After watching the miserable failure that was Don't be Afraid of the Dark, it was nice to finally watch The Thing, so that I can enjoy a proper horror film. While not flawless, The Thing is a great piece of horror entertainment that I recommend everyone see as soon as they can (even if they have to spend money on it!).
I bought a VHS copy of it on a lark at a thrift store for $1 and could not be happier with the purchase. Not knowing the plot of the movie, I was never motivated to see the movie until I saw the trailer for the 2011 prequel. After seeing that trailer, I was thrilled by the potential of the plot, and ran home to see it.
The plot is so inherently interesting that it makes up for a lot of the flaws in the execution of the film. About a dozen people are on a station in Antartica, and an alien killer is gradually impersonating all of them perfectly so that you could never tell if your best friend was an alien or not. Win. Unfortunately where the movie falls short is the lack of attention to the characters; besides Kurt Russell's character, every other character is very broad, and we lack emotional connection to them. Russell's character is somewhat broad as well, but we spend so much time with him that the audience can't help but develop a connection with him. We care enough to follow him to the end of the movie and hope that he survives.
Movie Rating: 7
PS: While I liked The Thing, Alien has a similar plot and a much better horror movie.
What a shit review of such a seminal film.
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