![]() ![]() They are brokers for what we mortals call death. These three, naturally, are not really of this earth. Ah, but 68-year-old gal pal Lois Chasse shares these visions, which by now include three little bald entities in doctors' smocks. In these strings, Ralph believes he can see other people's states of mind and being (e.g., disease, anger, calm). These hallucinations appear as auras, terminating in fine lines of light resembling balloon strings. Since his wife's recent death, Ralph Roberts, age 70, has been beset by insomnia and hallucinations. ![]() ![]() This is as spooky as anything ever made in a horror movie.Ĭarpenter had all the right tools here, and he utilized them to perfection, making The Thing his best movie alongside Halloween.A small town in Maine again serves as King's (Nightmares and Dreamscapes, 1993, etc.) setting in this deft, steady tale, in which two lovable geezers travel through hyper-reality to balance the books of human existence, or something to that effect. This is a fine piece of animal training, sure, but that's not the point. Watch in awe at the scene where it walks through the hallway and stares at a human shadow, slightly tilting its head forward in stalking position like a wild wolf. The husky was in fact half-wolf and half-dog, and it was noted that it never barked or growled on or off the set (Horror Takes Shape, the making of - DVD version). There's a rhythm and an environment that equals Scott's in every way. Where Carpenter was clearly inspired by Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece, his own alien movie is original and intriguing in its own right. An argument could be made against The Thing being an Alien rip-off it has its origins in an old sci-fi story and it creates tension by popping a crowd of people (note: all-male) on an isolated outpost (an Antarctic research facility) terrorized by an alien life form. ![]() Some find them disgusting, some mere cult. The Thing is actually notorious for its creature morphing scenes. Be warned there's a lot of splatter and gore here. Horror specialist Rob Bottin was handpicked for the many gory and grotesque special effects. The careful preparation (the crew went into a record 11-month pre-production) paid off immensely. Dean Cundey's extraordinary photography created a palpable chill to every shot. There's a brooding darkness to this film, making the whites and blues of the icy Antarctic claustrophobia seem poetic and almost angelic. The budget was big ($14 mill), yet it allowed Carpenter to visualize his ideas better than ever before. This scene comprises one of the greatest opening sequences in film history.Įnnio Morricone's moody synth score (heavy on naked thumping bass lines in classic Carpenter style), the windswept massive white of the desolate polar ice and the majestic husky running across the tundra chased by the chopper, compromises a completely mesmerizing piece of scenery.Ī satisfying example of a movie that today 18 years after looks downright muscular in its simplicity. It opens in Antarctica with a sled husky running from a pair of crazed and armed Norwegian men in a helicopter. Kurt Russell will never top this one, and he gets a brilliant sparring from the entire cast. Campbell's short story "Who Goes There?' (on which both were based), and critics today point out how well Carpenter plays his characters against each other. Carpenter's version is less a remake of the Howard Hawks' version than a more faithful adaptation of John W. It then makes for great movie history trivia, that The Thing has gained such a remarkable afterlife on video, DVD and television. This was the time of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Nobody was prepared moreover wanted anything so dark, gory and scary as this genuine remake of the famous 1951 original. Bad scheduling may have had a greater impact than anything else on the fate of Carpenter's first big studio effort for Universal Pictures. Steven Spielberg's extra terrestrial adventure about a sweet alien that phoned home (that stole the hearts of both children and adults world wide) had opened just two weeks before and was on its historic box office rampage. Looking back on John Carpenter's The Thing today a highly treasured cult favourite one has to wonder why it was dismissed by both the audience and critics when it first came out in 1982. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |