The Thing is rightfully considered a great atmospheric horror movie that strives in showcasing the insanity of human beings in these sorts of stressful situations, with the otherworldly terror here adding a new layer to the dread. The movie establishes its slow creepiness from the get go, with the opening titles being white text on a black background, with the sound initially silent before music slowly starts. The acting is mostly very good, as is the tense dialogue. The characterization is a little token at points and the effects are mixed. Some of the effects are fantastic, while others don’t hold up, looking too much like dummies or sculptures. Some of the bad ones are prominent enough that their faults are easy to spot, when the movie could’ve been careful to mask them.
Many of the characters are more muted than I originally thought in previous viewings. A notable example is Keith David as Childs, who is relatively uninvolved. Many of the others just serve as fodder to make you wonder if they’re the thing or not. Thomas G. Waites as Windows is the weakest actor, notably when complaining about not being able to get in contact with anyone, not that his performance is so bad as to sink the movie. A scene of Nauls and Windows shouting comes off a little comical due to the lack of other noises. Perhaps the actors thought there’d be more noise added in post, so it’d make sense for them to be as loud as they are?
The opening shot of the arctic is handheld and rugged, looking like documentary footage. That mirrors the general discomfort we’re supposed to have with this closed off and unloved space, where it’d be dangerous to even go outside for a long period of time. The core of the movie is Kurt Russell as R. J. MacReady. He gets the most focus in the story, despite not being very strongly defined. He for the most part seems to have a moral compass, though he is in some ways very unlikable. There doesn’t seem to be much reason why he is the main character due to him not having much more insight or significance throughout the story than the others, other than at points being considered the leader.
SPOILERS
The Norwegian seemingly was going to throw a grenade at the dog, which may have resulted in people being killed. That would cause the others to distrust him. There’s a shot of someone trying to find the grenade after it’s dropped. That was probably left in by mistake. It could be explained as there being a second person that was in the helicopter that got out to get the grenade. How did MacReady understand the danger of the thing before he went to where the dogs were? Him hearing their barking seemed to be what was supposed to have caused that.
MacReady shooting Clark and a dog makes him hard to like when the movie wants you to. They sink him to at best careless and at worst malevolent. Moments like the others wanting to trap him outside in the desperate cold seem to exist to get you on his side, but if we’re supposed to be then why include his moments of cruelty? Any potential commentary intended about him is so easy to miss it might not even be there or be intended. The scene of the Bennings-Thing screaming is rightfully an iconic moment, bathed in an uncomfortable dark mood, especially with the creature eventually being lit ablaze, creating illumination. Clark witnessing the murdered dogs is very impactful, with us feeling his pain. However, this character and his story doesn’t get resolved. He ultimately is killed unceremoniously by MacReady. It would’ve made more sense for MacReady to have killed all the dogs, so Clark later trying to jump him would be retaliation.
The Norris-Thing is another special effects highlight, especially seeing the head separate and try to run away. Just before, Copper losing his arms doesn’t look very realistic. Later on, Windows’ death scene makes for probably the worst special effect, with the use of a dummy being extremely obvious. When MacReady says they all won’t make it out alive, the others don’t seem very phased in response. The movie could’ve included some foreshadowing to this, like if the characters he talked to were either shown to be eager to return home and see their families or were carefree and willing to do dangerous things, something for MacReady’s line to follow.
There doesn’t seem to be much point to who dies and when, save for MacReady making it to the end. At the point where it’s just him, Garry, and Nauls; it being them would make more sense if they had a specific bond established. Maybe they exceptionally disliked each other, but now have an understanding and are content to work together? Garry and Nauls are soon killed off with little fanfare. Some of the characters, like Windows and Nauls before their deaths, made really dumb decisions. Characters like the two mentioned and Clark have deaths that seem crammed in, like they were forgotten about in the script, then at the last second their deaths were written in. Thus, the pacing and stakes are janky, with certain things being established, like Blair going mad slowly and Garry being a good marksman, only for the movie to end with a succession of progressively faster and meaningless kills that negate much point to the cast. There’s little reaction to someone these people have personally known dying. Other deaths like Norris’ and Bennings’ are necessary and they work well because of that.
MacReady is ultimately proven to be a terrible leader. The movie glorifies him a little, such as with him being the focal point, being the one to defeat the thing, and ultimately surviving to the end. When the others think he’s been replaced with the thing, we’re supposed to want him to make it. However, by the end of the movie everyone except him and Childs explicitly dies, sometimes by MacReady. They might have been better off getting a competent leader or letting MacReady freeze to death. There’s not even much reason to think that he successfully destroyed the thing. It’s suspected and not contradicted that any piece of a thing that escapes destruction could grow and reform. It’s likely some of it could’ve escaped the burning base, especially because the thing can survive in the cold. Considering the enormity of having to destroy every molecule of the thing, how could anyone ever hope to kill it? There’s also some tension as to whether or not Childs is really the thing, with MacReady seeming to think that’s possible. That being said, MacReady earlier in the movie saying that if everyone except him was a thing, they’d all just kill him could potentially be foreshadowing for this ending, with Childs being still human as if he wasn’t he’d kill MacReady.
The ending is best left ambiguous. The lack of resolution creates for a poignant and impactful takeaway, though it is a little annoying for those invested in what will happen next and if the thing was really destroyed or not. A lot of endings you could imagine might have plot holes, such as the aforementioned unlikelihood of truly killing every last bit of the thing. It’s best to be able to imagine your own resolution. If you are to take any of the sequel media as canon, then MacReady explicitly failed to destroy the thing, which is unsatisfying due to all that was sacrificed for him to perhaps accomplish that.
OVERVIEW
Due to things like character dynamics not coming to much and some plot contrivances, this movie isn’t as flawless as it is to some, including myself the first time I watched it. I thought I’d like it more on a repeat, but alas. Despite the criticisms, the mystery, tension, performances, among other aspects rightly push this movie to the level of “classic”. I recommend The Thing to all, as most would.
It’s easy to imagine an alternate universe where Russell returned for sequel after sequel, which expands on what the thing is and his character, with a fan favorite The Things and an unloved CGI-fest The Thing: 2000.
The Filme Diary 