People Hated Having To Think About How 'The Thing' Ended

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Original Article:
www.factfiend.com/people-hated...
Sources:
www.mentalfloss.com/article/6...
www.denofgeek.com/movies/john...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thi...
screenrant.com/thing-movie-ch...
www.looper.com/254509/the-rea...
thething.fandom.com/wiki/The_...
cancelled-movies.fandom.com/w...
thething.fandom.com/wiki/The_...)
www.robocoparchive.com/archiv...
www.boredpanda.com/pets-can-s...
Clips:
The Thing (1982),
www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/
Rick and Morty (TV Series 2013- ),
www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/
The Thing (2011),
www.imdb.com/title/tt0905372/
Captain America: Civil War (2016).
www.imdb.com/title/tt3498820/
Images:
Kurt Russell,
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Keith David,
Mingle Media TV, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
The Thing,
m.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/go...
The Thing Prequel,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thi...)
John Carpenter,
Nathan Hartley Maas, CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Robert Downey Jr,
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
E.T,
www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/
Pokemon Go,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%...
Melting man,
robocop.fandom.com/wiki/Emil_...
Paul Verhoeven,
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Music:
From filmmusic.io
"Two Finger Johnny" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)

[@yankeefan984]

Regarding the flamethrower, that's just good awareness of being in a movie. Don't monologue before killing your enemy.

[@Iffem]

"You almost caught me monologuing!"

[@wildlock1552]

@@Iffem "You sly dog!"

[@poppers7317]

"When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk."

[@tigerfloof]

Yeah, and it would've been a cool scene in an *actually good* movie, but since the movie had nothing else going for it it would've been cool to add SOME depth to the alien. But nope - flamethrower, haha

[@dukecraig2402]

@@poppers7317 Excellent TGTBATU reference 👏👏👏👍👍👍

[@justin1730]

The best example of people walking out of a theatre was the first South Park film. I was working at a movie theatre at the time. During the Uncle F***er song, parents who came with their teenaged kids began walking out, right as it was happening in the film. It was so perfect. I have always wondered if they planned it that way.

[@restoredtuna8264]

Funny you should say that, the people who made South Park had been at that time trying as hard as they could to get taken off the air, pretty much just to see how far they could go. Somehow they were never taken down.

[@legoaddiction8607]

They for sure planned it that way

[@TheBrotherGrim]

Ha, I got to see the south park movie in a very big, mostly empty theater. I was about 12, so my mom had to come in with my brother and our two friends to give permission for us to see it. Other than my group there were only two other people in this giant theater for a daytime showing, and it felt like we were getting our own private lil screening of the movie, it was beautiful

[@babyvanta]

Sausage Party’s orgy finale garnered a similar reaction.

[@KDizzy6]

I'm glad Karl mentioned how good the dog's acting was in "The Thing" cuz that dog nailed every scene they were in. The dog looks suspicious when it's supposed to, scared when it's supposed to. Just all around great acting from a dog.

[@madswagzach0480]

I was watching The Thing on Amazon and found out it’s name is Jed🥰

[@KDizzy6]

I looked into this & as it turns out, Jed was in a few movies. Most notably White Fang & White Fang 2 where he played the titular White Fang. Thanks for that tidbit of info, my friend.

[@alexthebat9012]

Hating The Thing because it doesn’t explain the ending reminds me of the Garth Marenghi quote “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards”

[@Entropic_Alloy]

Well apparently subtlety isn't even used nowadays.

[@Generaider]

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a fantastic show that I'd recommend to anyone

[@ytnukesme1600]

I convinced my little brother to watch Escape From New York with me and he said he "didn't like it because there wasn't enough action in it 😂", make no mistake, some viewers are genuinely stupid.

[@1000000man1]

Also, earlier in the film, we see a Thing produce visible breath anyway and it's supposed to reproduce people exactly. The film Never suggests that the Thing doesn't produce visible breath.

[@ZombieFood1337]

The breath and the eye gleam are the most absurd theories about The Thing. There's one scene where the thing appears not to be producing visible breath (because of filming in a different location), and there's one scene where humans have an eye gleam but the thing doesn't (because of an intentional artistic choice). Neither breath nor eye gleam follow any rhyme or reason in the rest of the film, but that's what people hold up to say "Aha! So-and-so is a thing!" Meanwhile, I'm wondering if those people even paid attention to any other part of the movie.

[@Zikar]

@@ZombieFood1337 I believe the cinematographer for the film confirmed the eye gleam theory and it is consistent throughout the film, at least in close ups. This isn't to say that this is an inherent property of The Thing, it's just something that was done on an art direction level. But yeah, the breath thing is clearly nonsense, the Thing replicates a host completely, that would include all of its vital functions, otherwise it wouldn't be able to pass so effectively.

[@michaelmartin4874]

I've always said that the proof that Childes was the thing was that he didn't hesitate to drink from the whiskey bottle after McCready.

[@Zikar]

@@michaelmartin4874 What does that prove?

[@michaelmartin4874]

@@Zikar Childes wasn't a stupid man. If McCready were the thing, one sip from the bottle would have infected Childes. There was no hesitation, because Childes was already infected.

[@alicepbg2042]

3:13 - I never saw it that way, to me there's a clear progression of the thing's tactics from prequel to the original. during the prequel it's a lot less stealthy and almost dies because of it, so they got better at stealth. and I just assumed that it learned that it needs to imitate suff like earring and piercings, because they can just pick those up and put them in place after finishing the transformation.

[@Xilefian]

This is my headcanon, too. Just because it can't replicate inorganic matter doesn't mean it can't replicate the hole that piercing goes through (same way it replicates hair cuts, body build, and all other traits not DNA based)

[@shark899138]

They even account for that possibility in the end of the movie where the thing mimics the final survivor guy but the final girl figures it out because he put the earring on the wrong ear

[@dukecraig2402]

@@Xilefian You're wrong, at the end of the prequel the character played by Joel Eggerton has it's earring in the wrong ear, so apparently it picked up the earring and put it in the wrong ear.

[@dream6562]

@@dukecraig2402 also Kurt's character is obviously the thing

[@lampo6947]

@@dream6562 why?

[@wadehansen3085]

Far as the prequel lore goes I assume the dog thing learned about the piercing/filling thing and now knows to take that extra step to blend in

[@th3thatguy631]

Thats my headcanon and it makes the most sense considering it has spaceflight

[@jameson1239]

@@th3thatguy631 except we don’t k ow it has space flight for all we know it infected a member of the spaceship crew

[@wadehansen3085]

My thinking always was "it just unfroze after thousands of years. In the prequel its in animalistic fight or flight hence its out in the open dumb actions it doesn't get humans yet

[@th3thatguy631]

@@jameson1239 well shit I didn't think of that! Either way at the end ofthe prequel it tried starting up the ship so it has some amount of intelligence

[@jameson1239]

@@th3thatguy631 true however that could have been inherited from its original host

[@scottcantdance804]

I saw The Thing when I was a kid, and was terrified to be alone around the family dog for several days.

[@madmodder123]

lmao it really is the best horror movie ever made

[@TheBrotherGrim]

Yeah I was in like third or fourth grade when I first saw The Thing. Mom gave us pretty much unrestricted access to the VHS collection as a kid. This and the first Puppet Master were probably my favorites in that collection. Also a bunch of recorded episodes of the 80s revival of Twilight Zone, and one of Wrestlemania 3. Pretty sure I wore those tapes out. I was never afraid to be alone with the dog, but that scene with the head tearing itself off and growing spider legs still has me terrified of spiders.

[@VaderTheWhite]

I totally understand that

[@VaderTheWhite]

@@madmodder123 agreed.

[@michaeljf6472]

"Effects were disgusting" [Mission accomplished]

[@joshua.merrill]

The saddest part about The Thing (2011) is that they had beautiful practical effects already built and filmed, but the higher ups said to replace it all with CGI.

[@shotgunatthedisco6909]

I mean, to be fair, if Childs WAS a thing he could've easily put the earring back in. A lot easier to do that than it is to replace fillings or an implant.

[@negativetim]

🎶To be fay-uh🎶

[@landonletterman831]

I like to think that, as a self defense mechanism, the Thing copies people _so well_ that the infected don't even realize they've been replaced unless forced to trigger (being discovered, or even discovering it themselves)

[@owamidlamini9681]

@@negativetim To be fayyyyy-uhhhh

[@lapinlogic6267]

It's been confirmed Childs was the Thing by Carpenter, also wrong jacket, no frost breath, doesn't wipe the neck of the booze bottle before drinking, drinks a possible molotov cocktail and finally the PlayStation game explicitly states Mcready helps the protagonist after escaping the camp.

