The Thing (1982) Review: Any”Thing” Could Be Some”Thing”

Yell! Magazine review:

Let me begin by being brutally honest with you.

Before I began writing for Yell! Magazine, I really had no intention of seeing The Thing. I simply knew little to nothing about it, felt it was too dated to watch, and was just kind of going to hold out for the newer, shinier prequel.

With that being said, I am pleased to inform you that with regard to my assumptions of this film not being entertaining to watch, I was actually very, very wrong.

You see, not only was The Thing an engrossing combination of both sci-fi and horror, but it also boasted groundbreaking special effects way back in the day. To say that these effects still manage to hold up would be a gross understatement.

But I seem to be getting ahead of myself. Let me set up this review properly.

Countless years ago, a spaceship crash landed in the Antarctic and remained frozen and buried beneath a few metric tons of ice. After some time, a team of Norwegian explorers managed to unearth a parasitic, shape-shifting extra-terrestrial, and preserve it for its contributions to the fields of science.

But, as is usually the case in these movies, science always leads to trouble.

It’s always the quiet ones.

And so, the creature escapes under the guise of a harmless Husky that’s hinted at from the beginning to be “more than meets the eye,” and soon winds up in the care of an American research team who very quickly regrets adopting a new pet.

The pet eats people and takes on their form, you see.

“Ok. If you’re a parasitic being from another planet, just come out and tell me right now, because this is seriously starting to get messed up.”

Read about why The Thing is such a great horror film after the jump…