I really like the idea that 'The Thing' is an intelligent being and has consumed multiple worlds but humanity is the first time it's encountered another intelligent life and is freaking the fuck out.

I love the directors commentary where John and kurt are laughing like maniacs through the whole movie

what sucks even more about the The Thing (Prequel) is you can see how in love with the first movie the crew were, how they went too great lengths to make everything seen at the norwegian base in the first movie match up, and show how it all got there, from the dead Norwegian, to the axe, the ice bed, to the corpses and finally who the two men chasing the Thing Dog were. You could tell that they wanted it to be as faithful to Carpenters movie as they could get, but in the end Corperate butchered it, as they always do.

I remember showing this to my sister, she called it a boring stupid movie…… until the dog happened and she noped out. I love slow burners. And the “Tied to this couch” quote is my go to for vocal warmups.

This makes me miss the heart, work and soul that went into producing practical effects. While I don't think that CGI should be completely shunned, it'd be nice if movie studios went back to what made classic horror great.

"It looks too much like an 80's movie" I...I just can't. Who the fuck are they getting to be the testers? Do they just grab people with no taste and so they can tell producers "Fuck this shit up fam".

I agree with your interpretation that McCready and Childs are human at the end but don't know that and are still suspicious of each other. I think that speaks most to the human nature element to the story.

It still blows my mind that people hated this movie when it first released. Very few movies that I've seen have managed to hold that tense atmosphere through an entire film. And the practical effects are top tier.

The dog chase are another example of how much the script quality in Hollywood have regressed. A simple scene that give all the background information you need, without giving anything away. Something we just don't see today

I consider this to be better than Halloween with its storytelling, characters and suspense. A true horror John Carpenter masterpiece

The Thing was shown in local cinema a couple of weeks ago. The theatre was packed full, around half were young people (I almost felt warmth in my hollow chest). At the end people were clapping and cheering. Amazing.

21:29 I like this interpretation the best too. It really hammers on the point that, regardless of their victory against the alien, these two men are still doomed, as help is extremelly unlikely to come and they'll probably both freeze to death unable to trust each other.

I heard the prequel movie had loads of real, practical effects and puppet work as a kind of respectful nod to the John Carpenter version. The studio intervened and a ton of film was cut because they were scared modern audiences wouldn't like the puppetry and practical effects work, so whole swathes of the movie had to be reshot with CGI. A shame, I wonder what that movie would've been like had the the suits not intervened.

carpenter bringing Dead Space to live action would be pretty frickin' rad to say the least

Watched this for the first time with all my siblings a few months back. One of the best horror movies I had ever seen. Loved the story, the ambiguity, and the practical effects. Truly a masterpiece.

The whole studio interference and screen testing thing with the 2011 Thing will never not piss me off. It enrages me when you see a group with passion behind the scenes get shafted by the studio. It had a lot of potential.

Shout out to the thing video game on the PlayStation 2. A very flawed game, but the idea of having squad members possibly being infected, is a very interesting idea in survival horror. 🎩 🐍 no step on Snek!🇺🇸🇭🇰

Wondering if the test audiences and producers who were saying "there's too much backstory, the effects look like they're from the 1980's" to the original iteration of the prequel movie were the same species of people who demanded Event Horizon cut all those (now lost) scenes that were cut from the movie for being "too gory". Too gory. In a horror movie.

I love the idea that the Thing hates MacReady with a fucking passion, especially after the blood test. I also like the idea that neither Childs and MacReady were the Thing and it was successfully killed. But it left such a psychological scar on both survivors that neither of them will take their eyes off of each other until whenever rescue arrives out of sheer paranoia.

this is a movie you can speculate endlessly about because there's so many unanswered questions. So ominous and eerie. Complete movie magic.

There’s a few assumptions made here about who’s infected and when. Blair destroying the helicopter doesn’t mean he was infected then - he could’ve still been himself then and was only infected afterwards (when he was locked up?). Then the Blair-Thing knew the helicopter and snow cat were disabled by Blair, but that it could still use pieces to make its own thing. We also don’t know who was infected by the dog: could’ve been Palmer or Norris.

