Click here to copy URL

The Thing

1982

John Carpenter

Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, David Clennon ...

7.3

50,819

Sci-Fi. Horror. Fantasy In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a norwegian 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, from unknown origin, can assume the shape of its victims.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"It's pretty scary and entertaining stuff (...) The tension of that beginning is superb, and the way the sinister dog itself is built into the story is inspired (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Tom Huddleston Time Out	"[It] has emerged as one of our most potent modern terrors, combining the icy-cold chill of suspicion and uncertainty with those magnificently imaginative, pre-CG effects blowouts (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Vincent Canby The New York Times	"Carpenter has demonstrated that he can make good, comparatively plain, old-fashioned scare movies and effective suspense thrillers, but he seems to lose his own head when he combines two or more genres, as he [does here]."
		James Berardinelli ReelViews	"This is one of those rare remakes that remains faithful to the premise of the original but does something unique with the concept (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"Because this material has been done before, and better, especially in the original 'The Thing' and 'Alien', there's no need to see this version.(…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Adam Smith Empire	"A compelling exercise in suspense (...) [The] groundbreaking prosthetic make-up effects provide release, albeit for some a release of their lunch (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Dave Turner The Guardian	"Throughout 'The Thing', man and creature merge in horrific, bloody contortions that would give Hieronymus Bosch nightmares, and almost everyone dies horribly. Brilliant."
		Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Carpenter's direction is slow, dark, and stately; he seems to be aiming for an enveloping, novelistic kind of effect, but all he gets is heaviness."
		Adam Smith Empire	"A peerless masterpiece of relentless suspense, retina-wrecking visual excess and outright, nihilistic terror (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"

Return to movie

We encourage you to check the reviews' original sources. Intellectual property rights of these reviews belong to their authors and/or the correspondent media from which they have been extracted. If you'd like to help us to add more reviews to your favorite movies, just send us a message.