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Random Movie Review: Chiller Thrillers “The Thing" 
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Tis the season for snow, the color red and warm fires to keep you warm, the movie I am about to review has all three of those  as well as you’ll come to find out. Tonight I am dropping my review of the classic horror film known as “The Thing", both the original 1982 version and the 2007 remake. Before I get started I really think that this movie has the most usage of fire and flamethrowers ever. Everything in this movie is set on fire, I’m not lying. Burn, baby Burn. Both films revolve around a similar plot, an alien life form (never explained) is found frozen deep within the ice of Antarctica and is uncovered by a group of scientists or workers and the creature wrecks havoc in the most unconventional way. Stealth. The 1982 version focuses on a group of workers and in my opinion this movie is truly terrifying in a unique way. It employs a type of horror this generation has been lacking and that is the suspense and atmospheric horror. There are no jump or fright scenes within this movie, just the slow build-up and then climatic act and it falls back into another suspenseful buildup. Helicopter Pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell) does a great job of being a totalitarian leader during this movie, he thinks quickly and focuses solely on the eradication of this life-form rather than survival. The Thing itself is grotesque, there is a certain type of gore, blood and malformation that the 1980’s employed in their monster movies and this is no different. I’m talking this thing is ugly as ____. Fuck. And it is never seen the same way which I personally liked. As I said earlier the atmosphere plays a major role in the fear factor, the dark blue tint that is seen mostly throughout the movie is chilling and the only light seems to be from the flamethrowers and flares. The soundtrack as well…horrifying. Who knew two beats could create a symphony of fear and death. It is played in the right moments as well, so when you hear it you know that shit is about to pop off.



Now taking a look at the 2007 version. It approached this movie from a different angle, from a more scientific and exploratory viewpoint. The obvious difference is the main character. Columbia grad student Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) plays a vertebral paleontologist who is asked to identify a new specimen that was recently found under the ice. However after a turn of events it becomes a game of hide-or-die. The creature follows a more brutish and violent way of killing its prey than the original which is understandable (because people today like violence apparently). The creature is much more vicious looking and less freakish this time around but that is mainly due to technology. The soundtrack does not stray too far from the original which I appreciated. Those same two beats. Duhn-Duhn. It reminds one of a dying heartbeat before it begins to fade. This movie has more fright scenes than the original as well. One thing I didn’t like however was how the main character went from a regular college student to a total bad-ass without a major catalyst for her transformation. I think we as horror-movie connoisseurs have adopted a new archetype for characters and that is the “Betty Rubble Bad-Ass" (Totally just made that up). But basically the character is usually a middle age female (brunette) who lives an average life until it’s turned upside down by some unfortunate events. Now granted I know people can work under pressure and all that but I don’t see how Kate goes from scoping dead dogs to burning every piece of flesh in sight. But I digress, enough rantings.

(Disclaimer: This next part contains spoilers.)

What I found amazing after watching both of these movies in the same sitting is how they are intertwined. The entire time I’m watching the remake I’m thinking like “Shit, another classic movie messed up by these trashy directors these days" until the end and my mind is blown. They set up the remake to serve as a direct sequel to the original. At the end of the remake the leftovers from the carnage caused by The Thing is seen and the remaining survivors are seen chasing after a dog (which is the creature) that escaped the hell. The beginning of the 1982 version opens with a dog being chased by a helicopter by two Dutch men. Crazy, but it goes deeper than that. The block of ice, that the creature was found in, the spaceship site already explored and destroyed, the death of one of the individuals but what I found the most interesting was how one of the creatures remains was found. One scene in the remake, an individual is attacked by the monster and their faces and bodies begin to mold into one being, and the creature is shortly burned and killed. Now in the original, when MacReady and his partner venture to this camp they find this same creature and take it back to their base…It’s amazing how these movies were made 25 years apart and yet they take place only a few hours…if that after each other. Genius.Word on the internet is that this is based on a novel by a Mr. John Campbell called “Who Goes There", I’ll have to check it out in my spare time. But if there’s one thing I learned from The Thing is to "Trust No One"Cheers.

~Mad Hatter