Man is the warmest place to hide.Who Goes There? was a science fiction novella written by John W. Campbell, Jr, published in a 1938 issue of Astounding Stories. It concerned a group of Antarctic researchers who discover an alien spaceship, only for its shape-shifting extra-terrestrial occupant to sneak inside their compound, disguised as a sled dog...
The story was first adapted by director Howard Hawks in 1951 as The Thing From Another World. Hawks' version was fortuitously helped by a national fear of communism at the time, so the stalking of the Arctic crew by an alien mind without morality was particularly frightening.
A second adaptation of Who Goes There? arguably came in 1973, with a loose retelling in Horror Express, where a Professor (played by Christopher Lee) is transporting the frozen remains of an alien creature on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
However, the most famous and successful adaptation came with John Carpenter's 1982 film The Thing. Carpenter was already a big fan of Howard Hawks' original -- with scenes appearing on a TV in his earlier film Halloween -- but his remake followed the original novel far more closely. The Thing starred Carpenter regular Kurt Russell and is considered a benchmark in make-up effect. Many of its non-CGI creature effects -- created by Rob Bottin, who had worked on The Howling and The Fog-- continuing to impress over 20 years later...
Sadly, upon its release, The Thing failed dismally at the box-office -- probably because E.T had come out 2 weeks earlier with a more optimistic view of alien contact. Blade Runner was also released the same day, which had another impact on audience attendance. However, throughout the 80s, the film's popularity grew on VHS video and it's today seen as a cult classic of "body horror".
Since the late-90s, talk of sequels and remakes have persisted. The Sci-Fi Channel were planning a 4-hour mini-series in 2003, which had Carpenter's blessing, but nothing came of it. In 2006, Strike Entertainment (the company behind Slither and the Dawn Of The Dead remake) announced they were looking for writers to work on a movie prequel, but that has now gone quiet. Lately, according to Variety magazine, Ronald D. Moore is preparing a remake of The Thing, with Marc Abraham and Eric Newman penning the script.
The Thing has spawned a popular 2002 video game, which acted as a loose sequel to Carpenter's film. Dark Horse comics produced 3 mini-series sequels to the film, although its events are not accepted as canon. Despite that, John Carpenter is a fan of the comic-book sequels and has said he would adapt them if he ever filmed a sequel.
Trivia
1. Ennio Morricone scored The Thing; a rare instance of director John Carpenter not scoring his own film.
2. The film was banned in Finland when it was first released.
3. The video footage the characters watch of the Norwegian teams first discovering the UFO comes from Howard Hawks' original film.
4. During filming indoors in Los Angeles, the sound stages were refrigerated to 40F, with the outside temperate at 100F.
5. In the scene where Dr Cooper's arms are severed, a real-life amputee stand-in was used.
6. The female computer voice was performed by John Carpenter's wife Adrienne Barbeau.
7. There are no female characters in this film, unless you count the aforementioned computer!
8. One character is called "Mac", the other "Windows".
John Carpenter - The Thing
The Thing & Pulp Horror
The story was first adapted by director Howard Hawks in 1951 as The Thing From Another World. Hawks' version was fortuitously helped by a national fear of communism at the time, so the stalking of the Arctic crew by an alien mind without morality was particularly frightening.
A second adaptation of Who Goes There? arguably came in 1973, with a loose retelling in Horror Express, where a Professor (played by Christopher Lee) is transporting the frozen remains of an alien creature on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
However, the most famous and successful adaptation came with John Carpenter's 1982 film The Thing. Carpenter was already a big fan of Howard Hawks' original -- with scenes appearing on a TV in his earlier film Halloween -- but his remake followed the original novel far more closely. The Thing starred Carpenter regular Kurt Russell and is considered a benchmark in make-up effect. Many of its non-CGI creature effects -- created by Rob Bottin, who had worked on The Howling and The Fog-- continuing to impress over 20 years later...
Sadly, upon its release, The Thing failed dismally at the box-office -- probably because E.T had come out 2 weeks earlier with a more optimistic view of alien contact. Blade Runner was also released the same day, which had another impact on audience attendance. However, throughout the 80s, the film's popularity grew on VHS video and it's today seen as a cult classic of "body horror".
Since the late-90s, talk of sequels and remakes have persisted. The Sci-Fi Channel were planning a 4-hour mini-series in 2003, which had Carpenter's blessing, but nothing came of it. In 2006, Strike Entertainment (the company behind Slither and the Dawn Of The Dead remake) announced they were looking for writers to work on a movie prequel, but that has now gone quiet. Lately, according to Variety magazine, Ronald D. Moore is preparing a remake of The Thing, with Marc Abraham and Eric Newman penning the script.
The Thing has spawned a popular 2002 video game, which acted as a loose sequel to Carpenter's film. Dark Horse comics produced 3 mini-series sequels to the film, although its events are not accepted as canon. Despite that, John Carpenter is a fan of the comic-book sequels and has said he would adapt them if he ever filmed a sequel.
Trivia1. Ennio Morricone scored The Thing; a rare instance of director John Carpenter not scoring his own film.
2. The film was banned in Finland when it was first released.
3. The video footage the characters watch of the Norwegian teams first discovering the UFO comes from Howard Hawks' original film.
4. During filming indoors in Los Angeles, the sound stages were refrigerated to 40F, with the outside temperate at 100F.
5. In the scene where Dr Cooper's arms are severed, a real-life amputee stand-in was used.
6. The female computer voice was performed by John Carpenter's wife Adrienne Barbeau.
7. There are no female characters in this film, unless you count the aforementioned computer!
8. One character is called "Mac", the other "Windows".
Links
John Carpenter - The Thing
The Thing & Pulp Horror
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