2022 see’s the fan favourite celebrate it’s 40th anniversary

I’m going to make a statement and it’s one that I stand behind 100%…

In my opinion, I think “The Thing” is as near to a perfect film as you can get and yes, I’m being serious. Honestly, show me one thing that is wrong in the film, just one, I’ll wait… I can’t think of anything at all and like I said earlier, I stand by that statement. I’m sure some of you out there will agree.

Despite this it’s crazy to think that this film was considered a big flop, not only did it bomb at the box office it was torn apart by critics. It was panned with quotes such as: “too phony looking to be disgusting. qualifies only as instant junk“, “If you want blood, go to the slaughterhouse. All in all, It’s a terrific commercial for J&B Scotch“,

Now I can sort of understand it’s poor performance at the box office, I mean it was released in the Summer time (June in the USA, August in the UK) which I have never, ever understood. That’s just stupidity on behalf of the studio, how did they expect this film to perform well in the Summer time?!

Also don’t forget that “E.T.”, “Blade Runner”, “Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan” and “Poltergeist” were all released at the same time as “The Thing”. I mean, just look at that list of films, that’s some seriously pretty stiff competition right there. Like I said before, the studio is at serious fault here.

But enough of the negative stuff, let’s talk about the positive, and there’s definitely plenty of them. First of all let’s talk about the story. This is easily one of the best and it’s sad that it often gets overlooked, but it also shows how many strengths the film had when the essential element is excluded from discussions.

We also can’t talk about this feature without mentioning the absolutely awe-inspiring practical special effects, that’s right people, there’s no CGI here. In my opinion, even by todays standards they are absolutely amazing and I will never understand why this wasn’t more of a selling point upon it’s release.

Seriously, even when I watch this film now I’m still mesmerised by how good they are. It’s sad to say but practical effects like these are a dying art due to CGI but to me this film proves that when done properly nothing beats a great practical effect, an opinion that was reaffirmed on seeing the 40th anniversary showing that I got to see.

Another thing that was reaffirmed was that this film features one of the greatest scenes ever filmed, I’m sure you all know which one I mean. Yes, it’s the blood test scene. Talk about intensity and suspense, I saw people staring at the screen without blinking and the jump scare made everyone, well jump, it was great to see.

Let’s talk casting, personally I don’t think people talk enough about how great of a pairing John Carpenter and Kurt Russell were, I still hold out hope that they’ll at least do one more film together. The rest of the cast are excellent, they have great on screen chemistry as a group and I can’t imagine anyone else in those roles.

John Carpenter has stated that out of all his films, this is his personal favourite. Whilst it’s not my favourite Carpenter film (for me that will always be “Halloween”) but I think this is the best of the Carpenter/Russell films and I still stand by my statement that “The Thing” is as near to a perfect film as you can get.

So join in the 40th anniversary celebration and go watch this film right now. What are you waiting for?!