The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella "Who Goes There?", it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and features A.
Introduction
The Thing (1982 film)
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
John Carpenter John Carpenter. John Carpenter John Carpenter
when did the movie the thing come out
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1982
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what is the movie about?
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It tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms.
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who wrote it?
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Bill Lancaster.
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who is the director?
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In August 1979, Lancaster was contacted again. By this time he had read the original "Who Goes There?" novella, and Carpenter had become involved in the project. Lancaster was hired to write the script after describing his vision for the film, and his intention to stick closely to the original story, to Carpenter, who was a fan of Lancaster's work on "The Bad News Bears" (1976). Lancaster conceived several key scenes in the film, including the Norris-Thing biting Dr. Copper, and the use of blood tests to identify the Thing, which Carpenter cited as the reason he wanted to work on the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
Carpenter did not want to write the project himself, after recently completing work on "Escape from New York" (1981), and having struggled to complete a screenplay for "The Philadelphia Experiment" (1984). He was wary of taking on writing duties, preferring to let someone else do it. Once Carpenter was confirmed as the director, several writers were asked to script "The Thing", including Richard Matheson, Nigel Kneale, and Deric Washburn. Bill Lancaster initially met with Turman, Foster and Cohen in 1977, but he was given the impression that they wanted to closely replicate "The Thing from Another World", and he did not want to remake the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella "Who Goes There?", it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and features A.
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
Drew Struzan designed the film's poster. He completed it in 24 hours, based only on a briefing, knowing little about the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Visuals and lighting
Helicopter pilot. Likes chess. Hates the cold. The pay is good." Lancaster aimed to create an ensemble piece where one person emerged as the hero, instead of having a Doc Savage-type hero from the start. Lancaster wrote approximately 30 to 40 pages, but eventually struggled writing the film's second act and it took him several months to complete the script. After it was finished, Lancaster and Carpenter spent a weekend in northern California refining the script, each having different takes on how a character should sound, and comparing their ideas for scenes. Lancaster's script opted to keep the creature largely concealed throughout the film, and it was Bottin who convinced Carpenter to make it more visible to have a greater impact on the audience.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
Lancaster said he found some difficulty in translating "Who Goes There?" to film, as it features very little action. He also made some significant changes to the story, such as reducing the number of characters from 37 to 12. Lancaster said that 37 was excessive and would be difficult for audiences to follow, leaving little screen time for characterization. He also opted to alter the story's structure, choosing to open his in the middle of the action, instead of using a flashback as in the novella. Several characters were modernized for contemporary audiences; MacReady, originally a meteorologist, became a tough loner described in the script as "35.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
When "The Thing" did not match the studio's financial expectations, Universal replaced Carpenter with Mark L. Lester and both drafts were scrapped in favor of Stanley Mann's draft. Lancaster is featured in the documentary "", found on the collector's edition DVD of "The Thing". Lancaster states that he did not think "Who Goes There?" was a "great" story, but that he responded to the tale's sense of claustrophobia and paranoia. The documentary is dedicated to him.
Bill Lancaster | Career
Contemporary review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes offers an 84% approval rating from 64 critics—an average rating of 7.39/10, which provides the consensus, "Grimmer and more terrifying than the 1950s take, John Carpenter's "The Thing" is a tense sci-fi thriller rife with compelling tension and some remarkable make-up effects." The film also has a score of 57 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 13 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical reassessment
Pieces of Morricone's unused score for "The Thing" were repurposed for "The Hateful Eight". Tarantino also cited "The Thing" as an inspiration for his 1992 film "Reservoir Dogs". The film is screened annually in February to mark the beginning of winter at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. In January 2010, "Clarkesworld Magazine" published "The Things," a short story by Peter Watts told from the Thing's point of view; it is unable to understand why humans are hostile toward it. The story received a 2011 Hugo Award nomination. In 2017, a 400-page art book was released featuring art inspired by "The Thing", with contributions from 350 artists, a foreword by director Eli Roth, and an afterword by Carpenter.