[@pickles4412]

In the prequel the thing actually does this but it puts the earing in the wrong ear and that's how the prequel protagonist recognizes the imposter, because the thing is a collective hive mind it would have learned and put the earring back on the correct ear with Childs

[@johncurtis6815]

The Thing is an absolute masterpiece. 10/10.

[@squarewheel1587]

Absolutely, it's on my top 10 list.

[@bbb462cid]

Perfect movie. People using Child's breath as proof of anything need to see the film on the big screen. I have, from an original print. It's not added in digitally. Inorganic material? Blair was wearing glasses. The Blair-Thing simply put them on. Watch the film.

[@leeeyles1864]

I'm surprised no one thinks Kurt Russells 'character could have been a thing and put it's DNA in the drink it offered. Now I'm questioning why the thing didn't offer everyone drinks instead - film over in 5 minutes.

[@bbb462cid]

@@leeeyles1864 Many things could have happened. What if Nauls was right, and Mac was a Thing long before the end? Cunning and patient, it was all an act. The Mac-Thing wanted to be the ONLY Thing maybe. Maybe. Coulda. Might be.

[@xoxtoddxox]

There is old audio dramas based on the short story the movie is based that establishes the ambiguity. The remaining two survivors just sit together to wait and see if they are a monster. Or if it might be one of the dogs they missed. As great as the movie is, the ending to the audio drama makes you use that imagination even more.

[@landonletterman831]

I like to think that it mimics _so well_ that not even the people know they're the alien. It's a defense mechanism, but one that will self trigger if the person realized they're infected. _The horror!_

[@johnidk7963]

dude, that's such a good theory

[@galemisoki6320]

And if you have the slightest doubt and opening and it goes for the kill. Absolute monster! ...chills

[@Legs_]

Nah, the thing builds a spaceship under the ice, tries to frame MacReady with the ripped clothing in his shack and the palmer thing constantly tries to throw suspicion off of itself and onto windows It's like a psychopath, it knows exactly what it is, is incredibly intelligent and manipulates you by mimicking emotions it doesn't actually feel while, hiding in plain sight until it simply can't anymore .

[@octoson5944]

But why would they sabotage the blood then?

[@EvilEye0]

I think it does that in the prequel.

[@OptimusPhillip]

Eh, even without the prequel, I can see the earring becoming another fan theory. Not being able to imitate piercings is a logical weakness of the Thing, albeit one that could be easily worked around if It knows what It's doing.

[@vyor8837]

The prequel even addresses this. It doesn't get caught the last time because it doesn't have earrings on... It just put it on the wrong ear.

[@1000000man1]

Speaking of Marvel de-aging, they actually did it with Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy.

[@Doughy_in_the_Middle]

4:55 I can Identify with that feeling. That honestly is why I HATED "The Devil's Advocate". The sheer nihilism at the end of the movie just pissed me off to the point my wife and I (girlfriend at the time) talked about how much we hated that ending. Have you considered covering that one?

[@Koomoa]

In the ending of the prequel, the main character kills the last person because she noticed that the ear piercings he had switched sides of his head. So with that knowledge, how in the original film ending, him wearing/having an earring does not make him not the thing.

[@2ndcenturion]

He didn’t have any ear piercing on AT ALL. he didn’t switch ears he just reached for the wrong ear to check. Watch it again.

[@neverforever4648]

Maybe the true Thing was the Thing we discovered in ourselves along the way.

[@SIXPACFISH]

I saw The Thing 3 times when it came out, before I watched ET once. At the time I thought it was the creepiest, bad ass, horror move I had ever seen, and it still is. The heart attack scene was the most unexpected and shocking thing I had ever seen in a movie. The ending was perfect! Because the audience knew that all of the bodies would be recovered and The Thing would be unstoppable. So did The Thing! That is why it stopped fighting the survivors. I still like this movie way more than ET. I have never re-watched ET, one and done. I have re-watched The Thing around 20 times.

[@KindlyKell]

There is one clue about who's a thing at the end of the film, but it could just be an oversight. In the establishing shot when the team is heading out to give Blair the test, Childs is next to a bunch of coats neatly placed along the wall. Next time we see the shot of Childs having abandoned his post the coats along the wall are disturbed and Childs appears to be wearing one of them. This is potentially significant because it rips through your clothes when it assimilates you.