This movie has infinite reward value because regardless of how many times you watch it, you will never be able to pin point when certain characters get infected. You could make an argument that Blair got infected early on or he got infected while he alone and locked in the shed. He might have destroyed the equipment to avoid any other infected crew members to contact the outside world or he could be infected and wants to avoid them trying to get help. There's no clear answer and I love that.

That dog scene, as well as the mouth jaw scene lives rent free in my head to this day. Fucking loved this one a lot. Probably influenced my love of body horror and weird parasitical aliens too.

I’d say this is absolutely Carpenter’s best, and as much as I love Halloween, I don’t think you can deny that he perfected his craft in pretty much every aspect from that movie to The Thing

unfiltered kino, absolutely loved it. it will stay on my shelf till the heat death of the universe.

At 13:50 you can also see that the Chess Wizard cheats to win, much like how the Thing "cheats" by absorbing people and stowing division amongst the uninfected Its such great foreshadowing this movie is awesome my brother's favorite (definitely my favorite horror movie next to Jacob's Ladder)

"The Thing" has to be one of the very best horror movies ever made, especially with the pracrical effects. The ambiance and how hopeless the situation truly is.

One of the greatest movies ever made. The critics did not understand it and I’m glad it is now getting the love that it deserved.

You’ve played fear and hunger haven’t you. I recognize that intro music. It’s a very special game. It’s the only game/story I’ve experienced that has matched some of the fascinating cosmic horror aspects of berserks world building. Granted it took direct inspiration from it, see le’garde aka griffith, except worse things happen to him.

My favourite horror film of all time.

I can't wait to get a remake/reboot/sequel with an all female cast that doesn't live up to this movie like everything else I love has gotten.

One of the best horror movies and use of practical effects ever in a movie.

Regarding the original ending of the 2011 prequel, the idea of the Thing's spaceship not being actually its own comes from the original short story "Who Goes there?", where, upon finding out that the alien is a shapeshifter, the scientists realize that it had probably imitated the ship's crew as well. Personally, I think that a potential sequel to the 1982 original should take inspiration from The Departed (or more exactly from Infernal Affairs, which was remade as The Departed). We should follow the humans as they try to figure out who is an imitation, and also follow the imitations as they try not to give themselves away and take over the humans. Then you could explore some ideas that fans have droped over the years, like the Thing not wanting to assimilate all living creatures on Earth because it needs to feed on them, or the Soviets leaning about the Thing and trying to get a sample to weaponize it. You could even explore whether an imitation retains the thoughts and memories of all the creatures it has assimilated in the past, or if an imitation considers itself the new original because the true original doesn't exists anymore. There are so many things you can do, and yet what we got was just another lame prequel/remake.

Big Bang Theory : I made scientifics and geeks cool ! The Thing : Shut up and get me a whisky kid...

I've always thought the first shadow that gets infected by the dog-thing was Norris. I also don't think Blair was infected until AFTER they locked him up. I think he was perfectly sane when he sabotaged the vehicles; I think he was trying to ensure that they all died. His 'ranting' when he's busting up the communication equipment all makes perfect sense in hindsight: "At least ONE of you knows what's going on! You think it was trying to copy a dog? It wants to be uuuuuuuuus!"

Also the mad lady flying the helicopter actually offered to really crash the helicopter Which means the guy Lars was supposed to die in the crash and then shaken fork the crash die to the grenade he sought to use on the doggo. And the fact ‘oh hey how are we gonna get a smoke trail for the shot’ To wish… ‘you don’t want to know’ or someone saying it would make them mad. Yup they set up tires and set them on fire for the smoke trail shot. Also in the book Alan continues to rely a lot on the script and we get some really good details

The thing in my opinion is one of the greatest films of all time.

This is literally one of the best movies in my opinion. Period. The first movie I bought with my own money was The Thing. I’m beyond elated that you’ve covered this film. Thank you brother.

The most influential movie of my entire lifetime. Shaped who I am today. Saw it for the first time at 6 years old or so, and was obsessed with the dog thing. 30+ years later, my obsessions have always been shapeshifters.

Yes finally someone who agrees that they are both human in the end. It's the most appropriate ending considering a major theme of the movie is paranoia. Having one "actually" be infected feels too standard.

