This article is a revision that appeared at my genre magazine Pharr Out some years ago.

  A summary: at the beginning of what will be a brutal winter, 12 men are stationed at American scientific outpost 31, station 4 in Antarctica. Fate will intercede when Norwegians bring death and destruction to the Americas in the form of an alien shape-shifter (initially a dog). Curiosity leads to suspicion, and finally rampant paranoia as the dozen men begin to lose it. This fear will kill some, murder others and ultimately pit one man against the alien. So why does The Thing continue to scare me, many years later?

  "Everybody watch whoever you’re with, real close-"  

Here’s the first reason: The very realistic breakdown of humanity that unravels as chaotically as Bottin’s imaginative creatures do. "Trust is a tough thing to come by," in real life and in films like this. Paranoia, especially in today’s society, is at an all time high. The mind plays heavy tricks on the weary, on the naive.. It happens to everyone at some point. What ifs start burning through your brain. And this is the ultimate what if. 'What if I am a thing? How would I know? Would I know?' A perfect example of this is when Windows is about go to back and tell everyone they found Fuchs dead. He stands by as Mac tells Nauls that he and Mac are going to Mac’s shack.

Nauls wants to know why:"Where are we goin’?!"

Mac: "Up to my shack..."

Nauls: "What THE HELL FOR?!?"

MacReady: "'Cause when I left yesterday I turned the lights off..."

The audience, are like Windows and Nauls, our apprehension on high as we notice the lights in MacReady’s shack are on!

A second and equally powerful display of paranoia is the scene right before the blood test when MacReady insists everyone be tied up and have their blood drawn.

Childs balks at MacReady’s suggestion. "He ain’t tying me up."

Mac: "Then I’ll have to kill you Childs." .

Childs tests the pilot: "Then Kill me!"

MacReady shows everyone just how paranoid he is, by striding up to the mechanic with Garry’s 45. magnum almost point blank to Child’s forehead. He growls, "I mean it!"

Childs backs down. "I guess you do..."

But Clark-who everything thinks is contaminated-has pilfered a scalpel and lunges at Mac. Reflexes or self-preservation kick in, as Mac shoots the dog handler point blank.

  "What do you got in mind MacReady?"  

"A little test..."  

The second reason: The echo of deadly disease, the metaphor for the organism itself. In their laser/dvd commentary Carpenter and Russell mentioned that the thing could be a metaphor for A.I.D.S.: there was no way to see, sense or feel if you were taken over by the Thing. One cell is enough to take someone over. And a blood test is needed to determined if one is positive or negative. The blood test appears in Campbell’s story: WHO GOES THERE as well. Pretty scary when you think about it...but The Thing could be about any disease, it’s just really ironic that the film was released at the time when we knew so little about A.I.D.S.  

"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me..." 

And naturally we have those wild effects of Rob Bottin’s to wrap tentacles around our rationale.  Few things are quite as unsettling as watching the human body mutate into something that is nothing like we know. Rob Bottin, (a master at the surreal and bizarre in his creatures) pulled out all the stops with The Thing.   I can’t look at spiders the same way since seeing Norris’ head sprouted arachnid legs and crawl away on it’s own power.   And the tired cliche of "The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach", will never be the same for me. Doc Copper tries to kick- start Norris’ heart with the defibrillator, then with a gruesome crack the geologist’s stomach becomes a mouth and he proceeds to feed on the unfortunate G.P.!!!   And those dogs. I’ve always loved huskies, but I avoid those that resemble the ones in dog town.  Who can forget Blair’s taking out the 'laundry' umm, dragging of Moffat’s Garry by the grip he had inside the station manager’s face...  

Great Characters.. 

The Thing has often been criticized for it’s lack of character, I disagree. Carpenter’s excellent casting of Keith David, Richard Masur, the late Charles Hallahan, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, Wilfred Brimley and Kurt Russell gave the film it’s most realistic and interesting characters.  

Keith David as Childs. The bear-like mechanic is a cynic and quick to anger, but you want to feel like you can trust him. He seems to voice the views that most people watching the film would mutter. "I just can’t believe any of this voodoo bullshit." He knows when to back down and winces noticeably when Clark takes what could have been his bullet.  

The late Charles Hallahan as Norris. The genial geologist was the last person we wanted to see contaminated. We trusted Norris, he was easy going until his nerves got the best of him. We all know what became of him. Spiders and stomach mouths oh my! 

Richard Masur as Clark. The dog handler seems like the perfect red herring when the fear of contamination starts creeping in at the outpost. You really get the feeling that Clark is far more at home with his dogs than with the rest of the men. And his suspicion as well as those of everyone else thinking Clark’s a thing happens very quickly. His paranoia seals his doom.  

Richard Dysart as Doc Copper. You know it’s almost Copper’s fault that the men at Station Four, Outpost 31 confront the terror of the thing. They could have just dealt with the dog but no, Copper wanted to help those "crazy Swedes.."- excuse me -"they’re NOT Swedish Mac, they’re Norwegian." He brings back that corrupted Norwegian when Mac wanted to bury it ("Help me find a shovel doc...")   Copper was very likable, but a little off-kilter. You don’t see too many fifty- something Norman Rockwell-looking Doctors with a nose ring!

 Donald Moffat as Station Manager, Garry: Nobody liked ex-Army man Garry. As station manager he had to put up with the insanities and eccentricities of eleven other really screwy men. He isn’t all too sure of himself as a leader and is quick to jump to conclusions. Just don’t keep him tied up to that couch. (Ironically now that I've watched The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) , I see Garry's closest cousin is the nefarious Inspector who chastises Mac's ancestor George.)  

Wilfred Brimley as Blair: Brimley wasn't, believe it or not, Carpenter’s first choice for the Senior Biologist who becomes the big bad Thing. John wanted Donald Pleasance in the role (can you believe that!?! How cool would that have been huh?). Brimley was funny, scary and not-at-all likable. If anybody was acting as the Station’s leader it was Blair. But MacReady puts an end to this frazzled scientist faster than you can cook a pop tart. The one time Quaker Oats pitchman does a damn good job of being a son-of-a-bitch and a bad ass monster too.  

And the best for last...   Kurt Russell as MacReady. MacReady is one of Russell’s most realistic, complex, and human roles. Click on the link for more.

In closing, if you haven’t seen The Thing, it’s Carpenter’s best film. Full of everything the director Is famous and loved for. Compelling characters, a messed up story with a downbeat ending, quirky humor, tons of tension, incredible cinematography and a real sense of bleak cynicism.

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