If anyone ever says as a blanket statement that all remakes suck, just remind them that one of the greatest sci-fi/horror films ever made was a remake. A remake of the Howard Hawks produced The Thing From Another World, John Carpenter’s The Thing is a bonafide classic that surpasses its original by leaps and bounds.
After rescuing a dog from being attacked by armed Norwegians, a research outpost in the Antarctic begins experiencing strange happenings. The dog was actually an alien entity, able to shift shapes into any form. Before long loyalties are tested as nobody can be sure as to who is really who.
Coming in the midst of John Carpenter’s hot streak – coming between Escape from New York and Christine – The Thing went through extensive production issues. A recent blog went over the issues with early cuts of the film, illustrating the specific problems and how they were changed from one cut to the next. The time it took to fix the issues with the film is a luxury that just isn’t available to modern filmmakers. With release dates announced before a script is ever written, filmmakers aren’t given the chance to correct any errors in their work. If only they were, more fiascos might be turned into masterpieces, as was the case with The Thing.
With an unnecessary remake/prequel – I’m still not entirely sure – to come out a few years ago, The Thing is still in the consciousness of movie fans. With disturbing and amazing practical effects, The Thing provides gross-out scares as well as prolonged sequences of unbearable tension. Its ending ambiguous, The Thing is still debated among horror fans to this day.
//
