232:, the Thing is discovered by a team of Antarctic scientists frozen in its space ship, which had crashed onto Earth twenty million years before. After it thaws, it kills and takes the form of the team's physicist, Connant, unbeknownst to the others. It uses its leftover body mass to transform into a sled dog. The team discovers the dog-Thing and kill it as it is transforming. The pathologist of the crew, Blair, goes insane with guilt as he was the one who had lobbied to thaw the Thing. He vows to kill everyone at the research station in order to save mankind from the Thing, and is locked in a cabin. The crew destroy their vehicles in order to isolate the base, but pretend that everything is fine in radio transmissions in order to prevent rescue attempts.
245:
functions as an individual organism. He then uses this fact to test each surviving crew member by dipping a hot wire into samples of their blood. When a blood sample recoils from the heat, the owner is instantly killed. Fourteen crew members are revealed to be the Thing and are killed. The remaining men go to test Blair, who is still isolated in the cabin, and discover that he had already been converted. After McReady destroys the Thing with a blowtorch, it is revealed that it had almost completed building a nuclear-powered anti-gravity device that would have allowed it to escape to the outside world.
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The crew attempts to discover who among them may have been assimilated and replaced by the Thing in order to kill the imitations before they escape. In a blood test, they discover that either Doctor Copper or commander Gary is an imitation, but the result is inconclusive. Assistant commander McReady
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described the titular alien as "the most unloved monster in movie history". Despite this, the Thing's portrayal with practical effects was praised as technically brilliant. In spite of its original negative criticism, the film has made significant contributions to popular culture, and has become a
244:
By this point, the entire crew suspects one another, and the men begin to go mad wondering if they are the last human left, or if they would be able to tell if they weren't human. After the cook, Kinner, is murdered and revealed to be the Thing, McReady discovers that every part of the Thing
426:
comparing the film to the Thing itself, calling it "an insidious, defective mimic of the real, er, thing". In particular, the Thing's computer-generated depiction was compared negatively to the 1982 film's practical effects.
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had ever allocated to a monster film. After designs for the creature were completed, the film's crew estimated that they would need around $ 750,000 for the effects, which
Universal agreed to. The effects were designed by
659:"THE SCREEN: TWO FILMS HAVE LOCAL PREMIERES; 'The Thing,' an Eerie Scientific Number by Howard Hawks, Opens at the Criterion 'Communist for F.B.I.' New Picture at Strand Theatre, Features Frank Lovejoy At the Criterion"
240:
in the 1982 film) takes over the crew and determines that all the animals at the station, except for the dog used for the blood test, have become imitations. As such, the crew kills all of them and burns their bodies.
338:, which was created using computer-generated effects for the Thing in addition to practical effects. However, in the film's production, most of the practical effects were replaced with computer effects.
362:. While the original film portrays the battle against communism as a noble battle against evil, the 1982 version comments on the paranoia, distrust, and social upheaval that the Red Scares caused.
391:
was originally received unfavorably by critics, it would later be considered one of the greatest science fiction films of the 1950s. In 2001, the film was selected by the United States
417:. The film has been described as "ahead of its time", and the "best remake of all time". As such, the titular character has become one the most popular fictional aliens in cinema.
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as one of the stories representing the "most influential, important, and memorable science fiction that has ever been written." As a result, it was published in
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portrays the Thing, which in this version is a humanoid plant-based organism that feeds on animal blood. The Thing was portrayed in a costume.
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was originally met with negative reception, being called "foolish, depressing", and "instant junk" by critics.
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as a film expressing an underlying tension about the threat of communism, others found similar patterns in
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284:. In 2018, it was discovered that the story was originally part of a longer, unpublished novel titled
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446:"A new Kickstarter project will publish an undiscovered novel that inspired The Thing"
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892:"How John Carpenter's The Thing went from D-list trash to horror classic | SYFY WIRE"
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611:""Just Wait": On the 35th Anniversary of John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)"
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Film
Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist: Reading the Hollywood Reds
585:"15 Reasons Why John Carpenter's The Thing Is The Best Remake Of All Time"
351:
16:
This article is about the fictional alien. For the Marvel superhero, see
921:"John Carpenter's Sci-Fi Horror Film 'The Thing' Was Ahead Of Its Time"
495:"Stan Winston's dog-thing from 'The Thing' -- Creating an Iconic Alien"
749:"Librarian of Congress Names 25 More Films to National Film Registry"
278:. An extended version with two extra chapters was later published in
549:. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 9.
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science fiction horror franchise. It first appeared in the novella
252:
720:"The Thing from Another World, 1951 - 1950s Sci-Fi Movies - TIME"
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354:, with the battle against the alien impostor being symbolic of
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970:
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In the 1951 film, the Thing has been considered symbolic of
323:, except for the Thing's dog form, which was designed by
519:"Alien and The Thing FX master Kickstarts CGI-free film"
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The 2011 film also received a negative response, with
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272:was first published in the August 1938 issue of
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54:The Thing in a publicity photo of the 1982 film
868:"John Carpenter's 'The Thing' Turns 35 Today!"
986:
8:
1245:Fictional extraterrestrial species and races
381:The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two
297:was released as an adaptation of the story.
609:Clarkson Fisher, Daniel (August 13, 2017).
334:to the 1982 film was released, directed by
993:
979:
971:
807:Hogan, David J. (November–December 1982).
48:
1230:Extraterrestrial characters in literature
946:"The Thing Review - Movies Review at IGN"
773:"'The Thing,' Horror And Science Fiction"
643:The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Vol. 2A
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402:Like its predecessor, John Carpenter's
1285:Literary characters introduced in 1938
29:
1220:Characters in written science fiction
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800:
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1225:Extraterrestrial characters in films
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621:from the original on March 18, 2018
561:Similarly, once critics identified
376:Science Fiction Writers of America
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1053:Who Goes There? and Other Stories
1187:
1186:
1290:Science fiction film characters
657:Growther, Bosley (1951-05-03).
1235:Extraterrestrial supervillains
563:Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1:
1260:Fictional parasite characters
1240:Fictional amorphous creatures
866:Thurman, Trace (2017-06-25).
835:"The Shape Of 'Thing' Redone"
444:Liptak, Andrew (2018-10-21).
224:Fictional character biography
1081:The Thing from Another World
952:. 2011-10-15. Archived from
898:. 2018-01-17. Archived from
809:"Cinefantastique - Contents"
726:. 2008-12-12. Archived from
697:. 2009-07-23. Archived from
469:Cohen, Stuart (2013-06-25).
389:The Thing from Another World
294:The Thing from Another World
281:The Best of John W. Campbell
263:The Thing from Another World
833:Arnold, Gary (1982-06-25).
336:Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
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275:Astounding Science Fiction
15:
1182:
1008:
499:www.stanwinstonschool.com
47:
37:
395:for preservation in the
1270:Fictional shapeshifters
397:National Film Registry
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20:. For other uses, see
1215:The Thing (franchise)
691:"1950s Sci-Fi Movies"
256:
189:Anthony Cecere (1982)
543:Smith, Jeff (2014).
1275:Fictional telepaths
1265:Fictional predators
1250:Fictional impostors
615:Diabolique magazine
393:Library of Congress
342:Character symbolism
27:Fictional character
1255:Fictional monsters
872:Bloody Disgusting!
777:The New York Times
663:The New York Times
640:Bova, Ben (1973).
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249:Production history
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567:The Thing (1951)
374:was voted by the
316:Universal Studios
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1019:John W. Campbell
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260:as the Thing in
218:John W. Campbell
186:Stunt performers
164:Trond Espen Seim
160:Kim Bubbs (2011)
137:Charles Hallahan
106:John W. Campbell
60:First appearance
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198:is a fictional
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958:. Retrieved
954:the original
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929:. Retrieved
925:www.wbur.org
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900:the original
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728:the original
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591:. 2016-08-29
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415:cult classic
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258:James Arness
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119:James Arness
112:Portrayed by
94:October 2011
87:
66:
38:
1156:Video games
356:McCarthyism
350:during the
286:Frozen Hell
206:alien from
73:August 1938
1209:Categories
1135:Characters
1061:The Things
1028:Literature
960:2023-08-11
931:2023-08-11
906:2023-08-11
877:2023-08-11
852:2023-08-11
818:August 10,
790:2023-08-11
758:2023-08-11
734:2023-08-11
705:2023-08-11
676:2023-08-11
625:August 11,
595:2023-08-11
589:ScreenRant
529:2023-08-11
504:2023-08-11
480:2023-08-11
455:2023-08-11
431:References
360:Red Scares
321:Rob Bottin
304:In 1982's
236:(known as
204:telepathic
102:Created by
1164:The Thing
1142:The Thing
1097:The Thing
1089:The Thing
1002:The Thing
847:0190-8286
785:0362-4331
671:0362-4331
450:The Verge
404:The Thing
387:Although
370:In 1973,
366:Reception
348:communism
332:a prequel
330:In 2011,
307:The Thing
291:In 1951,
208:The Thing
196:The Thing
89:The Thing
43:character
40:The Thing
33:The Thing
1193:Category
619:Archived
523:SciFiNow
352:Cold War
1175:(2024)
1167:(2002)
1127:(2015)
1119:(1972)
1100:(2011)
1092:(1982)
1084:(1951)
1065:(2010)
1056:(1955)
1048:(1948)
1039:(1938)
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783:
669:
553:
178:(2011)
172:(2011)
166:(2011)
157:(2011)
151:(1982)
145:(1982)
139:(1982)
133:(1982)
127:(1982)
121:(1951)
1073:Films
22:Thing
896:Syfy
843:ISSN
820:2023
781:ISSN
724:Time
695:Time
667:ISSN
627:2023
551:ISBN
202:and
1017:by
950:IGN
423:IGN
399:.
310:by
228:In
216:by
125:Jed
1211::
948:.
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799:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
