're on i mean Apart from feeling cold all the way through it, it's a film where you can't watch it without feeling a bit cold. it's it's such a The environment and the landscape is as much a character as as as all the characters. but the you It's tense all the way through. You don't know who who it's going to be. there's There's jump scares. There's weird, crazy, mad stuff happening that you can't predict is going to happen. And this, the the that you don't know, as you say, even if just a person's just going to go mad, like windows just goes mad, doesn't he? goes and gets a shotgun one and have to talk him down. yeah Like,
00:41:11
Speaker
They could just be going mad because they've gone mad. It's not because they're ah they're the thing. It's just because they're a person and they can't handle this scenario because it's so mucked up. And that's that's even better. but That's what the the great thing about it. It's not just people trapped and they're like going mad because they're trapped. There's so many other factors going into it. Yeah, and I mean...
00:41:31
Speaker
Like you say, then you get to the bit where they, McCready's kind of taken over by this point. And he does, they've worked out to do this test, which is get everyone's blood and put it in the Petri dish and then put a hot wire into it because every part of the thing i kill is a part of it. So even it's, yeah, even it's blood will try to survive. So, and this is, you know, you cement that McCready is himself because he does it and he's fine.
00:41:56
Speaker
And it's, I really like how they do it where, they're all kind of chained they're all tied down, aren't they? And then he'll do it, and then he'll cut, and then the person will just be standing next to him, because he does windows, doesn't he? And then he's tied up, and then he does it, and then windows is next to him. And they're all completely convinced, aren't they, that it's Gary, and I think it's Clark as well, and then they realise...
00:42:18
Speaker
it wasn't Clark and Charles is like, Oh, you just murdered him then. And and he's then killed him, didn't he? And he's like, Oh yeah, I did. Yeah. He did come at him with a scalpel, but yeah. Yeah. shot Exactly. but Yeah. um So yeah. So they, they, they're doing them all, aren't they?
00:42:33
Speaker
And I think it's, you've got Gary, Charles and, um, Palmer still tied to the thing. And before they do Palmer's, he transforms, doesn't he? He starts transforming.
00:42:45
Speaker
I think it's before they even do the test. And again, that's like... Yeah, horrible, isn't he? Yeah, it's not the... It's probably not the scene everyone remembers or like, it's like the...
00:42:57
Speaker
you know, like the most iconic, but it's really good, especially because they're tied next to him and they're trying, they're just like screaming, trying to get away. Freaking out. He's like shaking and transforming and he's like, his face is all melting. I think with this one, it's weird because he seems to like go through about five or six different like stages, how he transforms. He's, he goes into lots of different weird types of things, ah doesn't he? Like he's quite like, he's a bit of a weird monster, this one. Um,
00:43:25
Speaker
but it's still It's weird how they're all were so different, aren't they? the The transformations are different with every person and every creature, aren't they? Yeah, and the design to come up with these ideas. When you find the time, oh I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter tied to this fucking couch!
00:43:45
Speaker
Oh, that's our 30 minutes. But also really good timing because this is the point in the film where he says that. So yeah we're going to have to carry on. Well, we will carry on. i mean, to be honest, like I love all of this film, but I do think from this point. So now you've really only got. Yeah, it's Nalls.
00:44:05
Speaker
I think it's it's MacReady, Charles, Nalls and Gary are alive. Everyone else has been killed. Charles goes missing. So you've only got Gary, Naws and... Wait, Fuchs sort goes missing in a weird way. Yeah, Fuchs goes... Yeah, I mean, I think I've read it somewhere. They just find him They find his singed corpse outside.
00:44:28
Speaker
So I think that... I think there was originally... that they showed his death. I think I read that they originally showed Fuchs's death, but I think that's sacrificed for you to maybe think it was McCready. I think that's during the period where you're supposed to think it's McCready. So they don't want to give you too much evidence because they want you to maybe think McCready did it.
00:44:50
Speaker
So yes yeah, so yeah, you've got, yeah, so you, you've got Gary, Charles has gone. Don't know where Charles has gone. He's disappeared. Um, so it's Nalls, Gary and, um, and McCready.
00:45:02
Speaker
And they go to Blair's cabin and they find he's got this weird underground, like he's made this little tunnel underground, doesn't he? And he's starting to build a spaceship. And I can't tell the spaceship looks too small. And I'm always, always kind of find funny because it looks bit like a kid's spaceship. But i guess the point is that. He could just have his finger in the spaceship and he's, it's still the thing, isn't he? He could have his, his, you know, his toenail and it would still be the thing. So that's, you know, um, so that's kind of funny. Um, and then,
00:45:34
Speaker
then you kind of get... I think... Like I say, I think this film is brilliant. I think it's near perfect. If I have to be a... nor If there's a bit I don't like, it's this climax because I ah feel that it kind of starts to rush at this point. So, you know, like...