The Thing (1982 film) | Cultural impact
Carpenter said that Lancaster's experience writing ensemble pieces did not emphasize single characters. Since "Halloween," several horror films had replicated many of the scare elements of that film, something Carpenter wanted to move away from for "The Thing." He removed scenes from Lancaster's script that had been filmed, such as a body suddenly falling into view at the Norwegian camp, which he felt were too clichéd. Approximately three minutes of scenes were filmed from Lancaster's script that elaborated on the characters' backgrounds. A scene with MacReady absentmindedly inflating a blow-up doll while watching the Norwegian tapes was filmed but was not used in the finished film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
While "The Thing" was not initially successful, it was able to find new audiences and appreciation on home video, and later on television. Sidney Sheinberg edited a version of the film for network television broadcast, which added narration and a different ending, where the Thing imitates a dog and escapes the ruined camp. Carpenter disowned this version, and theorized that Sheinberg had been mad at him for not taking his creative ideas on board for the theatrical cut. "The Thing" was released on DVD in 1998 and featured additional content, such as "The Thing: Terror Takes Shape"—a detailed documentary on the production, deleted and alternate scenes, and commentary by Carpenter and Russell.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
An HD DVD version followed in 2006 containing the same features, and a Blu-ray version in 2008 featuring just the Carpenter and Russell commentary, and some behind-the-scenes videos available via picture-in-picture during the film. A 2016 Blu-ray release featured a 2K resolution restoration of the film, overseen by Dean Cundey. As well as including previous features such as the commentary and "Terror Takes Shape", it added interviews with the cast and crew, and segments that focus on the music, writing, editing, Ploog's artwork, an interview with Alan Dean Foster, who wrote the film's novelization, and the television broadcast version of "The Thing" that runs 15 minutes shorter than the theatrical cut.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
The lack of information about the film's special effects drew the attention of film exhibitors in early 1982. They wanted reassurance that "The Thing" was a first-rate production capable of attracting audiences. Cohen and Foster, with a specially employed editor and Universal's archive of music, put together a 20-minute showreel emphasizing action and suspense. They used available footage, including alternate and extended scenes not in the finished film, but avoided revealing the special effects as much as possible. The reaction from the exclusively male exhibitors was generally positive, and Universal executive Robert Rehme told Cohen that the studio was counting on "The Thing"s success, as they expected "E.T.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
This is why I've called you." ... Then when he showed me the film, later when I wrote the music, we didn't exchange ideas. He ran away, nearly ashamed of showing it to me. I wrote the music on my own without his advice. Naturally, as I had become quite clever since 1982, I've written several scores relating to my life. And I had written one, which was electronic music. And [Carpenter] took the electronic score. Carpenter said:
The Thing (1982 film) | Music
"Slant Magazine"s John Lingsan said the men display a level of post-Vietnam War (1955–1975) "fatigued counterculturalism"—the rejection of conventional social norms, each defined by their own eccentricities. Lancaster's script eschews female characters because he believed that a female character would be a love interest who inevitably gets in the way. "The Atlantic"s Noah Berlatsky said that unlike typical horror genre films, females are excluded, allowing the Thing to be identified as a fear of not being a man, or being homosexual. Indeed, several assimilations involve penetration, tentacles, and in Norris's case, opened up at the stomach to birth his own replica.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
"The Washington Post"s Gary Arnold said it was a witty touch to open with the Thing having already overcome the Norwegian base, defeating the type of traps seen in the 1951 version, while "New York"s David Denby lamented that the Thing's threat is only shown externally, without focusing on what it is like for someone who thinks they have been taken over. Roger Ebert considered the film to be scary, but offering nothing original beyond the special effects, while "The New York Times"s Vincent Canby said it was entertaining only if the viewer needed to see spider-legged heads and dog autopsies.
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical response
The week before its release, Carpenter promoted the film with clips on "Late Night with David Letterman". In 1981, horror magazine "Fangoria" held a contest encouraging readers to submit drawings of what the Thing would look like. Winners were rewarded with a trip to Universal Studios. On its opening day, a special screening was held at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, presided over by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, with free admission for those in costume as monsters.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
Lancaster's original ending had both MacReady and Childs turn into the Thing. In the spring, the characters are rescued by helicopter, greeting their saviors with "Hey, which way to a hot meal?". Carpenter thought this ending was too shallow. In total, Lancaster completed four drafts of the screenplay. The novella concludes with the humans clearly victorious, but concerned that birds they see flying toward the mainland may have been infected by the Thing. Carpenter opted to end the film with the survivors slowly freezing to death to save humanity from infection, believing this to be the ultimate heroic act. Lancaster wrote this ending, which eschews a "The Twilight Zone"-style twist or the destruction of the monster, as he wanted to instead have an ambiguous moment between the pair, of trust and mistrust, fear and relief.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
The Thing is a 2011 science fiction horror film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., written by Eric Heisserer, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Eric Christian Olsen. It is a direct prequel to the 1982 film of the same name by John Carpenter, which was an adaptation of the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell. It tells the story of a team of Norwegian and American scientists who discover a parasitic alien buried deep in the ice of Antarctica, realizing too late that it is still alive. "The Thing" premiered on October 10, 2011 and was released on October 14, 2011.
The Thing (2011 film) | Introduction
Several filmmakers have spoken of their appreciation for "The Thing" or cited its influence on their own work, including Guillermo del Toro, James DeMonaco, J. J. Abrams, Neill Blomkamp, David Robert Mitchell, Rob Hardy, Steven S. DeKnight, and Quentin Tarantino. In 2011, "The New York Times" asked prominent horror filmmakers what film they had found the scariest. Two, John Sayles and Edgar Wright, cited "The Thing". The 2015 Tarantino film "The Hateful Eight" takes numerous cues from "The Thing", from featuring Russell in a starring role, to replicating themes of paranoia and mistrust between characters restricted to a single location, and even duplicating certain angles and layouts used by Carpenter and Cundey.
The Thing (1982 film) | Cultural impact
Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles. Production began in the mid-1970s as a faithful adaptation of the novella, following 1951's "The Thing from Another World". "The Thing" went through several directors and writers, each with different ideas on how to approach the story. Filming lasted roughly 12 weeks, beginning in August 1981, and took place on refrigerated sets in Los Angeles as well as in Juneau, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia. Of the film's $15million budget, $1.5million was spent on Rob Bottin's creature effects, a mixture of chemicals, food products, rubber, and mechanical parts turned by his large team into an alien capable of taking on any form.
