I was gonna post about John Carpenter's The Thing today, but you know what? I think we need to go OG on this because Carpenter didn't much change the original title sequence for his remake-ening of...
The Thing from Another World (1951)
It's unusual (particularly for the time) that the names of the actors do not appear until the end credits of the film. Instead, it's "The Thing" itself that's the star here, hidden away in the darkness and emerging slowly until it's front and center. This theme is much better utilized in Carpenter's 1982 remake/adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella Who Goes There? In Carpenter's version, the alien entity is able to assimilate and imitate other life forms (man being the warmest place to hide, mind you) until the jig is up and it bursts forth in a big red mess of grue and grossness.
Also, Wilford Brimley. And MacReady's ludicrous oversized novelty sideways cowboy hat! Wait, here I am talking about The Thing instead of The Thing from Another World. Ehhhh SO SUE ME.
The amazing thing about... The Thing.. is that was all practical effects. No CGI. I guess I just miss the old ways, but I seem to like practical effects better.
ReplyDeleteRemember the spider head? Awesome! And the chest monster with the giant teeth! And the dog Thing.
The Thing is by and away my favorite Carpenter movie. That said, TTFAW is incredible too. So spooky. Carpenter is more claustrophobic, but Nyby (Hawks?) seems to work the isolation angle more. By far the best results in horror with a remake.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely the best example of what to do with a remake to actually *improve* on the original film. It's so, so great. A fave for sure!
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorites, from one of my all time favorite directors. He really did figure out ways to improve on the original.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I know it sounds a bit blasphemous, but I didn't really mind that 2011 remake. It absolutely wasn't necessary, but I went in expecting to absolutely loathe it, and came away not hating it all that much. The CGI couldn't hold a candle to the '82 classic though.
Totally agreed. I was entertained!
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