The Thing from Another World (1951)

"An intellectual carrot. The mind boggles.", 4 August 2005

On the surface, The Thing from Another World (The Thing for short) would appear to be just another of the hundreds of sci-fi/horror films that flooded the market in the 50s. The basic story of the discovery of a UFO near the North Pole with an inhabitant frozen in a block of ice sounds typical for the period. But this film is anything but typical.

There are so many positive things to say about The Thing that narrowing them down to fit into a manageable size review is difficult. Very briefly, some of the things that impress me about The Thing include: the opening title sequence, the wonderful music score, the sets, the amazing kerosene fire scene, the terrific jump scare the first time we see the creature, and the desolate North Pole setting. Everything about the movie is near perfect as far as I'm concerned.

One of the most impressive things to me, however, is the decision to use the creature sparingly throughout the movie. Because we only catch glimpses of the alien, he remains a mystery and, as a result, more frightening. I don't know if this is the case or not as I've never heard John Carpenter speak on the subject, but as I watched the movie last night, I couldn't help be think of Carpenter's decision to use The Thing in his movie, Halloween. Surely it wasn't a coincidence (or a cheap plug for his upcoming remake). Instead, I've always felt that the way Carpenter used The Shape in Halloween is much like way the creature is used in this movie. I don't know if anyone agrees, but I definitely see similarities.

I can narrow down what makes this film so special to me into two words - Howard Hawks. If you're so inclined, there are any number of articles you can read on the internet about who really directed the movie - Hawks or Nyby. I don't know and I don't care, but it's easy to see Hawks' fingerprints all over The Thing. The most obvious example is the whole dialogue thing. In most of Hawks' movies I've seen, the dialogue is incredibly intelligent, snappy, and witty. It's part of what makes his movies so much fun. Hawks also had a way of getting actors to sound less like they were reciting lines and more like they were having actual conversations. Actors routinely step all over each others' lines and interrupt one another just like real people do. If you've ever seen His Girl Friday, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I love it.

I could literally go on and on discussing The Thing from Another World. I haven't even touched on the comparisons with The Day the Earth Stood Still (released the same year) or the treatment of the scientists vs. the treatment of the Army or the portrayal of women or the whole Soviet invasion subtext or the "Watch the skies" speech or ... you get the idea. It's truly a remarkable movie.

9/10