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
Developed in an era of cold-war tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, the film refers to the threat of nuclear annihilation by mutually assured destruction. "Diabolique"s Daniel Clarkson Fisher notes that MacReady destroys the chess computer after being checkmated, and similarly vows to destroy the Thing, even at the expense of the team. The Cold War-style isolationism hurts the group, while a lack of trust destroys it. Screen Rants Michael Edward Taylor draws allusions between "The Thing" and the accusatory Red Scares and McCarthyism, as the film conveys an anti-communist fear of infection of civilized areas that will lead to assimilation and imitation.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
"The Thing" was storyboarded extensively by Mike Ploog and Mentor Huebner before filming began. Their work was so detailed that many of the film's shots replicate the image layout completely. Cundey pushed for the use of anamorphic format aspect ratio, believing that it allowed for placing several actors in an environment, and making use of the scenic vistas available, while still creating a sense of confinement within the image. It also enabled the use of negative space around the actors to imply something may be lurking just offscreen. Principal photography began on August 24, 1981, in Juneau, Alaska. Filming lasted approximately 12 weeks.
The Thing (1982 film) | Filming
The State of Things () is a 1982 film directed by Wim Wenders. It tells the story of a film crew stuck in Portugal after the production runs out of film stock and money. The director travels to Los Angeles in search of his missing producer.
The State of Things (film) | Introduction
Universal in turn acquired the rights to remake the film from Stark, resulting in him being given an executive producer credit on all print advertisements, posters, television commercials, and studio press material. John Carpenter was first approached about the project in 1976 by co-producer and friend Stuart Cohen, but Carpenter was mainly an independent film director, so Universal chose "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) director Tobe Hooper as they already had him under contract. The producers were ultimately unhappy with Hooper and his writing partner Kim Henkel's concept. After several more failed pitches by different writers, and attempts to bring on other directors, such as John Landis, the project was put on hold.
The Thing (1982 film) | Development
Carpenter, a fan of Hawks's adaptation, paid homage to it in "Halloween", and he watched "The Thing from Another World" several times for inspiration before filming began. Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey first worked together on "Halloween", and "The Thing" was their first big-budget project for a major film studio.
The Thing (1982 film) | Development
Russell described the all-male story as interesting, since the men had no one to posture for without women. Foster, Franco, and Lancaster, along with other members of the crew, make a cameo appearance in a recovered photograph of the Norwegian team. Camera operator Ray Stella stood in for the shots where needles were used to take blood, telling Carpenter that he could do it all day. Franco also played the Norwegian wielding a rifle and hanging out of the helicopter during the opening sequence. Anita Dann served as casting director.
The Thing (1982 film) | Casting
Development of the film began in the mid-1970s when producers David Foster and Lawrence Turman suggested to Universal Pictures an adaptation of the 1938 John W. Campbell novella "Who Goes There?". It had been loosely adapted once before in Howard Hawks's and Christian Nyby's 1951 film "The Thing from Another World", but Foster and Turman wanted to develop a project that stuck more closely to the source material. Screenwriters Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins held the rights to make an adaptation, but passed on the opportunity to make a new film, so Universal obtained the rights from them. In 1976, Wilbur Stark had purchased the remake rights to 23 RKO Pictures films, including "The Thing from Another World", from three Wall Street financiers who did not know what to do with them, in exchange for a return when the films were produced.
The Thing (1982 film) | Development
The plot was criticized as "boring", and undermined by the special effects. The "Los Angeles Times"s Linda Gross said that "The Thing" was "bereft, despairing, and nihilistic", and lacking in feeling, meaning the characters' deaths did not matter. Spencer said it featured sloppy continuity, lacked pacing, and was devoid of warmth or humanity. David Ansen of "Newsweek" felt the film confused the use of effects with creating suspense, and that it lacked drama by "sacrificing everything at the altar of gore". The "Chicago Reader"s Dave Kehr considered the dialogue to be banal and interchangeable, making the characters seem and sound alike.
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical response
The scene called for a set to be built on one of Universal's largest stages, with sophisticated hydraulics, dogs, and flamethrowers, but it was deemed too costly to produce. A scene was filmed with Bennings being murdered by an unknown assailant, but it was felt that assimilation, leading to his death, was not explained enough. Short on time, and with no interior sets remaining, a small set was built, Maloney was covered with K-Y Jelly, orange dye, and rubber tentacles. Monster gloves for a different creature were repurposed to demonstrate partial assimilation. Carpenter filmed multiple endings for "The Thing", including a "happier" ending because editor Todd Ramsay thought that the bleak, nihilistic conclusion would not test well with audiences.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
the Extra-Terrestrial", the audience's silence at a "The Thing" trailer caused Foster to remark, "We're dead". The response to public pre-screenings of "The Thing" resulted in the studio changing the somber, black-and-white advertising approved by the producers to a color image of a person with a glowing face. The tagline was also changed from "Man is the warmest place to hide"—written by Stephen Frankfort, who wrote the "Alien" tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream"—to "The ultimate in alien terror," trying to capitalize on "Alien"s audience. Carpenter attempted to make a last-minute change of the film's title to "Who Goes There?", to no avail.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
The film received negative reviews on its release, and hostility for its cynical, anti-authoritarian tone and graphic special effects. "Cinefantastique" printed an issue with "The Thing" on its cover asking, "Is this the most hated movie of all time?" Some reviewers were dismissive of the film, calling it the "quintessential moron movie of the 80's," "instant junk," and a "wretched excess". "Starlog"s Alan Spencer called it a "cold and sterile" horror movie attempting to cash in on the genre audience, against the "optimism of "E.T.", the reassuring return of "Star Trek II", the technical perfection of "Tron", and the sheer integrity of "Blade Runner"".
