Harsh Light of Day: Trust's A Tough Thing to Come By These Days

You know, I've been accused of having weird taste in films. I'm okay with that, and do you know why? Because sometimes I just want to watch a guy's arms get violently bitten off by some other guy's chest-mouth.


http://www.outpost31.com/movie/images/thingchest.gif

This time around, we're holding up one of the great sci-fi horror classics to the harsh light of day –– John Carpenter's The Thing (yes, that's the official title).

If you've been living in a fucking cave since 1982, let me give you a quick rundown on the plot. A team of research scientists in Antarctica stumble across a shapeshifting alien, and spend the rest of the movie trying to figure out who's real and who's secretly hiding more tentacles than a Japanese rape hentai. The end result? A delicious blend of some of the best special effects ever captured on film and a nasty little story about paranoia, infection, and, ultimately, death.

The reason why The Thing stands up after all these years comes down to two things. The first is the effects work done by a young Rob Bottin, who worked (and slept on the set) for thirteen months straight. After filming was completed, Carpenter had him admitted to a hospital for exhaustion. It paid off, though. The sequences involving the Thing's transformations, in all their KY-covered, foam rubber, animatronic glory still look great –– in fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a movie made in the last five years or so with such mindbending effects sequences.

The other reason why this movie is great? The damn acting, that's why. A solid ensemble cast with Kurt Russell as MacReady, the main character, do one hell of a good job selling us on sheer terror –– a particularly nice job done by Wilford Brimley (yes, the "diabeetus" guy) as Blair, the biologist who goes absolutely batshit crazy.

Really, this movie isn't about the effects, or the acting –– it's about fear. Most of Carpenter's movies have some heavy-thinking stuff going on behind the gore. In this case, it's paranoia so palpable you can feel it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to assimilate an entire meatloaf. I predict the results will be as messy as in the film.



MisterSatan writes these things whenever he sees a movie he deems worthy, so if you've got recommendations, make sure they're not absolute shit.

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