helterskelter.ca

The Thing.
way more Helter Skelter.

June 25, 1982 - 2022: 40 years of: The Thing.

"I know I'm human."

Based on the classic 1951 The Thing From Another World, the vintage black and white piece gets a blood red 80s make-over. John Carpenter does what John Carpenter does best: thick atmosphere, high suspense and memorable horror.

Antarctica, the bottom of the globe ...and contact is finally made. Sadly for the Norwegian scientists, their alien discovery shall seal their very fate. A lone dog shall eventually reach the American camp and one by one, changing everyone from human to human-copy. Rapidly, mind-games, paranoia and inner-group power struggle shall drive the crew crazy.

Who is human ?
Who is infected ?
Is there a cure ?
...and what is this "thing" ?

Eventually they'll find out that burning the flesh is the only way to fully destroy the organism, or so they though. And with this high infection-rate, they also realize that if reaching civilized areas, this contamination couldn't be contain, which in turn means: the end of the human race within days. With this grim fate, the crew makes sure the base is destroyed, burned to the ground, before a rescue-team reaches them during the upcoming weeks.

All twelve men will die, some more painfully than others.

Through time, the franchise would bloom to comic-books and eventual video-games and with the modern reboot frenzy, a 2011 remake was hatched, yet CGI overkilled. 1982's The Thing remains one of the all-time classic horror movie as it not only contains some of the best effects in cinema, but thrilling ice-cold psychological tensions.

From the promotional tag-line: "Man is the warmest place to hide."

*
The Thing From Another World = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05-qogh7GA0
The Thing = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ftmr17M-a4
The infection timeline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z5Y-bTm1QE
The making of...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jURaHXAPbPQ
1951 vs 1982 vs 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-lRstfP2uE