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical response
Several writers developed drafts for "The Thing" before Carpenter became involved, including "Logan's Run" (1967) writer William F. Nolan, novelist David Wiltse, and Hooper and Henkel, whose draft was set at least partially underwater, and which Cohen described as a "Moby-Dick"-like story in which "The Captain" did battle with a large, non-shapeshifting creature. As Carpenter said in a 2014 interview, "they were just trying to make it work". The writers left before Carpenter joined the project. He said the scripts were "awful", as they changed the story into something it was not, and ignored the chameleon-like aspect of the Thing.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
"The Thing" was released in the United States on June 25, 1982. During its opening weekend, the film earned $3.1million from 840 theaters—an average of $3,699 per theater—finishing as the number eight film of the weekend behind supernatural horror "Poltergeist" ($4.1million), which was in its fourth weekend of release, and ahead of action film "Megaforce" ($2.3million). It dropped out of the top 10 grossing films after three weeks. It ended its run earning a total of $19.6million against its $15million budget, making it only the 42nd highest-grossing film of 1982. It was not a box office failure, nor was it a hit.
The Thing (1982 film) | Box office
It was filmed as "The Thing from Another World" (1951), "The Thing" (1982), and again as "The Thing" (2011).
John W. Campbell | Writing career
The team also made use of the flamethrowers and magenta-hued flares used by the actors to create dynamic lighting. The team originally wanted to shoot the film in black and white, but Universal was reluctant as it could affect their ability to sell the television rights for the film. Instead, Cundey suggested muting the colors as much as possible. The inside of the sets was painted in neutral colors such as gray, and many of the props were also painted gray, while the costumes were a mix of somber browns, blues, and grays. They relied on the lighting to add color.
The Thing (1982 film) | Visuals and lighting
Ennio Morricone composed the film's score, as Carpenter wanted "The Thing" to have a European musical approach. Carpenter flew to Rome to speak with Morricone to convince him to take the job. By the time Morricone flew to Los Angeles to record the score, he had already developed a tape filled with an array of synthesizer music because he was unsure what type of score Carpenter wanted. Morricone wrote complete separate orchestral and synthesizer scores and a combined score, which he knew was Carpenter's preference. Carpenter picked a piece, closely resembling his own scores, that became the main theme used throughout the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Music
Several scenes in the script were omitted from the film, sometimes because there was too much dialogue that slowed the pace and undermined the suspense. Carpenter blamed some of the issues on his directorial method, noting that several scenes appeared to be repeating events or information. Another scene featuring a snowmobile chase pursuing dogs was removed from the shooting script as it would have been too expensive to film. One scene present in the film, but not the script, features a monolog by MacReady. Carpenter added this partly to establish what was happening in the story, and because he wanted to highlight Russell's heroic character after taking over the camp.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
"The Thing" received nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best Horror Film and Best Special Effects, but lost to "Poltergeist" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", respectively. The film was nominated in the Razzie Awards for Worst Musical Score.
The Thing (1982 film) | Accolades
The Only Thing (also known as Four Flaming Days) is a 1925 American silent romantic drama film starring Eleanor Boardman. The film's scenario was written by author Elinor Glyn (who also oversaw the film's production), and was based on a story adapted from Glyn's novel of the same name. It was the first film Jack Conway directed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he remained for until his retirement in 1948. The film is also notable for featuring a young Joan Crawford in her second film role playing a minor part as a lady in waiting.
The Only Thing | Introduction
That Certain Thing is a 1928 silent film comedy directed by Frank Capra. It was Capra's first film for Harry Cohn's Columbia Pictures.
That Certain Thing | Introduction
In the years following its release, critics and fans have reevaluated "The Thing" as a milestone of the horror genre. A prescient review by Peter Nicholls in 1992, called "The Thing" "a black, memorable film [that] may yet be seen as a classic". It has been called one of, if not the best film directed by Carpenter. John Kenneth Muir called it "Carpenter's most accomplished and underrated directorial effort," and critic Matt Zoller Seitz said it "is one of the greatest and most elegantly constructed B-movies ever made". Trace Thurman described it as one of the best films ever, and in 2008, "Empire" magazine selected it as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time, at number 289, calling it "a peerless masterpiece of relentless suspense, retina-wrecking visual excess and outright, nihilistic terror".