Strong contender for the greatest horror movie monster or maybe even outright horror movie antagonist of all time. And what do we call it, just, The Thing. It's perfect.

Before I even watch the video, I'd like to share my own interpretation of the ending. We know The Thing is protective over its every cell. Wether Childs's bottle contains alcohol, or kerosine, is irrelevant, they are both poisons that destroy cells. It wouldn't drink it, or at least would have reacted very violently. I think both Childs and MacReady are humans and the day was indeed saved. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for good endings.

i wanted them to do a dead space movie so bad

Amazing series of videos, I've rewatched all the movies after finishing your vids

The absolute best horror movie that I’ve ever seen, mainly because of the smart characters being played and their brilliant acting. I remember seeing it when I was 14 years old not knowing anything about the film and just being consumed by the whole thing pun intended

I'd love to hear you recap The Return of The Thing scrip. It's absolutely criminal it's never been properly released.

A few years ago, I was in a thrift store looking for audio electronics, and I stumbled across a Laserdisc player for less than $10, along with a few Laserdiscs for $1 each. I only recognized one of the discs, and despite not being much of a horror movie fan I picked it up with the player and brought it home -- it was John Carpenter's The Thing. I watched it and loved it. It's a brilliant film, even in letterboxed 480i. Honestly, I don't care that much about resolution. Sometimes low res can hide flaws in a film's special effects and make an experience more immersive (not that there are any real flaws in The Thing's effects -- they're some of the best practical effects I've ever seen). I also think that having such a . . . particular first experience with the film only enhanced the atmosphere.

31:20 This actually sounds like a very interesting concept, I can see why corporate would sabotage it!

14:40 he would be Creole not Cajun, Cajuns are white people of French descent and Creoles are black people of French descent

sad part in the 2011 prequel, is they genuinly had a lot of legendary Norwegian and dannish actors: Stig Hoff and Jan Gunnar being in Kraftidioten and Lilyhammer, Kristofer Hivju being known in Hollywood and that big guy from GOT. Jørgen Langhelle in a cult classic: UNO

I stopped watching Greylock to watch this video about something actually scary. ABSOLUTELY worth it. Great job, Loli, love the video. This vid actually makes me want to go rewatch the film because it’s been a long time since I first saw it. P.S.; Happy belated birthday

26:00 A prequel could have had potential, if it it had been written, directed and acted by Scandinavians. How the prequel spoils itself is that it reveals the monster too early when there is no reason to do that, there has been no instigating situation for everyone to be on edge, so it could have started out very slow, with the Norwegians being unaware that the creature that thawed from the ice is a shapeshifter, so when they are out hunting for it, at first they might just think it's run off into the wilderness and frozen again and it wouldn't be until much later that some of the men start to realise what's going on.

I think Carpenter has stated that the spaceship belonged to an advanced alien species that the thing stowed away on, and upon being attacked by the thing, Earth was where their ship just happened to crash. I also heard that he said that the things iconic scream was it trying to communicate in all of the thousands of languages it had learned, at once. Which means that there could be untold numbers of things out there, currently snuffing out entire advanced civilizations, just waiting for a chance to stumble across our tiny blue marble again. And I think these simple lore statements by Carpenter actually help to amplify the fear factor of the thing. Because even if they did succeed in killing it in this film… It’s still out there, somewhere.

Carpenter's opus magnum

Saul as a recurring character to correct yourself is one of my favorite KZfaq channel bits. Ngl.

Thank you for not mentioning Among Us.

The silhouette was Dick Warlock. I met him at a con this last summer and we had a good talk about it. He doubled for Kurt Russell since his Disney days and was there for that reason.