00:45:51
Speaker
Blair takes out Gary, I think, doesn't he? does that horrible thing. and his like He puts his hand in his face, I think. he takes out Blair takes out... I think Nors just disappears. You don't see that. and then you know that like That part there, Nors, the way he goes out, that is the one bit that does irritate me in this film. Because it's the one point in this film where stupid horror logic comes in. you know, like silly... yeah Where he just, he's near McCready. He sees Gary being carried along by his face yeah and he walks off without saying anything. He doesn't go McCready or even make a noise. He just goes off.
Climactic Ending and Interpretations
00:46:29
Speaker
And that's the only, but like you know, in in horror films, that's very typical, stupid thing to do. But up and until that point, this film's been pretty sensible. So it's a bit frustrating.
00:46:39
Speaker
Yeah. And then you get this kind of, you've got MacReady on his own and you've got this massive, like all the floor breaks and this massive monster comes up. And of all the the monsters, I don't think this one looks as good. I think it's obvious that it's, it's it's obvious that it's on a central structure.
00:46:56
Speaker
Like it's obvious that it's one thing and there's people puppeting bits of it. Like, It's the only one I don't think looks good. I do wonder if they just thought we have to have a big thing at the end. We have to have literally a big thing. I wonder if they did work. It was a kind of studio. oh you have to have a big one that he fights and blows up. I yeah don't know, but I do wonder that it's not my favorite bit of the film. Thankfully though,
00:47:20
Speaker
the real end of the film is just one of the best endings of any film ever. So yeah. So he, he goes out and he finds Charles and he's just a bit like, Oh, where have you been then? And he's like, Oh, I i went off. I can't remember who he saw someone, didn't and he went off to deal with something. He's got a reason. He's got, a he says he saw Blair, I think, didn't he? Oh, saw Blair went after him and got lost in the storm. He says, yeah.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yeah. And then they just kind of both sit there absolutely exhausted. And then he's like, yeah, ah he says, what he said i've got I've got it written now. And he goes, oh, how will we make it? That's what Charles says. And MacReady says, maybe we shouldn't. And Charles says, if you're worried about me, MacReady says, if we've got any surprises for each other, I don't think we're in much shape to do anything about it. And then Charles says, well, what do we do? And MacReady just says, why don't we just wait here for a while and see what happens? And they both kind of smile at each other. And then just kind of, the camera just drifts out of this kind of absolutely mucked up, burnt down situation.
00:48:19
Speaker
I mean, because they're going die. They're going to die of yeah exposure. From exposure, basically, yeah. Yeah, or one of them is the thing and it's going to eat the other one and then hibernate. We don't know.
00:48:29
Speaker
Or they'll get sick. You don't know, but it's it's a brilliant ending because what else could the ending be? like ah yeah you i think any other ending... I think any other ending would be unsatisfactory. And the fact that you don't really know if Charles is or isn't, you know, this people say, don't people say he is the thing at this point. Yeah. The theory is that he is. And yeah there's a couple of things. What one I noticed when I rewatched it, one was when they're both talking,
00:48:59
Speaker
there's, ah you have the the, you can see the breath of MacReady. yeah. And yeah with Childs, you can't. Now, does that mean he's the alien? Not necessarily, but it's odd that only one of them you you can see the breath of. And that yeah the longstanding theory that Childs is the thing is that before that scene, you see MacReady with JB whiskey bottles, like the one I wanted to have.
00:49:25
Speaker
That couldn't get in time. Yeah. But used as Molotov cocktails. So they've got petrol in instead. Oh, okay. So it's not whiskey, it's petrol. So the theory is he hands Childs a bottle at the end for him to drink out of to see if he would drink it.
00:49:42
Speaker
And Childs does drink it and acts like, oh, yeah, nice whiskey. because and a But really, would it's petrol. Oh. Yeah, exactly. So in theory, MacReady laughs at him because he's like, oh, you're the one. ha ha Yeah.
00:49:57
Speaker
Well, something. Very. But there you go. Well, that's the end of the film. happy just with the ending the way it was. Yeah. Yeah. I don't i mean, there's a lot I've read that. I mean, if you want to, people want to go, there's a deep dive in. Like there's quite a lot of alternate endings as well.
00:50:11
Speaker
I think there's an ending where a dog runs dog a dog runs off because that's the dog has it's turned into a dog again and gone off somewhere. i think there's an ending with that in. I think there was an ending where they were rescued as well. There's quite a few different endings, I think.