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical reassessment
Since its release, cultural historians and critics have attempted to understand what led to "The Thing"s initial failure to connect with audiences. In a 1999 interview, Carpenter said audiences rejected "The Thing" for its nihilistic, depressing viewpoint at a time when the United States was in the midst of a recession. When it opened, it was competing against the critically and commercially successful "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" ($619million), a more family-friendly film released two weeks earlier that offered a more optimistic take on alien visitation. Carpenter described it as the complete opposite of his film. "The Thing" opened on the same day as the science fiction film "Blade Runner", which debuted as the number two film that weekend with a take of $6.1million and went on to earn $33.8million.
The Thing (1982 film) | Box office
"The Thing" was released in 1982 to very negative reviews. It was described as "instant junk", "a wretched excess", and proposed as the most-hated film of all time by film magazine "Cinefantastique". Reviews both praised the special effects achievements and criticized their visual repulsiveness, while others found the characterization poorly realised. The film earned $19.6million during its theatrical run. Many reasons have been cited for its failure to impress audiences: competition from films such as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", which offered an optimistic take on alien visitation; a summer that had been filled with successful science fiction and fantasy films; and an audience living through a recession, diametrically opposed to "The Thing"s nihilistic tone.
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
A Guy Thing is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Chris Koch and starring Jason Lee, Julia Stiles and Selma Blair.
A Guy Thing | Introduction
Campbell, Jr.'s "Who Goes There?"". Jim Vejvoda of IGN Movies also rated the film two-and-a-half out of five, saying, "This incarnation of "The Thing" is much like the creature it depicts: An insidious, defective mimic of the real, er, thing. It's not an entirely lost cause, but it is a needless one." Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, the same rating he gave the 1982 film. In Patrick Sauriol of Coming Attractions' review, he states, "Stack it up against John Carpenter's version and it looks less shiny, but let's face it, if you’re that kind of Thing fan you’re going to go see the new movie anyway.
The Thing (2011 film) | Reception
The impact on Carpenter was immediate—he lost the job of directing the 1984 science fiction horror film "Firestarter" because of "The Thing"s poor performance. His previous success had gained him a multiple-film contract at Universal, but the studio opted to buy him out of it instead. He continued making films afterward but lost confidence, and did not openly talk about "The Thing"s failure until a 1985 interview with "Starlog", where he said, "I was called 'a pornographer of violence' ... I had no idea it would be received that way ... "The Thing" was just too strong for that time.
The Thing (1982 film) | Aftermath
Unfortunately, the film was fraught with problems throughout its production. Clayton and Bradbury reportedly fell out after the director brought in British writer John Mortimer for an uncredited rewrite of the screenplay. Clayton made the film as a dark thriller, which saw him to return to themes he had explored in earlier films – the supernatural, and the exposure of children to evil.
Jack Clayton | "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (1983)
Whole New Thing is a 2005 Canadian film directed by Amnon Buchbinder. Whole New Thing may also refer to:
Whole New Thing (disambiguation) | Introduction
A 4K resolution restoration was released in 2017 on Blu-ray, initially as a United Kingdom exclusive with a limited run of 8,000 units. The restoration was created using the original film negative, and was overseen by Carpenter and Cundey. MCA released the soundtrack for "The Thing" in 1982. Varèse Sarabande re-released it in 1991 on compact disc and Compact Cassette. These versions eventually ceased being manufactured. In 2011, Howarth and Larry Hopkins restored Morricone's score using updated digital techniques, and arranged each track in the order it appears in the film. The album also includes tracks composed by Carpenter and Howarth for the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
Things (stylized as "THINGS") is a 1989 Canadian direct-to-video horror film directed by Andrew Jordan and written by Jordan and Barry J. Gillis. It is considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.
Things (film) | Introduction
One Last Thing... is a 2005 comedy-drama film produced by HDNet Films and released by Magnolia Pictures. It was screened at the Toronto Film Festival on September 12, 2005 and had a limited release in the United States on May 5, 2006. It was directed by Alex Steyermark and written by Barry Stringfellow.
One Last Thing... | Introduction
The play again was directed by Gilbert Miller and starred Holbrook Blinn.
The Play's the Thing (play) | Productions
The central theme of "The Thing" concerns paranoia and mistrust. Fundamentally, the film is about the erosion of trust in a small community, instigated by different forms of paranoia caused by the possibility of someone not being who they say they are, or that your best friend may be your enemy. It represents the distrust that humans always have for somebody else and the fear of betrayal by those we know and, ultimately, our bodies. The theme remains timely because the subject of paranoia adapts to the age. "The Thing" focuses on being unable to trust one's peers, but this can be interpreted as distrust of entire institutions.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
In describing the production, Self said, "Chris was the director in our eyes, but Howard was the boss in our eyes".
The Thing from Another World | Director
The doll would later appear as a jump scare with Nauls. Other scenes featured expanded or alternate deaths for various characters. In the finished film, Fuchs's charred bones are discovered, revealing he has died offscreen, but an alternate take sees his corpse impaled on a wall with a shovel. Nauls was scripted to appear in the finale as a partly assimilated mass of tentacles, but in the film he simply disappears. Carpenter struggled with a method of conveying to the audience what assimilation by the creature actually meant. Lancaster's original set piece of Bennings's death had him pulled beneath a sheet of ice by the Thing, before resurfacing in different areas in various stages of assimilation.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
The film was a commercial flop, grossing $31.5 million against a $38 million budget, with mixed reviews from critics.
