The Thing (1982) - MOVIE REACTION!!

[@BlindWave]

BEYOND members and Raw Rider Patrons can watch the Full Length Reaction HERE: blindwave.com/video/the-thing-1982-movie-full

[@sickleweed3270]

Hi guys (and lovely gal), please consider Autopsy of Jane Doe, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum and Hell House LLC. Thank you and happy pre-Halloween!

[@TheFreakedoutduck]

1:31 My grandfathers car is in a scene from the original "The Blob" movie. He was parked and had no idea anyone was gonna film anything, and no one said anything to him about it. They just filmed an exterior shot for few seconds for a scene and his care just so happened to be park in the area. He never knew anything about it until he watch the movie and was like "Wait, that's my car!"

[@XDarkSyntaXOriginal]

Surprised you didn't mention "They Live" also by Carpenter starring Keith David.

[@carlosfer2201]

Watch Initial D!! Or at least add it to the anime polls

[@tbrrrdmn]

Spooky season. Can we get a People under the Stairs n The Blackening react?

[@banx757]

Person who has never seen The Thing: Oh no, don't hurt the dog! People who have seen the trauma: KILL THAT GOTDAMN DOG, BURN IT!!!! BURN IT!!!!

[@mikhar]

As much as I love dogs, the very first time I saw the opening scene I was instantly on the side of the humans chasing it. You don’t hunt down a “dog” with grenades thrown from a helicopter.

[@ganymeade275]

@@mikhar Don't be xenophobic, all cultures have their unique past times, its not for us to judge the Swedes.

[@mikhar]

@@ganymeade275 good thing I never mentioned anything related to any ethnicity or nationality then. WTF you’re talking about?

[@VestinVestin]

​@@mikhar > _"(...) the very first time I saw the opening scene I was instantly on the side of the humans chasing it."_ Thank you. People who jump to conclusions based on extremely limited information are a scourge...

[@DanilegoPlays]

​@@mikharhe was talking about the guys chasing the dog in the helicopter lol

[@Painocus]

The prequel *was* practical effects, but the studio made them cover most of them up with CGI because it "looked like an 80's movie". The writer says it broke his heart and the director regrets going along with it.

[@etthelost]

I remember hearing about that. Would love to see that version, someday, maybe...

[@conejoXX209]

It broke mine too, I was disappointed with all the cgi bs they put in their it was disappointed, but besides that it was good

[@sawkman2092]

Worse part is, the effects team didn't learn that their work had been covered until they watched the film AT the premier.

[@mrmrgaming]

As far as I remember, the director had no say in it. The film was handed over, and he was basically told it was happening. Some idiots just overdid the whole thing and wanted it to look more modern.

[@jasoncinema]

Yep, and I LOVE that the filmmakers immediately and incessantly talked shit and explained the studio was fucking shitty and put a CGI sheen over ALL of the immense practical effects.

[@jasoncaldwell5627]

EVERY reaction of The Thing starts off with "They better not hurt that puppy!!!" and quickly becomes "BURN IT WITH FIRE!"

[@snowman9631]

only once have i seen someone actually call out the dog for possibly being sus

[@ryanhoule4415]

It cracks me up every time I watch a reaction video.

[@LordMalice6d9]

I do not take reaction channels seriously. It's cheap, lazy, and easy to make content.

[@ryanhoule4415]

@@LordMalice6d9understandable, you also can’t help but wonder how the people who make these videos haven’t seen these films already

[@LordMalice6d9]

@@ryanhoule4415 That's what I always wonder as well. I think many of them are lying.

[@thelightison4205]

Fun fact: The silhouette in the beginning with the dog is actually played a random crew member, not one of the actors. John Carpenter purposefully didn't want the audience to be able to guess who it was based on their silhouette.

[@Talisguy]

Context suggests it was probably Norris. If Palmer had been infected by the time he went to the crash site with Mac and Norris, he could've just abandoned them and flown the helicopter towards the coast, and Palmer was alone with Childs (a very useful crew member to assimilate, as the camp mechanic) between the silhouette and kennel scenes, but Childs was still human by the time of the blood test.

[@busload_uk]

Interesting, I didn’t know that. I always assumed it was Norris because of the hair…

[@paulonius42]

That is merely a fact. There's nothing fun about it.

[@flexbanana4062]

Hes played by a stunt performer called dick warlock

[@deezclowns2462]

Which is a bit wild as it looks like.. uh, the curly haired guy

[@VonSnootingham]

Fun fact: All of the creature work - the puppets, the animatronics, the prosthetics, all of the goo - was masterminded by a single guy. And this was his first movie. Talk about a strong start. Something else: It's not like this is a secret or a behind the scenes thing, it's just something that people often don't realize while they're watching, but this movie has no B plot. No B plot, no subplots, no romance. The characters don't even have first names. Maccreedy gets initials (R.J.), but none of the rest even have that much. It's all one single main plot all the way through. Just all paranoia and tension interspersed with extreme gory violence.

[@scotthewitt258]

He was just out of college, IIRC. And he literally worked himself sick. His practical effects are amazing.

[@eddhardy1054]

Didn't Rob Bottin work on The Howling a year earlier?

[@destro6971]

Legendary 🤘🏼

[@cyberpred]

Squirm was his first movie. Rob did many things uncredited. He worked on Star Wars and Airplane also

[@Nemnex]

For this film in particular, he worked himself so hard that by the end of production he was hospitalized for exhaustion, pneumonia, and a bleeding ulcer. He gave it 100% and then some. While I don't condone someone working themselves close to death, the quality of his work is undeniably incredible.

