The Thing

The Thing

1-26-10

Few films manage to create such a palpable feeling of dread and paranoia within me quite the way that The Thing does. For this reason more than any other it remains one of my favorite films. So I'm watching my brand new blu ray copy of the film...just loving every single moment while at the same time marveling at how rare films like this are these days. First off its a slow build...i mean it takes quite a while for the horror to really kick in. The time spent in the beginning allows for us to get a feel for the characters and there rather unique position in the world. There is a normalcy established that is about to be interrupted by an alien shape shifter. The second thing that struck me was the type of people cast...normal looking guys. If this film were made today most likely we would get an ensemble of beautiful people. Are beautiful people necessarily bad? No, but having normal looking average type guys does lend a sense of authenticity to the otherwise fantastic proceedings about to occur.