[@chuckmount5873]

I was a kid when the Thing (1982) came out. I never heard anybody say it was a bad movie. It was actually pretty huge. Fangoria magazine even dedicated a big chunk of an issue to the special effects involved. Critics may have given it bad reviews, but at the time, critics didn't have such a huge platform for everyone to see. Honestly, I have no idea what critics said about the movie, but like I said, everyone I knew (mostly kids in school) loved it. It was the coolest, most disgusting, movie of the time. I think part of the reason it did bad against ET was because Spielberg was a bigger name (The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark). I almost agree with you about the prequel "removing the ambiguity", but they still made it work, so it didn't really ruin it. You said it was very poorly received by audiences and critics and a horrible loss for the studio, but it was number 7 or 8 in the box office. As for the ending, nobody hated it. It was a cliffhanger that left people guessing... Just like hundreds of other movies have done. Looks like Wikipedia isn't always 100% accurate. Sometimes, reading what people write is different from actually being there.

[@reptomicus]

I heard lots of people say The Thing was a bad movie when it first came out. Or more precisely they hated the movie. I remember Blade Runner was similarly hated on release.

[@dukecraig2402]

It was the critics who bashed it, most people who saw it in the theater liked it but the problem was not that many people saw it in the theater, it wasn't until it came on cable TV that your average viewer saw it and that's when it grew legs and took off. Sci-fi magazines gave it good reviews but let's face it the percentage of the population back then that took reviews from Sci-fi magazines was very limited, the vast majority of people got their critics reviews from the newspapers. The Thing and Blade Runner are both prime examples of why I tell people that they should never listen to the critics, the problem with critics is once the biggest name ones say something all the little wannabe critics all jump on their bandwagon, and even worse once the bashing starts they all try to out bash each other. Wikipedia isn't wrong, the movie really was a box office flop and even made John Carpenter question his choice of professions at that point, he was crushed by the box office number's and reviews by the critics.

[@Rizz_Messiah]

Wasn't there a comic published detailing what happened afterwards. I remember Keith's character was a thing and made a run for the coast as it could just infect a fish. But as they get there they see a nuclear submarine, that through a lot of hijinks gets the to south America. It's s been a while since I read it and for all I know it's not cannon.

[@deltahalo241]

There is also a videogame sequel where Childs freezes to death and McCready rescues the protagonist in a Helicopter and the US Government/Military were running tests on the Thing to see about using it as a weapon, so the external media surrounding the film is contradictory.

[@lindlekindle]

Regarding the scene in Robocop with the "Melting Man", when my dad and I first watched it a couple of months ago, we both bursted out laughing when he just got smacked by the car despite my dad not really being into violent films.

[@onusgumboot5565]

I saw this movie when it came out. When the dog split open I thought I heard someone barf. Then at work the next day, a kid recognized me and said he saw me at the theater. I asked him what he thought of the movie. He said "I don't know. My mom got sick when the dog split open, and we had to leave". Today the effects are almost crude. But back then you never saw anything like it.

[@jamesofthekaijukompendium]

What are you saying? The effects still hold up to me!

[@at0mly]

What a fucking incredible film though.

[@mrrootytooty5797]

I saw No Country for Old Men at the cinema and when it ended ambiguously there was a lot of loud confused noises from the crowd. We then sat through the credits and when these also wrapped up (without, presumably, a final scene in which Chigurgh is killed or jailed) there was a combination of a few seconds of shocked noises then very angry noises.

[@angelcanez4426]

When it ends & "The Thing" theme song is bumping as the credits role is so good

[@tgr3423]

Legitimately one of my favorite films. The terror resides in the pure paranoia of your fellow man, which is what makes the film so timeless.

[@VashSpiegel]

Honestly, I think Blade Runner is another movie of self discussion. It took years to collect profits on the film. 2049 was no exception, it also was considered a flop on release.

[@zhulisclips]

hey karl, ik this is unrelated to the vid and you may not read this,, but i just wanted to say that 2021 has been a tremendously shitty year for me but that your vids actually really help me with my anxiety and depression problems, and you always manage to make me laugh. anyways thanks for the amazing vids

[@spencersegler]

The melting man was one of the few things in a movie that grossed me out but it was a great effect and it certainly was memorable.