The Thing (2011 film) | Introduction
Carpenter gave his approval to restore the ambiguous ending, but a scream was inserted over the outpost explosion to posit the monster's death. Universal executive Sidney Sheinberg disliked the ending's nihilism and, according to Carpenter, said, "Think about how the audience will react if we see the [Thing] die with a giant orchestra playing". Carpenter later noted that both the original ending and the ending without Childs tested poorly with audiences, which he interpreted as the film simply not being heroic enough.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
The music composed for the film by Marco Beltrami was released in October 11, 2011. The soundtrack was released under the label Varèse Sarabande. AllMusic rated the album 3.5/5 saying, "Composer Marco Beltrami's appropriately tense and brooding score for director Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.'s 2011 [prequel to] "The Thing" dutifully echoes Ennio Morricone's stark score for the original version, which in its own way echoed the soundtrack work of that film's director, John Carpenter."
The Thing (2011 film) | Soundtrack
It's your Thing is an independently filmed 1970 concert film funded by the Isley Brothers. The film was directed by Mike Gargiulo and the production was supervised by Betty Sperber.
It's Your Thing (film) | Introduction
He wanted to try filming the creature at fast and slow speeds thinking this would create a more interesting visual effect, but they were unable to accomplish this at the time. For the rest of the set, Cundey created a contrast by lighting the interiors with warmer lights hung overhead in conical shades so that they could still control the lighting and have darkened areas on set. The outside was constantly bathed in a cold, blue light that Cundey had discovered being used on airport runways. The reflective surface of the snow and the blue light helped create the impression of coldness.
The Thing (1982 film) | Visuals and lighting
as director and Ronald D. Moore as writer. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. became involved in the project when his first planned feature film, a sequel to the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, a zombie film taking place in Las Vegas written and produced by Zack Snyder, who directed the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, and co-produced by Abraham and Newman, called "Army of the Dead", was cancelled by the studio three months before production began. Needing to start all over again, he asked his agent to see if there was a "The Thing" project in development, since "Alien" and "The Thing" are his favorite films.
The Thing (2011 film) | Development
The Thing from Another World, sometimes referred to as just The Thing, is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, directed by Christian Nyby, produced by Edward Lasker for Howard Hawks' Winchester Pictures Corporation, and released by RKO Pictures. The film stars Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, and Douglas Spencer. James Arness plays The Thing, but he is difficult to recognize in costume and makeup due to both low lighting and other effects used to obscure his features. "The Thing from Another World" is based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell (writing under the pseudonym of Don A.
The Thing from Another World | Introduction
1982 is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Tommy Oliver and starring Hill Harper. It is Oliver's directorial debut. The film is also semi-autobiographical.
1982 (2013 film) | Introduction
To take some pressure off his crew, Bottin enlisted the aid of special effects creator Stan Winston to complete some of the designs, primarily the Dog-Thing. With insufficient time to create a sophisticated mechanical creature, Winston opted to create a hand puppet. A cast was made of makeup artist Lance Anderson's arm and head, around which the Dog-Thing was sculpted in oil-based clay. The final foam-latex puppet, worn by Anderson, featured radio-controlled eyes and cable-controlled legs, and was operated from below a raised set on which the kennel was built. Slime from the puppet would leak onto Anderson during the two days it took to film the scene, and he had to wear a helmet to protect himself from the explosive squibs simulating gunfire.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Richard's Things is a 1980 British drama film directed by Anthony Harvey and starring Liv Ullmann, Amanda Redman and Peter Burton. It is written by Frederic Raphael and based on his novel of the same name. It entered the 37th Venice International Film Festival.
Richard's Things | Introduction
Outside, the temperature was so low that the camera lenses would freeze and break. The crew had to leave the cameras in the freezing temperatures, as keeping them inside in the warmth resulted in foggy lenses that took hours to clear. Filming, greatly dependent on the weather, took three weeks to complete, with heavy snow making it impossible to film on some days. It took eight hours to rig the explosives necessary to destroy the set in the film's finale.
The Thing (1982 film) | Filming
Just as Lovecraft left his creatures undescribed, the Thing can be seen, but its shape is mostly indescribable, beyond the realm of human knowledge. Grey said that MacReady represents a more traditional Hollywood film protagonist, but Blair represents the Lovecraftian protagonist, who succumbs to his fear of the creature, is driven insane by the implications of its nature, and eventually becomes what he fears.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
Room 666 () is a 1982 documentary film directed by German film director Wim Wenders. During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wenders set up a static camera in room 666 of the Hotel Martinez and provided selected film directors a list of questions to answer concerning the future of cinema. Each director is given one 16 mm reel (approximately 11 minutes) to answer the questions. The principal question asked was, "Is cinema a language about to get lost, an art about to die?" Wenders then edited this footage and added an introduction. Directors interviewed include Steven Spielberg, Jean-Luc Godard, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who died less than a month after filming.
Room 666 | Introduction
In 2000, when Universal Interactive began looking through Universal Studios' back-catalogue of feature films with potential for adaptation as video game franchises, they quickly decided one of the most lucrative such intellectual properties was the 1982 film directed by John Carpenter, "The Thing". The film was based on the 1938 John W. Campbell short story "Who Goes There?", which had already been filmed by Howard Hawks in 1951 as "The Thing from Another World". Carpenter's version was the most widely known iteration of the story, however, and the ambiguous ending to the film was seen as particularly attractive in terms of a video game which could explore what happens "after" the events of the film.