[@Karaokuma]

FUN FACT: The Dog-Thing at the beginning of the film was played by a husky that was part wolf, which is why it doesn't act like a normal dog. Apparently, it was such a good actor that the cast became genuinely frightened of it.

[@purple-lemonade]

I always wondered how they got a dog to act as if he wasn't a dog but that's actually genius

[@Karaokuma]

@purple-lemonade He also played the title character in the Disney version of White Fang. I highly recommend it.

[@DanielS2001]

Fun Fact: The Dog who plays the Dog-Thing was named Jed. Jed is well known for this role, and also went on to play the titular White Fang in the 1991 film along side Ethan Hawke and in the sequel White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf. He was a Vancouver Island wolf-Alaskan Malamute hybrid. Also Fun Fact: The exterior scenes were filmed in Stewart, British Columbia while the interiors were filmed on the backlot of Universal Studios. In fact, fans who have made the trek up to the filming location where the exteriors of Outpost 31 was filmed have found bits and pieces of remains of the set from when they blew up the exterior at the end. One person even found pieces of the helicopter at the start of the film.

[@fisheyenomiko]

Another fun fact: For the scene where Copper's arms get bitten off by the Norris-Thing, special effects artist Rob Bottin hired a double-amputee, and gave him prosthetics that got "bitten" off.

[@rosenrot234]

Jed was such a good actor. Since if I recall, they weren't really trained or anything.

[@TheUndeadFish]

A while back Eric mentioned he had never seen this and I've been waiting for a reaction ever since. I was not disappointed.

[@slowodanx]

Same, i was hoping Rick would get them to do the Carpenter Classics since he is such a fan of it. The Thing and Halloween are up there for me for the best Horror Movies ever made. You just cant top the classics with all that modern nonsense that is creativly bankrupt.

[@ger_red]

The stomach opening scene was the high point for me.

[@Dystopia1111]

"Watch Clark. And watch him close." This movie creates an intense atmosphere of paranoid suspicion like no other film. Just love it. 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' is the only other movie that even comes close.

[@scotthewitt258]

An undertone, going back to the original {bad} adaptation, was the paranoia and the mistrust of "the other". Originally a metaphor for the "Red Scare". The concept that the person you have always trusted with your life might not be trusted any more is disturbing on a very primal level.

[@Regenmacher175]

The way that line is being delivered also indicates something about where the story is headed....

[@musqwatrax708]

My girl friend is swedish, speaks swedish and norwegian. This movie was no surprise. She knew right from the beginning. As Blind Wave points out... The guy gets off the helicopter and yells "Get the hell away! It's not a dog, it's some sort of thing! It's imitating a dog, it isn't real! GET AWAY, YOU IDIOTS!" It was a big spoiler.

[@LordMalice6d9]

You're American?

[@musqwatrax708]

@@LordMalice6d9 Better. Canadian.

[@pk251]

@@musqwatrax708 🤣🤣🤣😐

[@slowodanx]

@@musqwatrax708 Perfect response, chapeau my dear canadian friend.

[@LordMalice6d9]

@@musqwatrax708 That is definitely not better.

[@thedarkknight2221]

It’s been 42 years since this movie came out and it’s still one of the best horror movies ever made. More movies (especially sci-fi and horror) need to use practical effects like this much more often. I was like 15 when I first saw this and it literally haunted my dreams for almost a month. And I love dogs with all my heart, which is why that scene in the kennel always hurts to watch. Still the dog who played The Thing is one of the best trained dogs I have ever seen in movies.

[@JournoNerd312]

Russell nearly lost fingers from the flare, so I'm guessing things like that are part of the reason why they don't press for more practical shots in modern time.

[@MikeS-ur2ql]

I saw it in theaters for the 40th anniversary & it was everything I ever wanted

[@user-blob]

Agree completely. I always enjoy a reaction to this film but I can’t watch the kennel scene. It’s too distressing.

[@botanbutton]

I just watched this for the first time last week! AMAZING!

[@Nemnex]

The level of discipline the trainer managed to achieve is incredible because Jed (the dog) was a wolfdog (half-wolf, half-malamute.) If you can find it on online anywhere, they talk about how amazing he was to work with during the director's commentary.

[@chauser400]

The line with Gary being tied to the couch is so good whenever that line comes up I say that quote.

[@MySerpentine]

How often are you tied to a couch, though?

[@fredfinks]

Fun fact, due to John Carpenter getting into Kubrick at that stage of the shooting he was doing over 100 takes for shot. Also Donald Moffat (garry) was also heavily into method acting. He spent 3 days sitting on the couch so the frustration would be real, but with Carpenters retakes it turned out to be 6 days. Side note: there was an couch bound obese person whos skin fused with the couch. The sponge and filler soaked with bodily fluids. Its still up for debate who was absorbing who.

[@hall1739]

"It's a puppy!" lol oh sweet summer child.

[@RestlessTome]

Everyone gets fooled by the doggy. :)

[@w415800]

@@RestlessTome except people who speaks Norwegian

[@Girder3]

@@RestlessTome There are remarkably few of us who immediately suspect that there must be a reason why someone would be so intent on taking out a dog.

[@realdanthedane]

@@w415800 Or Danish! :D

[@GooniesNeverSayDie1980]

I think everybody burst out a loud chuckle when she mentioned the sweet innocent puppy.😏

[@khelatar]

My fav detail is when Palmer exposes Norris' head trying to crawl away ("You've got to be fuckin' kidding...") -- even though Palmer himself is a thing at that time. Cause that's what Palmer would have done and said. Imitation!