Easily the best Lovecraft movie, and one of the best movies ever made. Funny how At the mountains of Madness heavily inspired both Alien and The Thing. It really makes you wonder what was the creature goals and what would happen afterwards, would life on Earth survive at all. Personally I assumed that the creature could not care less about humans, and just wanted to go away, I though it was building a spaceship in the basement. The Thing was basically a virus, if it was not frozen in the middle of nowhere, it would transform all life on Earth, there is no way to fight it, so if any part of it gets away, the question would be "how long the apocalypse would last", really classic Lovecraftian story. For all we know, it would spread around the world, build a spaceship and leave, similar to the Roadside picnic aka Stalker. It really shows how believable they made it. You dont really need suspension of disbelief if whole thing is realistic. Uncovering some ancient virus, capable of wiping of humanity is completely possible, so if you watch it with impressionable people, you might say something about current finding in the Antarctica, to imply that the whole thing was basically a documentary. PS. In regards to actors, the dog was the most amazing dog actor I ever saw. I didnt think it was possible to make a dog act this creepy.

Didnt expect to hear bob odenkirk talking about the thing movies

Before I watch, this is one of the top 10 movies out there. It's a good example for what makes a perfect movie.

YAY FINALLY! ALSO! Friend Almighty you are a wonderful creator who deserves so much more recognition than you get, I still remember every second of going through the berserk saga as it came out during the toughest time in my life so far, and it helped me through everything. Your style of review and analysis mixed with your sarcasm makes some of the best vid os on this site

Among Us if it was set during the early-80s.

I just clicked on your newest video to tell you how much I apreciate your berserk material. I 100% agree with everything you say. Gonna start keeping up with all your content.

Honestly the ‘every cell’ thing seems to just be a simplified In the original script there was a process for it to go: make a organ like spear, and that makes another thing from new bodies. How disturbing would it be to have spikes and shit form in the mass of dogs and then finding out later ‘every spike would have become a dog’ And the image of a dozen bodies thrashing in pain and agony while this thing has spears running through them while eating them It would’ve been fantastic and made the deaths seem more gruesome

I like how this and the first Predator are movies where the characters are actually pretty intelligent and capable but just feel astronomical odds. My favorite side character in this movie is probably Windows, since he was one of the first to have to deal with everything first hand, and it made him jumpier and more paranoid as the movie went on. From seeing Bennings get assimilated, to getting attacked and beat by Blair, it makes sense he immediately tries to go for guns and trust how brazen MacCready got. Great movie, and a great review as always. Cheers.

The 2011 prequel would have been better if the crew went with a independent studio that greenlit the original effects and intendent story.

The Thing is one of my favorite movies ever since I first watched it in HS film class. Plus it’s great for scarring your younger siblings with.

The concept of the half goat man thing appeared in the sequel comic books when they’re in South America

Been watching this movie for 30+ years but your video still shed new light on the whole "I'm a pretty light sleeper, Childs!" line; you make a great point about the Thing shying away from leadership positions; previously I thought Norris' rejection of the idea was another way to sow dissent and distrust amongst the rest a-la Palmer's refusal to go with Windows--another great point you make, that he wasn't just trying to sow more dissent and distrust, he was trying to get Childs alone. Thank you SIR

I'm impressed! I've seen the Thing a lot. It was the first Blu-Ray I ever bought. I've seen at least a dozen video breakdowns of it on KZfaq. I even wrote a paper on it in college. But this video hits on several points I had not considered. Well done!

If I remember right, there's a movie called Harbinger Down that used some of the leftover creature parts from The Thing. Not really a great movie but neat practical effects and concepts.

Since you mentioned it in your video: You'll be surprised how entertaining it is to watch/listen to a 'what happened' video to a film you have already watched. It's like talking about a movie without speaking.

A hypothetical scenario that I would FREAKING LOVE re: Carpenter and Dead Space is for him to successfully get a film adaptation going, make it basically a love letter/companion piece to The Thing in aesthetics, character portrayals, etc., and for the final product to be the most profitable and critically successful film he's ever done. ...and then that's his last film. Whether due to passing on, or because he wants to end his directorial career on that, that's it. Close the Loop, we're fucking done here. Given how all the acclaim after the fact doesn't resolve the decades of issues where he made no money and got shat on in-the-moment when his films came out, Carpenter has the saltiest attitude about his success. He's like a curmudgeonly uncle who's gone through so many failures and BS, but he ends up being right at the end of the day. "What good does being right at the end of it all do me?! It doesn't make me the money I need or the praise I deserve when it matters." I love that exchange he had with del Toro about The Thing, so him finally getting that catharsis and then giving a final middle finger to everyone by dying after resounding success for a Dead Space film adaptation would be incredible; it fits John's personality and life perfectly. Maybe that's just me, though. I like a mix of bitter contempt with a somewhat happy-yet-bittersweet ending. Feels pretty Everyman. What do you think, Loli?

