Splatter Cinema: The Thing
January 7th, 2008 by Curt Holman in Film, InternetFor the latest installment of the monthly Splatter Cinema screenings, the Plaza Theatre presents a film with some of the weirdest gore effects ever made, John Carpenter’s The Thing (10 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8). I admit to being more partial to the original version, The Thing from Another World, produced by Howard Hawks in 1951, but the 1982 Thing has developed a huge cult following over the past 25 years, and is now probably considered one of Carpenter’s best films after Halloween. I remember grossed-out film critics of the time saying things like, “One should not eat before it, and one cannot eat after it.” This line from the Internet Movie Database page might give you a taste: “The flesh-flower that attacks Childs is actually an incredibly detailed effect. Its petals are 12 dog tongues complete with rows of canine teeth. Effects designer Rob Bottin dubbed it the ‘pissed-off cabbage.’”
There’s an amusing six-and-a-half minute novelty version of The Thing, rendered in Lego toys, but the YouTube picture and sound quality aren’t so good, so here’s the straight-up trailer from 1982. Something about the phrase “We found something in the ice!” gives me the chills:
January 7th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I tried really hard to like the older one better, but had too distinct a memory of having seen the Carpenter version first, and in the theater too, no less. I think that made a huge difference. Plus, at the time I hadn’t been much of a horror movie fan (save for the old Frankenstein/Dracula stuff on cable), but Carpenter really hooked me. His use of editing and the creature, plus the witty banter, was awesome.