00:50:25
Speaker
um Actually, there was one dog that escaped, wasn't there? There's a dog that escapes from the bit when when it's freaking out and killing all the dogs. So, yeah, that's an interesting aspect
Film's Legacy and Conclusion
00:50:38
Speaker
of it hadn't thought of. Yeah.
00:50:39
Speaker
So we overran, but we did get to the end of the film. We did. Yeah. And what film. And the thing is, it needs talking about a lot. God. Yeah. Yeah, does. Could have said so much more. It's been talked about by so many other people. Exactly. You could talk for two hours on this film, couldn't you? Hell yeah.
00:50:56
Speaker
Yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, there's, there are so many facts about it as well. I know we always ah do facts for this and I've popped in one or two here and there. and What are your top facts? Yeah, well, let me just try and ah i'll pick sort of three of my favourites, I think. One, ah because it's linked to someone who I particularly like as an actor. um There are no females in the film, as you know.
00:51:20
Speaker
However, there is one female cast member in the ah credits ah who is the voice for the chess machine um because it's a female voice when he's playing the chess. And guess whose voice it is? Do you know this?
00:51:34
Speaker
No, who? It's someone you know. Is it? Adrian Barbeau. Oh, really? Carpenter's, yep. It's her from The Fog and Escape from New York and everything else. Oh, that's great. It's actually her voice. So she yeah she's in it, but just her voice. She's without, yeah, without being in it.
00:51:53
Speaker
um There's loads of facts as well about the sort of really interesting stuff behind um when they were making all the effects, like particularly that the the you know the really mad scene where it all comes out. yeah They used a guy who had no arms to be the guy who plunges the fake arms into the chest and actually sort of had these yeah arms made out of jello.
00:52:17
Speaker
Jell-O and rubber. And they, so they actually did tear them off. And then they had this guy with no arms wearing a mask that of the guy who, the actor who does the whole going back bit and then like flailing about. So I mean, that's yeah fantastic. I don't know how they really pulled that off just with physical effects. Yeah. And, um, and also in doing that, they, were using a load of toxic chemicals and, And they even had so like a massive fireball at one point when they were trying to use flames, but they had all these sort of toxic chemicals they were using because they were just like messing around with load of stuff. They didn't really yeah have time to test. So they were doing lots of dangerous stuff.
00:52:57
Speaker
um And then one one more thing I'll say about the music actually. So won't go on too long about the facts, even though I could go on forever. um is that the ah apparently unused music from this film, from Ennio Morricone, was used in Quentin Tarantino film. do you know which film it was?
00:53:19
Speaker
No. The Hateful Way. no Oh, really? Oh, wow. So basically, Tarantino found some this music and used it in his film. But the funny thing is that um he's he he was na ah nominated Morricone for having made like the worst score by like, it's like a Razzie award or something. So people had said it was rubbish, right? When the thing came out. For the thing?
00:53:46
Speaker
For the thing. Yeah. yeah And then when the music when when the leftover music got used in Hateful Eight, he got an Oscar for the soundtrack. People just... So that just shows how much time... Yeah, people are ridiculous....can make a difference, doesn't it? Yeah.
00:54:02
Speaker
No, that's ridiculous. Ridiculous people. They were wrong. It's a great film. It's amazing film. Very ridiculous. Do you have any love horror links? i have Well, I've got few love horror links. So and The Thing from Another World, the 1951 film that it's a remake of. I mean, I would say The Thing, this this film, The Thing, is one of the best remakes of all time. I've seen The Thing from Another World. It's okay. The monster's absolute garbage. It looks like a big carrot man. It's terrible. um You couldn't take it seriously. um so but if you're really into the thing it's worth watching as like what the what it was what the basis of this was um i mentioned before the the prequel the 2011 prequel that does have a a female member mary elizabeth winston is in is part of the team she's an american in the norwegian team um I thought it was really good. I think it's worth watching. Again, if you're a really big fan, is just just just to kind of see the story beefed out a bit. it does
00:54:58
Speaker
It's not all practical effects. Some of them are CG, and I do think you do notice that. There's an interview with the director, Matthias Van Hiegen. I'm saying that terribly, but I did interview with him, which is on Love Horror. You can read that interview with him, and there's a review of that thing as well.
