The Thing

Dir. John Carpenter. 1982, 109 mins. DCP. With Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, T.K. Carter, David Clennon. This graphic adaptation of John W. Campbell’s novella Who Goes There?—and the 1951 film adaptation The Thing From Another World—pits the all-male Outpost 31 against a malignant, shape-shifting space alien, designed by creature-effects whiz Rob Bottin (The Howling, Total Recall). Many fans blame the film’s initial box office failure on the blockbuster success of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which gave moviegoers unreasonable expectations about alien films that followed. But at the time of The Thing‘s release, horror movies were under-performing at the American box office. Decades later, The Thing—the first entry in Carpenter’s Apocalypse Trilogy—has taken its rightful place as one of the director’s best films. —Simon Abrams