The Thing
57
metacriticBased on 13 Critics
88
Based on 118 Users

Release Date: 1982

DVD Release Date: September 9th, 1998

R |1 hr 48 min

Plot Summary

In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) and the camp doctor (Richard Dysart) lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.

Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, Richard Dysart, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, David Clennon, Keith David

Director: John Carpenter

Genres: Horror , Science fiction

Production Co: Universal Pictures, Turman-Foster Company

Keywords: Survival, Transformation, Escape, Doctor, Tense, 1980s

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 63
    Roger EbertChicago Sun-Times

    The Thing is basically just a geek show, a gross-out movie in which teenagers can dare one another to watch the screen. There's nothing wrong with that; I like being scared and I was scared by many scenes in The Thing. But it seems clear that Carpenter made his choice early on to concentrate on the special effects and the technology and to allow the story and people to become secondary. show more

  • 75
    Bill CosfordMiami Herald

    Carpenter creates an atmosphere in Thing; it's a weird one, an odd landscape and clearly alien territory, but it's entertaining nonetheless. And for those who have not been to a creep show in the last couple of years, The Thing has some very nasty surprises. [25 June 1982, p.D1]

  • 75
    James BerardinelliReelViews

    A paranoia-choked atmosphere is the primary reason why The Thing works as well as it does. The setup is standard stuff, establishing that the characters are isolated and can expect no help from the outside. The realization there could be an alien among them, and any one of them might not be human, is what launches The Thing into a spiral of escalating tension. show more

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