Brandon Comments:
“I dunno what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is.”
Like quite a few films at MovieNight, I had only seen portions of ‘The Thing,’ and those were mostly on network TV. So I had previously missed all of the great gore scenes, the cussing, the storyline, the plot, the three acts, and so on. But seeing it for the first time on the Stucco, I realized what a remarkable piece of cinema it is, especially in theater format and size.
Kurt Russell is at the top of his game in this film, and that floppy hat and thick pair of sunglasses concreted his image in my psyche for years to come. Now, although Davis may disagree with me, I caught a handful of MacGuffins in ‘The Thing.’ And they may not have been authentic MacGuffins, they could have just been ideas that never grew flesh, ideas that Carpenter didn’t have time to delve into, or just neat things the filmmakers wanted to throw in. But most notably, the old doctor building a spaceship underground. Now, if he wanted to leave that godforsaken scientific base, why didn’t he just use the helicopter to escape instead of tearing the helicopter apart for “the pieces”? Sure, not quite a true MacGuffin, but an unexplained piece of the movie that deserved some explanation. And how in the hell did this old simple man know how to build a spaceship? He had only seen the real alien spaceship a day or two earlier, and we’re supposed to believe that he, from memory, created a working spaceship? Was he infected from the get-go, and this alien inhabiting him built the spaceship? We’ll never know…hence, the MacGuffin comment.
I do love this film, and I love when films leave the fate of the characters in our hands at the end. We’ll never know if Kurt Russell and Keith David survived the snowstorm, or if one or the other was actually infected with the alien—and that’s cool by me. I like to direct my own ending, and John Carpenter let me. Good choice, Mr. Davis. Nothing warms my heart like a good horror/sci-fi film, and ‘The Thing’ definitely delivered.
Nubs Comments:
When I was an innocent boy at the bright age of eight, my crazy uncle Arthur thought it would be fun to take me and my two cousins, Arlo (also age 8) and Josie (age 7), to see ‘John Carpenter’s The Thing.’ Perhaps it was the scorching Texas summer heat that drove Uncle Arthur to believe it was a good idea to let three young kids sit in an air-conditioned theater watching cursing, drugs, and mutilated bodies. Perhaps he saw the ice and snow in the posters and couldn’t resist. Or, more accurately, perhaps it was the good old days before experts determined the lasting impact such trauma could cause to a child, and my uncle, like most parents then, just didn’t give a fuck.
Well, as you might imagine, the initial moment that cute Husky’s head split open like a banana Josie and I were crying, holding each other, and hiding anywhere we could in our seats from the shrieks of dogs, men, and the wonderful sounds of flesh being turned inside out and then burned to a crisp. Maybe I went into shock because I don’t remember how much more I withstood before Josie and I fled the theater to roam the halls and wait for the movie to finish. Arlo, either brave or demented, stuck it out but some say he was always a bit strange, and he even let his daughter watch ‘The Ring’ at the ripe age of two proving the cycle of abuse does exist. For me, this movie, along with ‘Poltergeist,’ were the images that haunted my dark bedroom for years, until now. I can now thank Ben for bringing my nemesis to the Stucco for me to conquer.
As an adult in the comfortable setting of Movienight, and warmed by layers of clothes and Miller Lites, ‘The Thing’ is quite a fun trip. Unlike John Carpenter, Ben thought to release this cold beast in the winter not the summer. In his misleading preamble, Ben also predicted a short winter two days before the groundhog did. Good job, Tooda, and also thanks for not bringing ‘Groundhog Day’ the obvious timely choice.
‘The Thing’ might be the only time we have an all male audience in addition to an all male cast*. Although some of those Huskies were probably bitches, and one has to assume the Thing is female. Only a female would encounter her prey, join with him becoming one beautiful entity and allowing him to seem like himself until he is away from his buddies then taking control over him and turning him on his friends. Yes, I looked it up and sure enough John Carpenter was married to the busty actress Adrienne Barbeau from ‘Swamp Thing’ three years before this movie and divorced two years after. Come to think of it, what happened to her? I think she morphed into Tim Burton’s ex-wife, Lisa Marie, another short-lived busty B-movie beauty.
