Review – The Thing

One of the all-time classics of the horror genre, this film takes paranoia just about as far as it will go, into realms where anyone can turn out to be a thing. And what things! Effects wizard Rob Bottin creates some of the ickiest, most menacing creatures of all time. So okay, what’s my verdict on this one likely to be? Added bonus: the collector’s edition DVD comes with enough extras to make it significantly better than the movie alone, including some outtakes, some of the stop-motion animation that was cut from the final version, the usual making-of documentary and production stuff, running commentary from Kurt Russell and John Carpenter, and the original theatrical trailer, which in its own brief way is almost as scary as the movie itself. I should admit, however, that this was the fist DVD I ever bought, and I was sufficiently awed by the image quality that I would have recommended the disc version based on the improved technology all by itself. There’s also a edited-for-broadcast version that includes some of the extra footage and some interesting but highly ineffective voice-over back-story (and that’s about it … the rest of the movie’s so badly butchered that it’s nearly unwatchable). Buy the disc