To conclude our month long look at horror cinema, let us take a look at my personal favorite horror film: John Carpenter’s The Thing.

The Thing is a 1982 movie that serves as both an adaptation of the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, and as a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World. The film more faithfully tells the story of the original novella, a group of researchers in Antartica happen upon a parasitic alien life-form that can assimilate and imitate over organisms.

The Thing is an excellent example of the horror subgenre known as “cosmic horror”, an umbrella of horror that involves themes of isolation, forbidden knowledge, existential crises and a fear of the unknown popularized by early twentieth century author H.P. Lovecraft and his “Cthulhu Mythos”.

The movie plays on fears of paranoia and isolation. The human characters isolated both by environment and by the added mixture of a hostile alien organism in their midst, that can infect and be anybody. Even the audience is kept in the dark as to who is infected and when they become so, therefore adding surprise when a thing is ousted and begins to morph into an unsightly eldritch horror.

Speaking of the unsightly horror, the special effects in this film were put together largely by Rob Bottin, who was only 21 at the time of his hiring. The idea behind the design of the Thing’s different forms was that it had been all over the galaxy, assimilating different lifeforms, leading to some nightmarish transformations.

Probably one of the most impressive creatures in the film is the Dog-Thing, which special effects legend Stan Winston helped to complete.

The Thing itself is a fascinating movie monster, the perfect replication of other life-form down to even physical maladies possessed by a host, such as a weak heart, being replicated. Its ability to recall the various forms of creatures it has assimilated leaves some very grotesque and horrific details whenever it is cornered and must go on the offensive.

The cast is great with many solid actors like Kurt Russell, Keith David and Wilford Brimley. The performances are very realistic and natural, which help lend to the mystery of who is an imitation. Also, unique for a horror film, this movie has an all male cast.

Most horror films tend to follow unlikeable and dumb characters that we wait around for to die, but this film’s characters make decisions that seem rational and likely what a real person would do in the situation.

Sadly, the film wasn’t warmly received upon its initial release. It came out in a packed summer with movies like Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which led to a low box office performance.

Reading some of the reviews from the time can seem mindboggling considering the positive reception the film enjoys nearly 40 years later. And sadly the reception of the film was what led to John Carpenter’s disillusionment with the Hollywood Studio system.

The Thing is a fantastic piece of horror cinema. It preys upon the primal fears of isolation, of losing one’s self to some outside influence, and a deep seated, nihilistic dread of an unknown and perhaps, unknowable terror.