00:55:18
Speaker
um A few couple more. Invasion the Body Snatchers, the 1956 or the 78 version. Hugely influential films anyway, but mean I think that's influential here. um Venom. I put Venom in as a a link because Venom is almost like a positive take on the kind of symbiotic alien-human relationship. It's like ah a semi-positive take. It's like it's like he's the thick you know what Venom is, it's a bit like the thing in the kind of thing takes over people. And, you know, so, as you know, if you, again, maybe bit of a sideways one, but, um, and my final one, which is the most exciting one is that at the thing is actually part of Carpenter's apocalypse trilogy. I don't know if you knew this,
00:56:04
Speaker
But yeah, so John Carpenter said that The Thing was part of an apocalypse trilogy followed by Prince of Darkness and then Mouth of Madness. Now, the great thing is they're both amazing films and I don't think we've reviewed either of those. So hopefully at some point we can do them on the podcast because I love both of those films as well.
00:56:23
Speaker
but um But yeah, so they're basically... in All three of those films deal with kind of, you know, a human apocalypse or the end of the world. No spoilers there, but in a very different way. So you can watch all three of them in ah a kind of weird alternate trilogy. Yeah.
00:56:40
Speaker
Nice. Yeah, no, I totally agree. Yeah. If they're not on our list for future films to watch and review on here, we'll definitely have to do it because i totally agree. Yeah. ah thought you're going to say they're in the same universe as well for a minute. No, no. It's just thematic. Yeah, more of a thematic trilogy rather than an actual trilogy. But yeah. Oh, man. I had a couple of ideas of links as well, actually. yeah I think we do have a review for this one. Similar um claustrophobic, very cold ah humans trapped against the sort of impossible foe. It's 30 Days of Night.
00:57:15
Speaker
2007, the vampire movie. love that film. I do love that film. i do like that It shares lot of similarities. I think probably did get a lot of influence, particularly in the sort of effects and stuff from the thing, like from the way it looks, I think.
00:57:29
Speaker
um And then also another one was going to say was um Event Horizon as well. Oh. That's interesting. It's another expedition into the unknown. That's interesting. That's funny you should say Event Horizon. Why have we never reviewed that?
00:57:47
Speaker
Wow. Oh, wow, wow. That's interesting. Maybe we should that to our list. What good Maybe that should be the next podcast. It is going to be the next I didn't even realise. Wow, what coincidence.
00:58:02
Speaker
Oh, okay. Good segue. Look at that. Look at that. um But yeah, I mean, even though it's in space instead of the Arctic or Antarctic, yeah it's ah it's another one of those whodunits where you're a bit like, wait, who is the alien or, you know, who's who? So, um why yeah, what brilliant choice for the next film to review then in the next episode. I know, exactly. Can't believe we never did Event Horizon before.
00:58:24
Speaker
or talked about it before. I'm looking forward to that one. That'll be a good one. Me too. I mean, I guess we got, what are off I mean, if we were going review the thing and we were going to give it a score out of five, what are we going to give it?
00:58:36
Speaker
i'm I'm going to give it five out five. yeah yeah it's a hundred percent even with my reservations about like the ending i still think it's pretty damn perfect it's still great it looks great i think it's one of it's really's so it's one of my favorite films really i'd say up there with yeah you know with and and it's one of my favorite carpenters for sure up there with halloween it's just just great i don't get bored of it No. it's hit You know, it's a supposedly his favourite film as well, of all of his films that he's made. Yeah. And it's the first, it was the first studio film he made because ah all the others were independent. So even though it did knock his confidence for a while, I mean, yeah, I totally agree. Five stars. can't fault it in it any way. And every time I watch it, I'm impressed again with more of everything. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I watch it. I still enjoy it pretty much as as as much as I did the first time I watched it, was which is a really rare thing. But um yeah, it's just, again, another example of John Carpenter taking just a ah genius idea and just turning it into a film in just the most perfect way possible.
00:59:48
Speaker
I just don't know how he did it No, credit to all the, but but also credit to everyone else in it. Like say, Morricone score, the Rob Botton, the effects, the all the cast are great. Like there's, there's just nothing lets it down. it hits on every, every front. So yeah.
01:00:04
Speaker
No weaknesses. Great film. A great film.
Episode Wrap-Up and Next Episode Preview
01:00:08
Speaker
uh so that's that's kind of us we're sorry we overran but uh it was worth it hopefully you agree with us that the thing is uh maybe you don't tell us tell us if you don't we're always happy for some feedback um uh and as as uh as tom said next time we'll be off to space with the 1997 event horizon um any any final words for the uh for the listeners for the viewers No, I'm just really looking forward to taking off this woolly hat and this park jacket because it's really not the weather eye anymore. You made it. I've not melted. Good. No, i hope you've all enjoyed talking about or listening to us talk about the thing as much as we've enjoyed talking about it, really. Yeah.
01:00:50
Speaker
Yeah. Thank you for loving horror as much as we do. And we'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Next time. Bye.