There are those that worship at The Thing alter, to whom John Carpenter’s The Thing is a near perfect horror movie. Sure, it has some third act problems but for most of it, it’s a perfect storm.  Beautiful production values, a brilliant story that oozes claustrophobia and suspense, a great ensemble cast and amazing special effects. More than that, it intelligently explores issues of trust and isolation in one of the most hostile environments on earth.

Its fan base isn’t massive but they are adoring and like most small fan bases, fanatical. They will be hard to please.

Going to see a prequel made so many years after the original without any of the people involved, is like going on a blind date with an ex girlfriend, you kind of know what to expect, you think it could be a lot of fun but almost everyone you talk to thinks it’s a terrible idea.

 I’m not going to go into debates like “did this need to be made?” or “Why couldn’t it have been a sequel?” that some people seem so obsessed by.  I think we have to remember that the director talked the studio out of doing a remake.  Anyway; its here, this is the film we got, what’s it like?

It’s pretty damn good actually.

This is a film that would stand up on its own as a solid horror film, but as a prequel it’s more than just a love letter to the John Carpenter version, it’s inappropriately forward on the first date. And I love it.

The Thing prequel confusingly called “The Thing” (but what else could they call it? A Thing? Another Thing? Thing Again!?) deals with the events in the Norwegian camp that are just hinted at in the original. Because this is an American film there are some Americans in it, but it’s also chock full or famous (in Norway) Norwegian actors to form a full multi-national cast.

When a Norwegian science team finds something ancient and alien in the ice in Antarctica, American Paleontologist Kate Loyd is brought in to oversee breaking the creature out of the ice. Things go wrong when the Thing wakes up.

The problem here is the special effects.  The CG looks ok but not a patch on the original practical effects. Given that through production everyone involved talked up their commitment to practical effects this is a disappointment.

The things they do right here is the slow burn, the claustrophobia, the nods to the original including some nods to the 1951 version.  In some ways it does follow a predictable path but then the ending was set from the beginning and what’s important is how it gets there and the path it takes is fresh, new and invigorating. Most importantly it segues almost seamlessly into the JC version and I for one got goosebumps when I heard the originals music start up over the credits and saw the dog leap out  and run across the tundra followed closely by the Norwegians.  

Video: The video here is really nice, it’s sharp and clear but given how good the JC version turned out to be on Blu-ray they had to make it look good.

Audio: Good solid 5.1 mix with a good use of surround channels especially for chewing noises.

Special Features: Bit of a poor turnout here.  There’s a fun and interesting commentary by the director, two interesting if a little short featurettes, one basic making of and one dealing with flame throwers  (that features the designing of a scene not found in the film) and Deleted scenes. But not enough deleted scenes.  There were scenes in the original trailer that aren’t featured here; the scene that the featurette on flame throwers focuses on also isn’t included. Clearly there is an alternative cut that we are not getting. Is it better? Who knows? Without all the material we know is out there this feels like a very incomplete package.