My theory is that The Thing used to be a perfect alien being, With superior cells and a brilliant mind. But after crashing on earth, it was reduced to a pile of Gore, and is now but a shadow of it’s former self.

The Thing is my favourite movie of all time, and I think part of why ties into what I think is the only real flaw with the movie: the opening. The ship flying by and heading down to Earth. The first time I ever saw the movie was just flipping through channels and stopping when I saw a dude shooting at a dog from a helicopter. It was so absurd and unexpected that I stopped to see what the hell was going on, and ended up watching the entire movie. And that feeling of not knowing what was going on, being in the exact same situation as the characters, really added a lot to my experience. That opening just kinda gives the whole mystery away. You know that, whatever is going on, it has something to do with space aliens. And I mean sure, it's revealed fairly early on but still, that initial lack of certainty was just perfect.

I'm glad this is a "one and done" movie. It's so compact and tightly written. But the lack of breath (seen) from Childs is that great obscure ending that is one of its main talking points

Wow those practical effects for the prequal were actually amazing

Loved the little fear and hunger edit at the beggining

I saw the thing for the first time last year in the cinema as part of its 40th anniversary, and it was one of the best cinema experiences I've had. It was the 4k remaster of the film so it looked amazing on the big screen as well.

One of my favorite films. The whole idea of some grotesque creature assimilating the people around you is truly terrifying. It takes Invasion of the Body Snatchers to another level, made worse by the fact everyone is trapped in a small building with nowhere to go.

Now I want to see a live action Dead Space movie, directed by John Carpenter! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fond memories of my grand mother “educating me on music and movies” with the original The War Of The Worlds, The Thing, Kiss and Queen Great movie, I literally watch this channel just for self affirmation at this point hahaha

great job going over these three films and bringing up things I hadn't considered about how the minor characters and even the thing itself acted I also just wanted to try and bring to your attention the film Leviathan, it's basically the aquatic version of the thing with Peter Weller, Ernie Hudson, and Daniel Stern And classic Doctor Who also had the serial The Seeds of Doom, it feels like it merged the original and Carpenter's ideas for the thing with the plant alien infecting others, and the alien seeds are found in the Arctic

The Thing really stands-out from other horror films given its cast's intelligence and masculinity.

In my opinion, the best part of the movie, aside from the amazing practical effects and acting obviously, is the fact that we genuinely *don't* have a clear timeline of infection for most of the movie. This combined with certain details being actively kept vague or outright never being disclosed really heightens the dense of paranoia as even all thede years later we still can only guess on when and where someone was infected and what the characters were doing offscreen.

To this day I still don't know which one is the Thing between Loli and Shota.

To all the fans of the thing, you can watch an indie movie harbinger down. It's made by the special effects crew who wanted to make the prequel thing. It's not great, story wise, but it is made with love.

18:08 Haven't seen the movie in a long time but doesn't the other guy with a flamethrower kind of stand there and lets himself be killed after Mccready's malfunctions? The movie is great but that was rather contrived

I used to have a lot of fun with the PS2 game, wonder if I still have it somewhere.

Nice review/explanation. Man that Dead Space lullaby always give me chills. Hope to see a live action film of Dead Space without corporate interference other than funding, but nothing else.

Hey hey, been looking forward to this!

Love your reviews man

Event Horizon review. Please, pretty please.

I was really hoping you went over the comics more but no sweat, great video. I also hate film focus groups.

Oh my, we are getting the remaster to the thing game, I am beyond hyped to play it

Shame that critics rated it that low back then... but this also somehow seems to be typical for cult movies. They just get the appreciation they deserve much later, sometimes too late.

With December just coming around the corner, The Thing is that one film that is absolutely perfect for the snowy season.

Your Berserk review is what made me subscribe. Thank you for your content

Hearing the fear and hunger intro at the start was like the audio equivalent of getting hit with a flash bang.

Love you man. You make pretty good videos.