The Thing (video game) | Development
During filming of "The Thing", Universal offered John Carpenter the chance to direct the film. Carpenter hired Bill Lancaster to adapt the novel into a screenplay. Stephen King approved of Lancaster's screenplay. Months later, Carpenter hired Bill Phillips to write another version with Richard Dreyfuss in the role of Andy, but when "The Thing" was a financial disappointment, Universal replaced Carpenter with Mark L. Lester. When Lester was hired, he brought Stanley Mann to write a screenplay. Mann's screenplay stayed closer to the novel than the abandoned screenplays that Carpenter had commissioned. Lancaster's father, Burt Lancaster, originally was going to portray Captain Hollister, but had to withdraw following heart surgery; Martin Sheen replaced Lancaster.
Firestarter (film) | Production
Something, Anything is a 2014 American independent film written and directed by Paul Harrill. The film was produced by Ashley Maynor, and stars Ashley Shelton, Bryce Johnson, and Linds Edwards.
Something, Anything | Introduction
A remastered version of the score was released on vinyl on February 23, 2017; a deluxe edition included an exclusive interview with Carpenter. In May 2020, an extended play (EP), "Lost Cues: The Thing", was released. The EP contains Carpenter's contributions to "The Thing"s score; he re-recorded the music because the original masterings were lost.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
Kid-Thing is a 2012 American drama film written and directed by David Zellner. The film was shown in 2012 at various festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival. In the USA, the film was released on May 22, 2013 for cinemas.
Kid-Thing | Introduction
Carpenter insisted on two weeks of rehearsals before filming as he wanted to see how scenes would play out. This was unusual at the time because of the expense involved. Filming then moved to the Universal lot, where the outside heat was over . The internal sets were climate-controlled to to facilitate their work. The team considered building the sets inside an existing refrigerated structure, but were unable to find one large enough. Instead they collected as many portable air conditioners as they could, closed off the stage, and used humidifiers and misters to add moisture to the air. After watching a roughly assembled cut of filming to date, Carpenter was unhappy that the film seemed to feature too many scenes of men standing around talking.
The Thing (1982 film) | Filming
That Certain Something is a 1941 Australian musical film directed by Clarence G. Badger and starring Megan Edwards and Thelma Grigg. The plot concerns an American film director who decides to make a musical in Australia. It was the last film directed by Badger, a noted silent era director.
That Certain Something | Introduction
These two energies were in conflict."
The Thing (2011 film) | Filming and post-production
He wrote at least two scripts for the cancelled "Return of the Thing", a four-hour sequel mini-series to John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic "The Thing". The project was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons.
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick | Life
Stuntman Anthony Cecere stood in for the Palmer-Thing after MacReady sets it on fire and it crashes through the outpost wall.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
"[Those] rumors are not true", Carpenter stated in the interview.
The Thing (2011 film) | Development
The Next Big Thing is a 2001 romantic comedy film starring Marin Hinkle, Chris Eigeman, Jamie Harris, Connie Britton, and Janet Zarish. It was directed by P.J. Posner.
The Next Big Thing (film) | Introduction
The Stuff (also known as Larry Cohen's The Stuff) is a 1985 American satirical science fiction horror film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci, and Paul Sorvino. It was also the last film of noted actor Alexander Scourby.
The Stuff | Introduction
Kobritz and Carpenter had previously collaborated in the 1978 television film "Someone's Watching Me!." Bill Phillips was Carpenter's choice for writer and was brought on shortly after Carpenter arrived. Carpenter was also joined by special effects supervisor Roy Arbogast, who had previously worked with Carpenter in "The Thing" (1982). According to Carpenter, "Christine" was not a film he had planned on directing, saying that he directed the film as "a job" as opposed to a "personal project." He had previously directed "The Thing", which had done poorly at the box office and led to critical backlash. In retrospect, Carpenter stated that upon reading "Christine", he felt that "It just wasn't very frightening.
Christine (1983 film) | Conception
Clark kennels the sled dog, and it soon metamorphoses and absorbs the station dogs. This disturbance alerts the team and Childs uses a flamethrower to incinerate the creature. Blair autopsies the new creature and learns that it can perfectly imitate other organisms. Recovered Norwegian data leads the Americans to a large excavation site containing a partially buried alien spacecraft, and a smaller, human-sized dig site. Norris estimates that the alien ship has been buried for at least 100,000 years. Blair grows paranoid that the creature could assimilate all life on Earth in a matter of years. The station implements controls to reduce the risk of assimilation.
The Thing (1982 film) | Plot
The More Things Change... is a 1986 film directed by Robyn Nevin.
The More Things Change... (film) | Introduction
"The Thing" was followed by "Prince of Darkness" in 1987, and "In the Mouth of Madness" in 1994. All three films are heavily influenced by Carpenter's appreciation for the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
The Thing (1982 film) | Sequels
The Forbidden Thing is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and starring James Kirkwood, Helen Jerome Eddy and Marcia Manon.
