THe Thing - Carpenter's ode to Lovecraftian stories.

The Thing is horror mayhem. It is an ode to H.P. Lovecraft's work and horror for a modern generation which broke new ground in horror and was under-appreciated at the time. It's a horror film made with a lot of skill and precision and not some other generic alien hyper-gore fest.

The practical effects by Rob Bottin and Sam Winston are stunning and the best practical work in a horror movie through the usage of mayo, strawberry jam, and foam latus which creates a design of smorgasbord of gooey accouterment which gives the alien a creepy design. The look of the alien is a testament to their work as it depicts the grotesque and insidious side of this mysterious alien which lends to this movie's quality.

The usage of smash cuts and long tracking shots with silent musical cues enhance this movie's dread and nihilistic tone while creating paranoia. The jumpscare scenes are well executed and weaved as a nice tapestry into this movie. The technical work by John Carpenter and his production team is skillful, restrained, insidious, and remorseless. The monster's design is iconic and is cleverly used as an evolving lifeform to instill dread and paranoia.

The story is barebones and simple with a crew of scientists being isolated in a research station. The performances are strong across the board with Kurt Russel being a standout. The performances are succinct and serviceable. The terror and hysteric performances are nailed by the actors through the use of facial acting and body movement. The performances are enhanced by the real problems on the set with them being faced in a cold environment. This enhances the performances and adds a layer to an iconic horror movie.

The kills are creative and inventive with the cutting-edge technology and the envelope of practical effects being pushed. The backstory of the alien is mysterious to bolster the threat of the movie and it pays off. The storytelling is succinct and simple and it works in its favour.

Overall The Thing has aged like a fine wine and is appreciated a lot by modern audiences for its ahead of time revolutionary effects and making of horror which is influential to this day.