[@dorvrith]

I like the thought that the thing that was Palmer was astonished by how dumb the spider head thing was

[@mitchhamilton64]

this is the first time im noticing that the guy with palmer and mac also begins to notice it crawling away so maybe thats why it spoke because it knew it would be weird for palmer not to say anything if he also noticed it.

[@khelatar]

@@mitchhamilton64 Well... Looks to me like Windows is just reacting to Palmer turning around.

[@mitchhamilton64]

@@khelatar no he def turns on his own. very slowly like he doesnt wanna know what hes hearing.

[@tau-5794]

I think, at that point, "Palmer" is unaware that he is a thing, it can so perfectly imitate someone's personality that they wouldn't fully know that they've been taken over right up until their head splits open.

[@stardestroyeruk7025]

You guys reacting to the older movies (80s -90s) are my favourite movie reactions

[@Reaper2869]

19:31 Keith David's voice is iconic. I love how Eric didn't even recognize him by his face 😂

[@dejatwixt9214]

and Keith David was the thing. Kurt Russels' character put gasoline as beer and "The Thing" never tasted beer so it thought what it was. But Kurt's character knew he was going to die anyway so he accepted it and just waited to freeze. But what is odd is "The Thing" stays alive if frozen and they both 'died' from cold.

[@BaronVonHoovy]

@@dejatwixt9214 Stop spouting fan theories as if they were facts. MacReady didn't replace the drink with gasoline. There is no secret clue that tells you who - if anyone - is infected, because that's the entire point - you're not supposed to know, and you're supposed to be left with the unsettling paranoia of not knowing.

[@FlyingwithFire]

@@BaronVonHoovy also the thing gains the memories of who it becomes so even if the thing has never tasted it beer it would have the memories of tasting it

[@JohnRalvo]

@@BaronVonHoovy Granted a lot of people, at least from what I have seen from other reaction channels, forums and reviews of the movie as well as "hints" and "signs" have people pretty much concluding that Keith David was the Thing at the end of the movie. I think that regardless of having the "nobody is supposed to know X/Y or who is what" that by the end of the film if it did happen that it's pretty obvious who it is, and it wouldn't be Kurt Russel's character at the end given the circumstances.

[@BaronVonHoovy]

@@JohnRalvo Well, yeah, I think it's fairly clear that if the Thing is still alive, it's not MacReady. But that's the big if - the question isn't "who's the Thing?", it's "is the Thing dead or not?" So yes, if the Thing is alive, it's Childs. But any attempt to prove that Childs is the Thing is pure conjecture because those "hints" aren't actually hints.

[@Joellebee_]

Eric’s fascinated but disgusted faces during this were golden 😂

[@brianvw2724]

"His body didn't explode into a body horror bonanza, so think was human" 😆😆😆

[@jarnodatema]

MacReady destroying the chess computer is foreshadowing how he’ll break the game if he can’t win (even if the computer cheated) He’d rather blow up the entire camp, taking the thing down with him rather than continuing trying to fight the thing on even terms

[@HailHydrate2]

I love that, if you understand any Norwegian at all, the guy shouting at the start spoils the entire twist right away.

[@sandrosliske]

Which could make it better. You now know that that dog is a monster and they don't.

[@reidmason2551]

But the guy is acting so unhinged that you still wouldn't believe him. You'd think he was crazy right up until the Thing unmasks itself.

[@musqwatrax708]

There have been a couple of reactors that speak and reacted to the movie. It's kinda hilarious cause they're completely on another logic track watching that dog like hawks, lol.

[@dnllrnt]

But in the commentary, you find out the Norwegian is Kurt Russell's brother in law, he's speaking complete gibberish.

[@Moonless-ih9em]

I have seen LOTS of actual Norwegians saying that he does speak norwegian in that scene, it's just that it's spoken with some heavy accent so to people who's mother language it is, some of the words are kind of hard to understand. I'm Finnish and I remember when mr ballen spoke Finnish in some of his video (some sponsor thing) but I had no idea that it was supposed to be finnish, I thought "is this sami language?" Lol 😅

[@anthonyhudak9363]

This is actually part of John Carpenter's unofficial trilogy called "The Apocalypse Trilogy". The Thing was first and then it was Prince of Darkness (1987), and finally In the Mouth of Madness (1994). Each movie is separate from each other with the main thread being each one is a depiction of how the world can end. This is either destruction of the body, destruction of the mind, or destruction of the spirit

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

The Apocalypse Trilogy is so epic.

[@OroborusFMA]

I always thought it was the Kurt Russell Trilogy - Escape From New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China.

[@baconeggsandwich]

They're great films. Thing is my favorite, but Prince of Darkness is a lot of fun and brings back the actor that played Loomis in Halloween. Carpenter wrote a banger of a main theme for Mouth of Madness, too.

[@Depth217]

I think it would be cool and terrifying if somehow these things were more explicitly linked. Not necessarily like a Thanos is ordering the evils around, but like the Thing is one of the evil monsters seen in Mouth of Madness that got separated from the home eldritch universe or something.

[@brotherkhrayn3525]

I never knew that. Now I need to watch those two movies

[@jimtatro6550]

My late father took me to see this in 1982 when I was just about 15 years old. It has become my favorite horror movie of all time. Thank you, dad, RIP.

[@AngelGroves]

@@jimtatro6550 ❤️❤️❤️

[@SidPhoenix2211]

Blind Wave reacting to one of my favorite movies of all time?? Let's GOOOOOO

[@brendanfalvy1281]

“Dog, did you do this?” “How would he have done it, how?!” Dog: “Let me show you…”

[@ajalvarez3111]

“Do you want to see something really scary?”

[@MitchFace]

Wilford Brimley does such great acting in this movie. I feel like he gets overlooked sometimes, he’s great in this.

[@jmwild1]

I love how so much of this movie is really just a stage play with a small cast. That part of it works wonderfully on its own, but then throw in some insanely complex practical body horror effects and this is an all-time gem of a film.

[@linkloudenback8359]

“ We want you to go to Antarctica for a research project.” “ No way it’s too cold there.” “ We’ll give you a flamethrower to us.” “ Okay, I’m in.

[@moviefan2517]

Actually, The X Files episode inspired by The Thing was called "Ice"

[@larskk101]

Yeah, I was about to write the same THING…👌. (Great episode btw)

[@brooza664]

That makes sense!

[@Lostmonster]

Came here to say this.

[@miller-joel]

I'm pretty sure there's no episode called "Worms."

[@lezliecastillo7470]

What happened to the old black and white movie with was James Arness from Gunsmoke 1950. Was way before the X files.

[@BillsRule250]

If you like John Carpenter movies with Keith David you guys have GOT to watch They Live

[@CaptainTitforce]

I'd be fine with them just watching that one fight scene.

[@adamknowles9726]

Fuck yes

[@joshuagoforth1658]

I was skeptical at first cause I’m not big on aliens as a horror subgenre for me at least short of obviously alien/aliens predator etc. but I have it a chance specifically because of Keith David and Rowdy Roddy Piper and it did not disappoint it was definitely more of a slow burn for me but it’s one of my favorites now I mean the fight alone 😂

[@MisoSilly]

Lol even though they look nothing alike, I always mixed up David Keith and Keith David.

[@ilovebooks718-noelia8]

And he is the voice of the president on Rick and morty

[@benjaminh.morgan3193]

“With props that good, you don’t have to act.” Great point! It’s not just the realism of the effects themselves that have been lost with CGI.

[@VoodooChile_42]

I really can't get into horror movies as a genre, but this movie GETS ME. The rising tension, the sudden moments of shock and violence, the brutality of the effects. But I think it's the psychological horror that I think really makes it work for me. Besides the complex effects, I don't think any of it should be impossible to replicate in this day and age, but I just can't seem to find other movies that hit me the way this movie does.

[@kugelblitzkrieg]

SAME, most horror movies just don’t work for me so I only watch with friends. This one is definitely one I plan to rewatch.

[@brianb-t4v]

Eric might have the best reaction to the defibrillator scene I’ve seen in a while. Just screaming “oh fuck” the entire time.

[@PlasteredDragon]

@48:30 Fuchs had to die -- he was the last person who could conceivably come up with a test to identify the Thing. Therefore impersonating him would have been useless, people would suspect Thing-Fuchs for not coming up with a test. My interpretation of that scene is that when Fuchs goes outside to find MacReady's jacket in the snow, it's there because Thing-Palmer just dropped it. While Fuchs is examining it, Thing-Palmer jumps him and kills him, burns his body, and then takes the jacket to Mac's shack to place in the oil furnace.

[@AngelGroves]

YES; I'm so glad this won the poll!!! More John Carpenter movies, please (even if most of the crew has seen them and it's only one or two members who hasn't...still worth it)!!!

[@jimralston7562]

Prince of Darkness!

[@AngelGroves]

@jimralston7562 that's actually one that I still haven't seen yet/ has been recommendeded to me many times...I definitely need to watch it!

[@jimralston7562]

@@AngelGroves Prince of Darkness is extra disturbing - even on Carpenter's level!

[@slowodanx]

Oh hey, another fellow reactor i like to watch.

[@AngelGroves]

@@slowodanx 💜

[@PezQ84]

Poor Rick might need double headphones when sitting next to Melanie 😅

[@TheBlarggle]

"The human eye cannot be tricked. I know that's not real. But if you take a piece of plastic and cover it in slime, I'm like... **gasp!**" - Eric

[@dan0nada754]

"my fave movie" amen brother. unreal how good this film is

[@51tetra69]

When the Thing imitates someone, it perfectly duplicates every cell with such precision than it actually retains the memories, knowledge, and personality of the individual it copies. Norris (the guy who’s chest bursts open, chopping off the doctor’s hands with its bear-trap teeth) had a bad heart, and likely a peacemaker. When the Thing took him over and perfectly imitated him, it also faithfully recreated his heart defect, but not his pacemaker, which eventually caused Norris to suffer a heart attack for real during a high-stress moment. The Thing would have been happy to hide itself in a presumably “dead” body, but it couldn’t tolerate the electro-shocks from the defibrillator and was thus forced to reveal itself. Of course, the amazing scene where Norris’ head separates from his burning body, slides onto the floor, and pulls itself away, transforming into a crab/spider with his upside-down head as its body, and tries to crawl away unnoticed, is an iconic moment! (Incidentally, at the beginning of the movie, the spaceship was flying erratically because the crew was desperately trying to fight off the Things that were aboard their vessel and causing havoc. That’s why the spaceship attempted to make an emergency landing on the nearest planet and ended up crash landing in the Antarctic. Only one of the Things as survived the crash and made it out of the ship alive, only to freeze in the ice.)

[@disturbed1013]

According to the original story, the thing can read minds, too. That's what it did, being semi conscious while being in the ice, and how it knew stuff even before it got out.

[@LeftyConspirator]

Norwegians watching this movie at the helicopter scene: "Ah, so that's not actually a dog but some sort of Thing, and you should stay away from it. Gotcha!"

[@scotthewitt258]

Trivia: The only female "cast member" is Adrienne Barbeau as the voice of the Chess Game. She was married to Carpenter at the time, and involved in many of his films.

[@marcusmcgill4423]

Every time I'm around her at conventions, she's great to talk to. When I first met her, it was as a fan and we talked a lot about her role in Sons of Anarchy. The several times after, I was in the industry as a producer of Terrifier 2 and Stream (2024). She would give me advice about the pitfalls to look out for in the industry.

[@roxtechs]

Hope they react to the fly if none have them have seen it.

[@AngelGroves]

I know some have seen it, but I'm not sure if all have. That would definitely be a great one.

[@matthewfioravaniti6084]

Yesssss!

[@tananatana4011]

It's rare that a movie ends up having an ending that could be interpreted in multiple ways, and I legitimately can't decide which I want to be my headcanon because all possibilities are equally interesting for different reasons

[@alisw81]

15:03 "Get me out of here!!!" I laughed so hard at that statement XD

[@edwardosquidawardo]

The Thing and Evil Dead 2 are tied for my favourite horrors of all time! So glad you guys are reacting to it!!!

[@ajalvarez3111]

My choices would be a three way tie at the top closely followed by another JC movie: 1. The Thing 1. Alien 1. The Exorcist 2. Halloween

[@ALLENM07]

Watched it for the first time yesterday but I had seen many of the effects throughout my life. Still didn’t take away from how in awe I was at the effects.

[@Razgriz85]

At the beginning, if you look closely at the trainer playing Bennings as the dog is jumping up to lick at his face, you can see the piece of meat in his hand which is what the dog is after. They almost burned down the studio when filming the scene where Norris' head comes off, due to the flammable chemicals used in the effect. The outdoor scenes were filmed in Alaska and Canada. The Thing is an amalgamation of everything it's absorbed, which is why you get the goopy tentacles, and flower-like toothy mouths.

[@Uncle_T]

"You gotta be f*cking kidding." A true classic.

[@scotthewitt258]

No one has ever been a better audience stand in in any movie.....

[@MySerpentine]

Even better because he's a Thing.

[@scotthewitt258]

@@MySerpentine It goes towards the "copies don't know while the Thing is dormant" theory.

[@MySerpentine]

@@scotthewitt258 Or the Thing just borrowed Palmer's sense of humor, who knows.

[@Sir_AlexxTv]

This movie's effects are almost all (if not all) practical ..... a masterpiece.

[@scotthewitt258]

The only effect that doesn't "fit well" for a lot of people is the stop-motion puppet in the tunnel. Some of us do enjoy well done stop-motion, but it works a lot better if it is not "mixed" with other practical effects.

[@sandrosliske]

The puppet man flailing around while being eaten by the head was a bit silly, but the sounds sold it.

[@slowodanx]

And to this day are still unbeaten.

[@jenk4545]

Jed the starring dog in The Thing, was half wolf and a veteran actor, also starring in White Fang. And I call him an actor because he is *acting* in this movie. In other movies with dogs you can see them watching their handlers or wagging their tails when they shouldn't be, but Jed was a consummate professional.

[@Wannabe_Baby]

I'm glad Rick mentioned the "The Things" short story. You can read it for free online. I have some issues with it (no mention of Garry or Nauls, saying that Childs and Doc were Things even at the time that they passed the blood test) but there is something I really like about it; the Thing is as disgusted by us as we are by it. I also recommend "John Carpenter's The Thing: The Musical", which is a hilarious KZbin video.

[@sandrosliske]

The musical? Well fuck yeah, I'm in.

[@ajalvarez3111]

@@sandrosliske The novelization by Alan Dean Foster is also a very good read. He based it on a version of the script that changed quite a bit before the film was completed so there are some interesting differences between the final version of the movie and the book. A major difference is there is a chapter that deals with three of the dogs escaping the kennel and camp and heading out on their own (one dog is a thing). Mac, Childs and Bennings take snowmobiles to track the dogs down with the intent to kill and burn them. Bennings meets a different end in the book than in the movie. The chapter is very intense and is another example of Mac turning to Childs for his help, over any others, even though they apparently don’t really like each other.

[@jameshouston2174]

This is based on a story working titled “Who Goes There?” By John Campbell writing under the pen name Don Stuart. Published under the title of The Thing From Another World was a story in a larger work titled Frozen Hell (also called Pandora)

[@OneAndOnlyMe]

When the head turns into a walking spider, I don't think modern CGI could have done that any better.

[@jenny2tone]

I agree 👍

[@SgtHookhead9910]

Yet, that doesn't stop them from trying. "It Chapter Two"

[@slowodanx]

@@SgtHookhead9910Goddamn right. I was so fucking disappointed, if you do it as an hommage you dont fuckin do it as CGI. Well, Chapter 2 has so many problems, i guess it fits right in. Terrible movie.

[@slowodanx]

No, it would take away the realness of it and would take you out of the movie instantly. BRING BACK PRACTICAL EFFECTS AS STANDARD!

[@scotthewitt258]

Trivia: The prop of the dead alien stank to high heaven. They intentionally made the smell as nasty as possible, and did not tell the cast. Their reactions to the stink were real.

[@scottishzombie]

A little trivia: Bill Lancaster wrote the screenplay for The Thing (1982), whose father was famous actor Burt Lancaster. He also wrote the screenplay for The Bad News Bears (1976).

[@daniellanctot6548]

18:53 - *The exterior shots were filmed in in Juneau, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia. The interior shots were filmed on refrigerated sets in Los Angeles.*

[@chrisguevara]

Art being "ahead of it's time" is a double edge sword. But I would encourage artist to still continue to push boundries, even if it doesn't pay the rent 😵‍💫

[@eironjones8037]

Now I feel really old being born in 1981. Love this film. The 2002 PlayStation 2 game "The thing" was a sequel to this film and cannon, said by John Carpenter himself.

[@RealBLAlley]

You feel old? I started college in 1981.

[@ivanbutenko8778]

In PC (Steam) wishlist The Thing Remastered very coming soon!!!

[@seanpearce5809]

Pfft I was born in 67

[@Roadtrip635]

I still chuckle thinking that about "Mac" and "Windows"

[@marty1459]

'The Thing' to this day has the best special effects out of any sci fi horror movie, maybe even any horror movie. I'm including modern CGI in that.

[@chrisf5828]

The prequel is a solid movie. It doesn't compare to an absolute classic but it is in the top 10-20% of science fiction movies of it's era and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is among our best and most sincere female action stars.

[@FlyinMunky]

Sad Fact: The crew actually did mostly practical effects and almost had it all done and then "the company" interfered and replaced all of it with CGI. You can see the practical stuff in the BTS footage and they tried a Kickstarter to make a pseudo replacement movie, but failed. The practical stuff looks good.

[@MetalFaceArc]

​@@FlyinMunkyI'm pretty sure they did end up making their own heavily inspired movie with full practical effects, it's called Harbinger Down, id definitely recommend checking it out

[@joelpabalinas7457]

"Company" interference is a bummer, you can't show your vision and creativity, and the final product ends up crap.

[@Tigermania]

Biggest crime of that movie is the effects where practical to start, then they decided to average cgi all over the original footage.

[@flaggerify]

They did a good job of trying to replicate the old effects.

[@francisco5434]

It’s hilarious that when Windows’ character is killed by the Thing, one of the reactors mimics the old Windows OS sound when shutting down. I had to keep rewinding and laughing more.

[@CripTikStorm]

One of the greatest horror movies ever made.

[@Depth217]

Seeing them on the side of the dog. (Insert meme of the monkey toy looking sideways at the camera)

[@MitchFace]

That hand bite is one of the greatest jumpscares of all time.

[@chaost4544]

Not a huge fan of horror films but in recent years got the courage to watch this film. After experiencing this film, I don't look at dogs the same way I used to before watching "The Thing".

[@msfeistybabe]

Have you ever had your dog just sit and stare at you for long minutes at a time... and wonder what they are thinking?

[@scotthewitt258]

A great example of the paranoia and mistrust is the scene where they find out the blood is destroyed. They start arguing over how someone could get the keys from Garry. And, hy extension, that Garry must have destroyed the blood. But, Windows had the keys when they were putting the alien in the store room. He went to tell Mac he needed to get his stuff out of the storeroom. When he comes back in, he sees the alien absorbing the other guy. You can clearly hear him drop the keys. Anyone could have just picked them up.....

[@sadi5713]

thats why Windows runs for the guns becasue everyone is ganging up on Gary but he is not saying anything about WIndows coming to him and getting the keys so he thinks Garry is the Thing.

[@ajalvarez3111]

I always wondered in the subsequent arguing and accusations against Garry and Doc related to the blood incident, why Garry didn’t remember or mention giving the keys to Windows. And how did the keys get returned to Garry? It wouldn’t have been Windows returning them. So Garry would have whoever returned them as another jog to his memory. Plot hole?

[@daz_n]

Love to hear Rick talk about 'The Things'... The last line of that story forever haunts my dreams.

[@vaz119]

I’m a huge fan of this movie and I just read it for the first time. That last line gave me shivers.

[@daz_n]

Once read, never forgotten!

[@ShaggyWonderer]

Melanie LET THE MOVIE PLAY!!!😂

[@OHB666]

The thing and alien are in my opinion the best sci-fi horrors ever made 😊

[@urbanburrow9286]

I feel obligated to give a special shoutout to Pingu's the Thing Aka "Thingu". A Claymation short that recreated the movie using Pingu characters. the original was taken down but has been reuploaded/archived for others to see, and caught the attention of John Carpenter, director of this movie, who posted about it on twitter saying he loved it. just a little bit of fun extra trivia for those who weren't aware 🐧

[@BritBox777]

I first saw this movie at an All-Night horror showing. It was the last movie of the night and I ordered coffee, not understanding what an espresso was. So after drinking like four of them I was REALLY paying attention by the end.

[@stormcrowlu]

I remember playing a The Thing video game a long time ago. Maybe on PS2? I was like a sequel to the movie and I really enjoyed it, having been a fan of the movie before.

[@faldorthegreat9755]

When erik said 1987 was super old, it hurt my soul. 😂

[@RealBLAlley]

Like when people say they watched X-Men The Animated Series or especially Avatar: The Last Airbender as kids. Those came out when I was in my 30s and 40s respectively. Ouch.

[@ajalvarez3111]

Agreed…but it cuts 2 ways. My heart aches for the millions and millions of people that will never experience movies and books (and music) from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I love new stuff, too. I’m not one of those, “Well back in my day…” But I feel for these younger generations that will never be exposed to all the great older experiences that, ironically, are right at their fingertips.

[@RopeDrink]

I was born the year this movie was made. Years later, it became one of my utmost favourites, and that defibrillator scene has lived in my head rent-free for most of my life. The wonderfully acted slow-burning tension - now considered "Among Us" vibes. Horror through paranoia, not knowing who to trust, spliced with disgustingly indescribably awesome body horror that still looks great today. The intentional 'loose threads' allow plenty of room for guesswork and speculation, leading to decades-old theorizing, all backed by a simplistic but creepy heart-like soundtrack. The concept was so fresh then, and now, any movie that tries similar will always be pointed back to The Thing. A certified classic.

[@schizzo8959]

This movie is a masterpiece.

[@yodhin79]

This movie is one of the greats. The fact the ending is still discussed 42 years later is a testament to the brilliance of this film !

[@wiredvex99]

Highly recommend the game which I believe John Carpenter said is the sequel to The Thing , its called literally The Thing. Its from the early 2000s and will be getting a remaster real soon

[@bartondonnelly5293]

Did ya notice? One character is named Windows and the Kurt Russell’s character is McCready (Mac for short). Mac and Windows. The first Microsoft Windows was released in 1985. 3 years after The Thing.

[@rayspeakmon2954]

This movie has stood the test of time. Cutting edge special effects at the time.

[@416Xanatos]

When I was like 7, my dad got super fed up with me bugging him to let me watch a grown-up movie. He decided to shut me up by showing me The Thing. His plan worked flawlessly. Right around when the dog's face split open, I ripped the tape out of the VCR, smashed it, and then didn't ask my dad to watch grown-up movies for a long, long time.

[@msfeistybabe]

If you smashed my copy of The Thing... you would have seen something much scarier lol 😂

[@jenny2tone]

I lasted till the dog scene aswell. Told my mum I was off to bed. Had nightmares for months 😂

[@GuardianOwl]

The Chess game at the beginning is the movie in microcosm. Mac and The Thing play their game trying to outmaneuver each other. The Thing checkmates the humans by taking out the generator. Then Mac _TRIES_ to flip the board by blowing up the entire camp (like he does with the chess computer by pouring his whisky into the electronics), but the The Thing outmaneuvers him again by leaving a knight off the board to the side so that it can come in at the end to finish the game after Mac has destroyed the board.

[@sadi5713]

MacCready was also a Thing. The more advanced ones dont shy away to kill the lower ones to advance(live/Procreate) as seen by Palmer-Thing pointing out the fleeing head.

[@vinnypaolini9116]

@@sadi5713Read online kiddo. You’re not the first to think that and there’s no evidence to prove you right. It’s possible, but the movie is purposefully made to make you question your judgement.

[@GuardianOwl]

@@sadi5713 That is a possibility, but it is also possible that Thing's are like Cylon sleeper agents, that they act exactly as they would normally unless The Thing inside takes control. For example, I believe it would have been beneficial for the Norris-Thing to have taken charge when offered, but instead he turns it down. I would think any extra scrutiny would be worth the risk of having control over more of the groups decisions. So I think that's the Human side of Norris that turns it down.

[@xen0bia]

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but neither MacReady or Child are the thing at the end, Carpenter as said as such (or rather, that you're not supposed to know either way), but it was made canonical in the 2002 The Thing video game. Human Child died of exposure while human MacReady survived, to make an appearance in the game which follows the event of the movie. You can of course make your own head-canon, but you still should be aware of this.

[@vinnypaolini9116]

@@xen0bia Video game made decades later isn’t canon.

[@cthulhluftagn3812]

People keep saying childs is a thing at the end because he has no breath fog, ignoring bennings scream with a ton of it. Also the thing would know if it was gasoline in the whiskey bottle, it knows everything the person it consumes knows, including how they would react emotionally because it IS that person..

[@JacksonDiddles]

I watched another reactor that spoke Norwegian and when the guy was yelling and shooting at the dog she said "Get away from that thing! It isn't a dog!" and she knew right then it was the thing. Pretty funny as there are no subtitles for that part.

[@user-yf3oz3rn5b]

I'm amazed you guys haven't reacted to this before. It's a freaking classic!

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

I saw The Thing more times that Summer than I've seen E.T. in my life. The Summer of 1982 was so epic. Over 40 years later and the practical effects STILL terrifes and look amazing. Glad you guys got such a great scare. BTW: The Norwegian was telling the group that the dog was fake and to kill the thing.

[@JonathanFrancisBoyle]

One of the best movies ever made. Melanie: "It wasn't that bad" and "I actually kind of enjoyed it"

[@daveb947]

About Childs breath, Bennings Thing had breath vapor when he screamed/shrieked.

[@RealBLAlley]

That used to be the base for my theory, but it doesn't hold up. Now I honestly don't know.

[@daveb947]

@RealBLAlley either way, theories are always good because they make you pay more attention on further views and it makes you enjoy the movies more. At least IMO.

[@rockyxbautista]

10:30 “welcome to our burnt houses” is the funniest damn thing i’ve heard in a while i could not stop laughing 😭 i love u blind wave

[@TheUltraYusuf]

So elated, one of the best horror films ever made!! Carpenter's masterpiece IMO.

[@3r1kofficial]

I agree. The practical effects, acting, and story all still hold up and kick ass to this day.

[@rayallan3650]

@@3r1kofficial today movies are shit compare to those movies in 80's 90's

[@Captain-lw7fx]

One of my favorite movies of all time Just got later into the discussion and we're getting Halloween aswell??? Another one of my favorite movies

[@Tiisiphone]

Reactors: No! Don't harm the dog! Me: **giggling**

[@TheMota]

Just started the reaction. Have not seen it through, but the fact that Rick has this as his favorite movie makes me love his so much more 😊

[@gdaughdrill]

The Thing from Another World is a Dark Horse Comic series that acted as a continuation of the 1982 film The Thing, with three stories (The Thing from Another World, The Thing from Another World: Climate of Fear and The Thing from Another World: Eternal Vows) directly following its events, and a serialized visual novel (The Thing from Another World: Questionable Research) which ignored the preceding stories and acted as a separate stand-alone sequel to the film.

[@MH3Raiser]

I remember reading somewhere once that they filmed all the Thing reveal scenes last, so during them nobody in the room knew who was a Thing and who wasn't, INCLUDING the Things. That way all the scenes with Things laying low are all acted completely casually, giving the audience and actors absolutely no clues as to who has been replaced. It also means that DURING the Thing reveal scenes, the actors are genuinely scared shitless by simply the best practical monstrosities ever put to film. Another note, there's loads of behind the scenes clips and documentaries of what the props look like in full light... and goofy is really the only word that can describe them. It's remarkable what an impact a few things have on the value of props, and for the most part our inability to capture them is why props beat CG every time for me, though some are more lost artistic preferences. It's the lighting, or to be blunt... the lack thereof. There are actually a surprising number of long shots held on the 'goofy' props, but every shot of a stationary prop where we have time to examine it is done in low light, massive shadows or with the prop covered in some kind of goo or ooze, or swaddled in smoke etc. This is very obvious when you compare it to the spin off prequel's CG and why they used it. Somebody on the design team for the spin off clearly loved the impact of the practical effects in the original and wanted to show off all the cool monster combinations they could think of, but the very thing that made those brief-by-design monster scenes in the original POP was how little they showed them off. There's TONS of detail I never noticed in the film that I saw in behind the scenes clips, but that very detail is what breaks the illusion of the effect. It doesn't help that no CG lighting can ever perfectly imitate an actual object in an area being lit naturally, because the human eye is ridiculously good at recognizing fake lighting. There's a good reason why 'shadows' are some of the most resource demanding settings in any video game.

[@steve0500738]

I cannot believe Eric has NEVER seen The Thing until now. My whole world view has been shattered.

[@frostyguy1989]

The core themes of The Thing are paranoia and ambiguity. Without them the premise doesn't work. It's why the ending is a masterpiece of horror, because there are four possible scenarios that are equally valid: 1: Both Childs and Macready are human. They will die paranoid of one another, but they remain themselves and humanity will live on. 2: Childs is The Thing and Macready is human. This is the fan consensus since he was off screen for a long time, so we don't know what happened with him. 3: Childs is human and Macready is The Thing. We never do see the Blair-Thing destroyed on screen like the others, and those screams could have been Macready being assimilated. 4: Both Childs and Macready are Things, and humanity is doomed. Ironically enough, the same paranoia and ambiguity they've cultivated in this movie and the need to blend in has made them paranoid of each other. Ultimately we are not meant to know which scenario is correct. The ambiguity theme demands that there be no easy answers to comfortably settle on, for that would lessen the paranoia. After all, the monster doesn't stay in a single form so you cannot predict what it will do next.

[@limitedbom2206]

I believe John Carpenter has said somewhere that one of the final 2 are The Thing, so we at least know that either Childs or Macready is not human anymore.

[@petermacdonough9077]

BRO!!!! As much horror movie nerds you guys are, how have you never seen THE THING!!! It's fucking classic. I remember my brothers renting it on vhs when I was 6 and it gave me nightmares for 10-years. That and Alien 1979!!! I saw this pop up in my newsfeed and I immediately clicked on it, no hesitation. My Friday night was set!! I am really happy that you guys finally got to see the movie and now you can study it, live it and research it more. The Thing alien was created and designed by Rob Bottin. 🐺...The part where "The Thing" is blown into fire and is walking on two legs, that's a homage to the original THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD!!! 1951.

[@PrixtoTNT]

What a freaking coincidence. I just rewatched this movie yesterday wih other people and I find out you did this a month ago! What an absolutely fantastic movie. The incredible effects, the amazing script, all the small details in all the scenes. What a masterpiece.

[@darkrootgarden3530]

For a split second my heart sank cause I saw the thumbnail before the title and thought it was the 2011 film. I've never had such an emotional 180 in my life.

[@Richardwho-vv5bh]

Why?? The prequel is great.

[@edgymoji8260]

@@Richardwho-vv5bhagreed, only downside is the cgi not hitting quite as well as the practical stuff and the final battle’s a little meh

[@Paul_1971]

@@Richardwho-vv5bh It would've been if the suits hadn't interfered & CGI'd over the practical effects!

[@darkrootgarden3530]

@@Paul_1971 This is why. Especially after learning that there was in fact practical effects because they wanted to stay faithful to the original.

[@Paul_1971]

@@darkrootgarden3530 Theres actually a 10 min video on KZbin by the effects company Amalgamated Dynamics showcasing the practical effects, including the pilot of the saucer, until the suits decided to CG over them in "Thing ADI Creature Work Behind The Scenes" - check it out if you havn't already, will make you wanna weep thou.