2D Class Week 13 Film 6 – The Thing

This week we watched The Thing.

Due to unfortunate circumstances I was unable to watch the full movie in class, however I've seen the movie numerous times before.

1. Who was the director of the film? What other movies has this director produced?
The director was John Carpenter, who made films such as: Escape from L.A., Big Trouble in Little China and Halloween. Interestingly enough, in the movie Halloween there are numerous instances of characters watching the original 1951 The Thing From Another World.

2. Artistically, what did you like about this film?
The practical effects are incredible and the monster designs as well. The dogs are always the most horrific to me, since they're still alive as they're being pulled into this creature. Some of the lighting is very interesting too, with a strong use of orange and blue. The camera is unsteady but it suits this movie well and it's something John Carpenter does often. There are some cheesy parts but it just adds to it in my opinion.

3. Who is the thing at the end of the movie?
There's no technically direct answer and the open ending of the movie is the point; to inspire paranoia and speculation. However, someone pointed out to me not long ago that MacReady is filling flasks up with gasoline and at the end of the movie he offers it to Childs. Childs drinks it and is unaffected, because as The Thing, he believes it's normal human behavior and that this is why MacReady laughs. So, I would say Childs is the The Thing at the end.

But it doesn't really matter, because in the end none of them survive.