The Thing Movie Review

One of the best of the Cold War allegories and a potent lesson to those who won't eat their vegetables. Sci-fi classic begins with an alien spacecraft embedded in the Artic ice and the creature (Arness as the killer carrot), discovered by a research team. The critter is accidentally thawed and then wreaks havoc, sucking the life from sled dog and scientist alike. It's a giant seed-dispersing vegetable run amuck, unaffected by missing body parts, bullets, or cold. In other words, Big Trouble. Excellent direction – assisted substantially by producer Hawks – and supported by strong performances, sparkling dialogue, and a machine-gun pace. Even more important is the film's atmosphere of frozen claustrophobia and isolation. Available colorized (don't do it). Remade in 1982 and often copied. Loosely based on “Who Goes There?” by John Campbell. AKA: The Thing From Another World.

1951 87m/B James Arness, Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Dewey Martin; D: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks; W: Charles Lederer; M: Dimitri Tiomkin. VHS, Beta, LV MED, TTC, MLB