Movie #26 - The Thing

Okay, I'd pegged this as a prequel, not a remake.  But after catching part of the original The Thing (1981) on telly last night, I have to admit this is both a prequel and a remake rolled into one.  The events in this movie take place one week before the events of the original movie, with different characters, but there is a very high level of similarity to the structure and action of the original.

This movie opens with the discovery of a spacecraft under the ice in Antarctica by a group of Swedish scientists and, nearby, a 'thing' trapped in the ice.  Two American scientists are recruited by the Swedes to assist with the extraction and investigation of the thing from outer space.  One of these is Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim) who quickly becomes our protaganist after the thing comes back to life and starts picking off the crew one by one, by taking over the bodies and copying their DNA.

The movie ends with a direct link to the 1981 film which takes place at the Russian base rather than the Swedish base.  No spoilers allowed so I won't say any more on that.

I think the test of a good thriller is how much the audience is into the movie.  When the guy behind me actually said out loud "Oh no" (which was exactly what I was thinking) when an unexpected person turns out to be hosting the thing really early on, that's when I realised that this movie had its audience in its grip. And it didn't really let up.  The middle part of the film was the most effective, building a huge amount of tension through wondering exactly who was currently hosting the thing but controlling its murderous urges.  I was chewing my nails while the crew were all looking suspicious at each other.  This was dissipated a little as the thing busted out and started to chew through the crew members quite quickly, but the ending picked back up with a tense showdown between monster and the last remaining humans.

What I liked best about this movie was the special effects - they were top notch believable and horrific. I'm very surprised I did not have nightmares that evening!  Effects have really come such a long way and at least one friend is going to kill me for saying so, but it does stand up really well compared to the original/next film.  It's hard to be into something when you're laughing at the special effects.  Good tension and not too much cheesy dialogue. A classy horror movie, perfect for giving you a bit of a chill this Halloween.