The Forbidden Thing | Introduction
He interspersed these with features like "A Question of Adultery" (1958), "The Man Upstairs" (1958), "Danger Within" (1959), "Dentist in the Chair" (1960), "Lies My Father Told Me" (1960), and "Nearly a Nasty Accident" (1961).
Don Chaffey | Director
The Thing with Two Heads is a 1972 American science fiction comedy film directed by Lee Frost and starring Ray Milland, Rosey Grier, Don Marshall, Roger Perry, Kathy Baumann, and Chelsea Brown. Some early visual effects work from Rick Baker is also featured. The movie is known for its soundtrack, produced by MGM Records producer Michael Viner with a rotating cast of studio musicians that he called the Incredible Bongo Band.
The Thing with Two Heads | Introduction
Cook created a miniature model of the set and filmed wide-angle shots of the monster in stop motion, but Carpenter was not convinced by the effect and used only a few seconds of it. It took 50 people to operate the actual Blair-Thing puppet. The production intended to use a camera centrifuge—a rotating drum with a fixed camera platform—for the Palmer-Thing scene, allowing him to seem to run straight up the wall and across the ceiling. Again, the cost was too high and the idea abandoned for a stuntman falling into frame onto a floor made to look like the outpost's ceiling.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Anderson pulled the tentacles into the Dog-Thing and reverse motion was used to create the effect of them slithering from its body. Winston refused to be credited for his work, insisting that Bottin deserved sole credit; Winston was given a "thank you" in the credits instead. In the "chest chomp" scene, Dr. Copper attempts to revive Norris with a defibrillator. Revealing himself as the Thing, Norris-Thing's chest transforms into a large mouth that severs Copper's arms. Bottin accomplished this scene by recruiting a double amputee and fitting him with prosthetic arms filled with wax bones, rubber veins and Jell-O. The arms were then placed into the practical stomach mouth where the mechanical jaws clamped down on them, at which point the actor pulled away, severing the false arms.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Wild Thing is a 1987 film directed by Max Reid and starring Robert Knepper and Kathleen Quinlan. The screenplay was by John Sayles and the story by Larry Stamper. The film was distributed by the Atlantic Entertainment Group.
Wild Thing (film) | Introduction
Andrew Horn directed two screenplays he wrote, the feature films "Doomed Love" in 1983 and "The Big Blue" in 1988.
Jim Neu | Introduction
1. Paolo and Vittorio Taviani – "The Night of the Shooting Stars (La notte di San Lorenzo") 2. Philip Kaufman – "The Right Stuff" 3. Ingmar Bergman – "Fanny and Alexander" ("Fanny och Alexander")
1983 National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Director
1. Luis Buñuel – "That Obscure Object of Desire (Cet obscur objet du désir") 2. Steven Spielberg – "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" 3. Woody Allen – "Annie Hall"
1977 National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Director
A novelization of the film was published by Alan Dean Foster in 1982. It is based on an earlier draft of the script and features some differences from the finished film. A scene in which MacReady, Bennings, and Childs chase infected dogs out into the snow is included, and Nauls's disappearance is explained: Cornered by the Blair-Thing, he chooses suicide over assimilation. In 2000, McFarlane Toys released two "Movie Maniacs" figures: the Blair-Thing and the Norris-Thing, including its spider-legged, disembodied head. SOTA Toys released a set featuring a MacReady figure and the Dog-Thing based on the film's kennel scene, and a bust of the Norris-Thing's spider-head.
The Thing (1982 film) | Merchandise
Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. Do the Right Thing may also refer to:
Do the Right Thing (disambiguation) | Introduction
A 2002 video game of the same name was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox to generally favorable reviews. The game's plot follows a team of U.S. soldiers investigating the aftermath of the film's events. In 2005, the Syfy channel planned a four-hour miniseries sequel produced by Frank Darabont and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. The story followed a Russian team who recover the corpses of MacReady and Childs, and remnants of the Thing. The story moves forward 23 years, where the Thing escapes in New Mexico, and follows the attempts at containment. The project never proceeded, and Universal opted to continue with a feature film sequel.
The Thing (1982 film) | Sequels
Bottin's crew also included mechanical aspect supervisor Dave Kelsey, make-up aspect coordinator Ken Diaz, moldmaker Gunnar Ferdinansen, and Bottin's longtime friend Margaret Beserra, who managed painting and hair work. In designing the Thing's different forms, Bottin explained that the creature had been all over the galaxy. This allowed it to call on different attributes as necessary, such as stomachs that transform into giant mouths and spider legs sprouting from heads. Bottin said the pressure he experienced caused him to dream about working on designs, some of which he would take note of after waking. One abandoned idea included a series of dead baby monsters, which was deemed "too gross".
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
The effect of the Norris-Thing's head detaching from the body to save itself took many months of testing before Bottin was satisfied enough to film it. The scene involved a fire effect, but the crew were unaware that fumes from the rubber foam chemicals inside the puppet were flammable. The fire ignited the fumes, creating a large fireball that engulfed the puppet. It suffered only minimal damage after the fire had been put out, and the crew successfully filmed the scene. Stop-motion expert Randall William Cook developed a sequence for the end of the film where MacReady is confronted by the gigantic Blair-Thing.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects