There are few horror movies that continue to be scary as years go on, “The Thing” (1982, directed by John Carpenter, who is famous for films like “Halloween” and “Escape from New York”) is one of those movies.

The movie itself is a loose adaptation of the film “The Thing from Another World” (1951, directed by Christian Nyby) which in itself was an adaptation of the 1938 novella, “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell. Out of the two films, Carpenter’s version follows the original short story closer.

The movie’s plot follows a research team in Antarctica, living in a station called Outpost 31. The small team consists of: helicopter pilot, Maccready (played by frequent Carpenter collaborator, Curt Russell); commander of the station, Garry (Donald Moffet); mechanics Childs (Keith David) and Palmer (David Clennon); biologists Blair (Wilford Brimley) and Fuchs (Joel Polis); physician Copper (Richard Dysart); radio operator Windows (Thomas G. Waites); geologist Norris (Charles Hallahan); meteorologist Bennings (Peter Maloney); dog handler Clark (Richard Masur); and station cook Nauls (T.K. Carter).

Their usual routines of boredom and drinking are interrupted when an alien creature, that has the ability to assimilate and take the forms of others, infiltrates their base. It’s up to these unlikely heroes to determine which among them is truly human and which are imitations before it’s too late.

The movie is similar to a roller coaster, it builds up tension with large sections of the characters trying to figure out what’s going on or who’s been infected, and whenever the grotesque creature makes an appearance it drops the audience into an adrenaline-filled ride.

Thanks to the work by Rob Bottin, his special effects team, and some uncredited help from the legendary Stan Winston, the creature (in all of its disgusting forms) not only holds up, but is the gold standard of practical effects in movies even to this day. 

Moving from the effects to the plot, something the story does so well is that it makes the audience question everything they see as they try to figure out who they can trust, just like the characters in the story do. In fact, the film’s director, John Carpenter, admitted to making the film intentionally vague.

What also makes the movie so great is its rewatch value. Even after knowing beforehand who’s who there are still many small touches that hint towards whether a person is a Thing and when they might have been changed.

The film is also good at setting up tone and atmosphere. There are many long shots of the cast trying to keep themselves entertained or of the station’s empty rooms or hallways, helping it feel claustrophobic along with familiarizing the audience with the setting.

A pitfall this movie avoids, that a lot of horror films unfortunately fall into, is including characters that needlessly put themselves in dangerous situations that they could easily avoid if they just used their heads. The characters in this film are supposed to be smart people and act like it, they come up with ideas to try to sniff out which among them is The Thing, come to logical deductions, and are careful in their actions.

Furthermore, when the characters do make mistakes they are understandable, as they don’t have all the information, or are outsmarted by the creature, or are too stressed and/or distrustful of each other, or the situation is too frantic to think through.

A good example of the characters being smart is, after finding out that the creature is among them and what it can do MacReady states, “I know I’m human. And if you were all these Things, then you’d just attack me right now, so some of you are still human.”

Something else the film does well is that it gives every character, even the smaller ones, a moment to make them memorable. An example of this is a scene given to Clark, the dog handler, when he finds out what a colleague did to his dogs after they determined that his hounds were too big of a risk.

Any flaws in the film can be attributed to personal preference. A problem one might have is the pacing as it takes a good while for the creature to show up in all its glory. And if one is considered squeamish, they might not enjoy this movie as much as others. 

The Thing is one of those films that’s still an entertaining watch even after 40 years and upon multiple viewings. It would be a very strong pick for a horror flick this Halloween.