Whether it’s the toxic male paranoia; the disgusting body mutations; the complete destruction of the Hollywood cliché that a dog must operate as a friendly sidekick; or a grizzly, bearded, flamethrower-clutching Kurt Russell (who plays pilot RJ MacReady) protecting an Antarctic research facility from the attacks of a shapeshifting alien, John Carpenter’s 1982 film The Thing is probably the greatest sci-fi horror ever committed to celluloid.
The film features some truly horrific gore, but it really succeeds in building tension due to all of the things you don’t see. Carpenter creates a shivery suspicion that lurks like a fog throughout the film, and this makes the viewer genuinely question whether anyone can be relied upon… or if they might have ‘turned’ already.
