Revisiting John Carpenter's The Thing in HD

After taking a brief pause on my early 20th century film marathon, where I watched classic such as The Passion of Joan of Arc, Vampyr, and a collection of the Marx brothers' films, I decided to take a trip down memory lane with a rewatch of the 1982 John Carpenter masterpiece The Thing.

By now you're probably well-acquainted with the film if you're a horror film buff or just an all-around movie freak. A group of American researchers in Antarctica find themselves in a bit of a pickle when two Norwegians show up looking for a dog they have been chasing around the frozen tundra with the intention to kill for what appears to be no good reason. After the altercation ends in their deaths, they begin to construct an investigation on what led to this, soon discovering little by little that they are being hunted down by an alien capable of imitating and disguising itself as any organism. When it becomes pretty apparent one of them could be infected, absolute chaos ensues.

My first viewing of the film was about eight years ago, when I was beginning to heavily explore movies I wasn't allowed to watch younger like The Big Lebowski and Fight Club. It was a very pleasant experience; I fell madly in love with the tension, acting, and creativity with the special effects. The part where they use the defibrillator made a dazzling impression on me to the point where I specifically watch the scene on YouTube from time to time. Two years after the first watch I sat down to see it again with my brother and had the same pleasant takeaway. After this period I only watched the movie once, yet despite the low number of repeated viewings compare to other films, it was one of the few I constantly watched interpretation and dissertation videos of out of curiosity.

The film sticks with you with its imagery, but it has always been hard to figure out what exactly makes The Thing stand apart from other horror classics. The analysis have certainly helped, but they never truly make the justice of just watching the film again with all the knowledge retained over the years. Chances are that the lessons and details taught will subconsciously be present as you're watching. This was the case all throughout my rewatch. One new element missing from the previous ventures was the HD quality of the picture. This vast improvement in the look added an enhancement to the overall experience. It's mostly due to the highlight of every detail, allowing the film to breathe more and truly sip into the mind. You could say the only problem with this edition is that now I have a dying desire to watch the film on a humongous screen, but let's chalk it up as a positive reinforcement of just how good it is.

The HD did a magnificent job at highlighting the framing of the scenes with more detail, allowing the viewer to enjoy the contrast between the music and silence. Carpenter has always been adamant that the usage of scores in his movies should only serve as a companion piece to the scene and never an overall enhancer as it's the case with films like Star Wars. The thinking behind this method is to allow the scene to stand on its own. The technique is used to great effect in the main theme of the movie, with its two note and two beat simplicity being subtle enough to catch someone's attention but short enough to blend within the framework of the film. The same formula is repeated in the many other musical pieces scattered across.

The one thing that stood out the most was the clear attention to detail in the shot selections. There was a Kubrickian aspect to the way in was filmed. It becomes pretty particular the more you watch the establishing shots. There is an element of synchronicity in its composition akin to the perfect geometrical angles Stanley Kubrick is famous for using in the framing of his shots. Scenes where Carpenter wishes to highlight the isolation and loneliness of the men's condition carry this particular feeling. It is very similar to the haunting feeling The Shining gives.

A discussion about The Thing is never finished without of the final act. Easily one of the greatest in cinema history, the tension among the group begins to boil to enormous proportions, culminating in the total annihilation of practically every one of our characters. Except of course, in the end, two manage to survive, each unsure of the other's identity and facing the grimmest of odds to survival. No resolution, no final grace, and no peace; just bleak and total darkness at the face of destruction. Mimicked but never equaled, it's the type of conclusion truly fit of the Lovecraftian reputation the film has gathered over the years.

Carpenter is a master of storytelling of the highest order. What stands out is the amount of output he gave over the course of the 70s', 80s', and early 90s'. There's a fascinating video breaking down just how varied and interesting Carpenter's filmography is, highlighting the consistency and careful craftsmanship his most iconic films have employed. He even produced music for many of his films, including the iconic theme to Halloween. The technicality behind them is consistent and brilliant. With The Thing, Carpenter is able to masterfully fuse every single part of his arsenal into the crafted monstrosity that it is. For many years it never received the praise it dutifully deserved, considered too gross and over-the-top for its time. Well, time has only warmth up its reputation exponentially, allowing it to develop a passionate following and a ranking among the greatest films of the horror genre. The effects hold up, the disgust is still there.