The Thing (1982)

Twelve men at an Antarctic research station battle a shape-shifting alien that hides in human form, in John Carpenter’s groundbreaking sci-fi horror.

Workers at a remote Antarctic research station discover a parasitic alien that can invade, assimilate and imitate earthly lifeforms, leading to extreme paranoia as the twelve men try to work out who’s harbouring ‘the thing’.

John Carpenter’s groundbreaking adaptation of John W. Campbell’s novella Who Goes There? (previously filmed as The Thing From Another World) set the benchmark for special makeup effects for years to come, showcasing Rob Bottin’s extravagant parade of grisly, mutating creatures. Underappreciated on its initial release (critics felt the gore effects were overused), The Thing has been re-evaluated in recent years for its undeniably scary premise, bleak setting and foreboding atmosphere of dread, and is now considered one of the 1980s’ best horror films.

1982 USA
Directed by
John Carpenter
Produced by
David Foster, Lawrence Turman
Featuring
Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter
Running time
109 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for The Thing

Critics

Djordje Bajić
Serbia
James Balmont
UK
Nemanja Becanovic
Montenegro
Philip Brophy
Australia
Alejandro G Calvo
Spain
Jorge Ignacio Castillo
Chile / Canada
Robyn Citizen
Canada
Rhianna Dhillon
UK
Lorenzo Esposito
Italy
Jordan Farley
UK
Gemma Files
Canada
Beatrice Fiorentino
Italy
Federico Gironi
Italy
Stefan Jaworzyn
UK
Lisa Kerrigan
UK
Benjamin Lee
USA
Michael Nordine
US
Derek O'Connor
Ireland
Dejan Ognjanović
Serbia
Mark Pilkington
UK
Andrew Pope
UK
José Maria Rodríguez Armada
Spain
Joshua Rothkopf
USA
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Canada
Mark Salisbury
UK
Kaspar Viilup
Estonia

Directors

Neil Marshall
UK
Stephen Sutcliffe
UK

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