Art truly imitated life this past Wednesday. Just as was being shown on the wall, we had a group of guys drinking, smoking, and accusing each other of atrocities like bad Movienight picks all in hopes of keeping the freezing temperatures off our minds. In our production Wilford Brimley would play Davis as the man gone crazy based on the findings on his computer. Coolbaugh was clearly represented by the burned-out hippie sometimes tooling around in a wheelchair and doobin’ up in every scene. Wildcard Slim would be the red-head nice guy who never says anything the whole movie and then turns on you when you least expect it, hence his nickname, Wildcard. Johnny Gold has to be the lovable bearded master of the dogs who is ever so compliant even when being tested. I, of course, would be the jive talkin, headband wearing, token black guy on roller-skates blaring his soul music while bitching about serving the others. Netti gets to be MacReady by default and Pat would have to be the Thing or the hideous monster everyone is afraid will show up and ruin their night.
So, as you might gather, this was a classically fun Movienight. Despite being terribly tagged by 1982, the greatest year ever according to Darius and I, ‘The Thing’ holds up. I don’t mind that it’s tagged because we get to see the movie that made those snow/sun glasses fashionable and our favorite Atari game, Asteroids, disguised as a super intelligent data analyst. Thanks, Tooda, for letting me confront my childhood tormentors and showing us what Movienight under a full moon in the blistering winter is all about.
*Editor’s Note: For the record, the first Movienight with an all-male cast (speaking roles anyway) and an all-male audience was Coolbaugh’s ‘Reservoir Dogs.’
Netti Comments:
‘The Thing’ was a film that had been on my shortlist for Movienight. As Ben stated in his opening remarks, Kurt Russell is an underrated leading man. He has a little of the eighties B-movie stench and I like it. As an actor he's a solid hitter, who hits for average. ‘The Thing’ is a perfect example of his understated style at its best, competently rooting the film's reality despite the unreal circumstances. Besides Kurt Russell, (other performances are good as well) stand outs are the special effects and the location. This film was created before the advent of computer generated special effects and it proves that there is a quality that is missing in even the most realistic computer models. The creatures, the blood, the flames, etc. are virtually real in that the only component of non-reality is that it is fictive. A computer generated effect is one step further removed as the actors must interact with an imagined foe or terror, rather than an actual physical entity. No eye-line matching, no light modeling. The analog/digital debate is here in cinema as well, and you know what? I like vinyl. A couple of words about location. If I remember correctly from the extra features, they filmed this in upper British Colombia. The opening sequence in the snowy expanses is probably my favorite in the film. A dog is fleeing a helicopter in a seemingly cruel execution. Why are they trying to kill this dog? The sympathy it elicits in the viewer is perfectly tuned with the principal characters perspective. The rest of the film we are on board to ride into the rabbit hole. One of my favorite horror films.
SELECTOR Comments:
‘The Thing’ joins a growing list of Movienight picks that remind us how amazing handmade films can be. Without the assistance of any computers (save the atrocious computer simulation of the thing’s cell absorption process) Carpenter’s film couples stark cold realism with the most imaginative and credible make-up effects perhaps ever filmed.
I remarked in my comments on ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ about the pleasure of a film that is truly made by hand, and ‘The Thing’ amplifies that point. Rob Bottin’s make-up effects are mind bending, and while they could likely be rendered by a computer today, I cynically doubt that anyone who works with computers has the requisite imagination to equal Bottin’s achievement here. He is every bit Rick Baker’s student, and I think learning in Baker’s long shadow pushed him to excel with his first major gig. Boy, does he. The powerful make-up effects in this film linger long after the story of these doomed men has evaporated.
That was my trouble with the film this time around. As engaging a journey as ‘The Thing’ is, I found myself left with little to chew on after the story was over. The best Movienight picks have a way of coloring every part of your week till next Wednesday, and I fear that as much as I enjoyed ‘The Thing’ it doesn’t really stick with you. The screams and the terror engage for the time they are on the screen and then melt away faster than you can say Global Climate Change.
Still, I’m glad to have shown this film. Kurt Russell may never win an Oscar but he is such a solid and reliable screen presence I am glad to have provided his Stucco debut. Carpenter assembled a great ensemble for this story, and while they are all now clichés of the eighties, they still manage to get the job done.
I apologize for the scattered preamble Wednesday, but my prediction about the end of cold nights in the Back Yard may well prove true. Two days after the screening, Punxsutawney Phil came out of his burrow and saw no shadow – supporting my belief that we would have a short winter. If so, I told you so – if not, at least we finally froze our asses off watching a film that felt our pain. ‘The Thing’ was meant as a tribute to all the cold nights we have braved in the Back Yard.
It has been my great honor to shiver with all of you.
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