[@squarewheel1587]

Love how it ended. Carpenter is a master at creating an atmosphere .

[@Zekana0]

i remember hearing from Linkara's atop the 4th wall years ago there was gonna be a sci-fi channel "The Thing" tv show where the thing managed to escape the arctic and ended up in a barren desert community. it sounded like a neat idea but from what i remember the project was canceled cause it would have been too expensive. having trouble finding information on it but might be a good read if anyone can find it.

[@Rafael-2105]

Regarding the melting man. It's one of those things that are so very extreme it stops being gross and loops back into being hilarious and enjoyable.

[@thefakerking51]

Keith David could still be the Thing with an ear ring; it is clearly shown that the Thing learns, so it could easily reinsert jewelry to avoid detection.

[@shaylove7704]

In regards to Kate questioning the thing instead of burning it in the prequel, I think it would’ve been interesting but runs the risk of making the thing too familiar and undercutting the terror the original has going for it. Part of why the 1st movie is so spooky (at least for me) is the ambiguity of it all not just in who’s a thing and who isn’t but the things reasoning for being there or what it truly is. It’s terrifying to know there’s something that is among your group and all you know is that it means to do harm to you. There’s no bargaining or reasoning or understanding it because how could you? You can’t derive a motive or goal or what it might want and the only thing you know is that it’s already taken the form of someone in your group and you can’t begin to figure out who it could be. When you start stripping away those elements it makes the thing more understandable and possibly more relatable and I think that contradicts with the original keeping the thing at arms length in terms of what the characters learn about what the thing is and how it functions. Because I can’t understand it, it becomes much scarier than if I could

[@jeramyh9344]

Wow, I got it right. Back then I was thinking "neither one of them knows if the other is a thing, so they just sit down and wait to see".

[@eddygordov]

I am a big fan of John Carpenter's films and if you reviewed all his features you would realized that all the endings are actually open. That gives pleasure for the viewer to elaborate his own conclusions.

[@Himmelsfeger]

Oh, I love how all the green things get see-through 😂

[@bolo2393]

I wish I was around and old enough to have seen this in the theatre. I have read that people were leaving in tears and had real trauma from it.

[@arnoldfreeman2885]

I just found this channel! I loved your articles on Cracked back in the day! Subscribed!

[@Zikar]

Here's something to make you feel better about the Thing prequel and the earring. The Thing could have just re-pierced its ear. It might not even need to have re-pierced them, just morphed a hole. It's harder to do that with fillings, though, or it learned from the fillings situation. Though, probably best just to ignore that it existed.

[@steve_jackson9933]

It is amazing on how at the time the Thing was not well liked, but now it is praised for the special effects and the plot and the movie as a whole. It is a great, great movie that was just way ahead of its time. I think if it was released now, it would have done a lot better.

[@braddorcas9363]

Agreed on the thinking into things point. It's why I like the MCU so much. There's so much room to consider possibilities. And it makes the media interesting.

[@Greed70]

I always like the theory that Childs was the Thing due to the fact he drank something that was given to him. iirc Fuchs told Macready that "it would best if we prepared our own meals".

[@deepankerbedi8250]

I think I'll have to agree with Carpenter on why the critics rated The Thing so, which while sad I hope he obtained some satisfaction in it later being seen so positively. Also, I think y'all need to do a video on the baki universe because HOLY SHIT is it ridiculous and fun!

[@charleslee8313]

That reminds me of the ending to "Twelve Monkeys" -- was she the agent from the future, sent back to stop that madman? Or was she simply a lady who looked like that agent? It's up to you; it was never made clear.

[@azureascendant994]

That dog posthumously deserves a golden globe for his acting. He's a better actor than most actors today.

[@atothetaco]

I personally think Childs wasn't a thing, just because he's Keith David

[@rsrt6910]

I personally thing Childs wasn't a Thing, just because he's reverse-giraffe.

[@eriksmith3089]

At the end of The Thing prequel, they showed that The Thing had put an earring in, but it put in the wrong ear.

[@JeanMarceaux]

I don't know why people argue about the ending to John Carpenter's The Thing when The Thing video game had neatly tied up all the loose ends.

[@russfoulkes5490]

Not only can we now see Childs breath.... We've always been able to see Bennings-Thing's breath when it screams....

[@Ratgibbon]

Was about to comment the same, the "invisible breath theory" has no solid ground to stand on.

[@jackberry893]

The pure white background and Karl's white shirt feels like he's an angelic news reporter or something

[@Screm]

I don't think that person was saying they hated they had to think, i have something similar where i hate movies that end up with such an obscure ending that it almost feels incomplete, especially when a movie literally wants you to guess for yourself what you're supposed to be scared of, that just makes it boring at that point It's like playing Clue & the killer is the board itself, like you just sat there & played a game you're not even in control of or get to win in any possible way, you just gotta try to play to have fun

[@WeyounSix]

I watched it this year on halloween and though its not perfect, the movie is a masterclass in suspense thrill

[@monkeydust100]

I remember being scared when the things head comes off and grows legs, great film.

[@vanthefurry]

Little do they know there is a thing from before the thing prison black and white and it was called the thing from beyond the stars it's a gem of a movie

[@MisterMosfet]

The Thing was the FIRST movie to ever make me feel any emotions towards media, imo the ending was PERFECT cause how else would that situation end?

[@zanielgaming4296]

Incidentally on the part of the prequel it does put an earring on, just mirrored, so it didn’t ruin the ambiguity aside from the one scene.

[@sinjun1973]

As someone who remembers seeing the lines around the theaters for ET as a child, any movie released that same weekend we're doomed to fail. It didn't stand a chance in hell. A snowball in hell actually stood a better chance than any movie going up against ET that weekend.

[@BadBonsai]

"Sometimes your Brain just doesnt works very well" should be a shirt.

[@matchesburn]

6:11 If you like that, I suggest reading Peter Watts' short story based on The Thing called "The Things." The *_entire_* story is written from the perspective of the alien, The Thing. And it's *_VERY_* clever in delving into what such a creature might be thinking. It's a really short story, so I won't spoil too much. But, suffice to say, how The Thing communicates is much different from how we do. And it is puzzled at first. And then decides to spread its communication with everyone. And everything. When I first read it, even if it's just a short story that isn't canonical... The mentality behind it made *_so much sense_* and explained so much of The Thing's actions that it's my own personal head canon now. Please, if you're reading this and like The Thing even a tiny bit - read the short story. I guarantee you that you'll like how it fits into the original story.

[@TheFarCobra]

I believe this is a very telling moment about the nature of humanity and can comfortably be extrapolated to explain people’s actions in vastly more important issues. To wit, people would rather be told a conclusive lie than the ambiguous truth.

[@soulvanth6291]

I and every all of my friends who saw Carpenter's The Thing absolutely loved the film. We all discussed different theories about the ending and potential sequels way back then (I'm 57). Where the hell do they get these idiotic test audiences from? I think Carpenter is spot on in that it failed theatrically because of Spielberg's ET releasing the same week eclipsed it.

[@johnnyboy7002]

Here’s a quote (don’t recall from where), “ a person is smart, people are dumb”. Perhaps when we group together we descend to a group average intelligence.

[@oops6876]

You missed the perfect opportunity to show de-aged Kurt Russell from GotG2 lol

[@petermcgill1315]

You have to use your imagination! “Oh, I hate that.” That *must* have been my mother.

[@TheSameDonkey]

The Pingu version is epic

[@MySerpentine]

It's amazing how many people hate having to think.

[@DidWeWin1]

There's a theory I've heard that slightly takes the sting out of the prequal. Through the events of the prequal, the thing learned that it needs to replace the inorganic material after assimilation. Putting earrings back in would be easy. Its a bit more of a stretch to give it the ability to reinsert fillings, but if you can't remove the cannon stain of the prequal from your mind, you can at least assume the thing knows it can be identified if someone notices the absence of inorganic material that should otherwise be there. Of course, this only makes since if the surviving branch of the thing was even exposed to that information. I'm not really sure, but I'm not rewatching it to find out lol.

[@dennyxcascade342]

There’s literally an example of a de-aged Kurt Russell in the MCU in Guardians

[@ChristopherLaHaise]

I was 10 when I saw it in the theatre. Loved it. I'm happy my aunt took me to see it. :) Wound up adding it to my D&D campaign. I liked wondering if one or the other was the Thing. The movie was basically made for me. :)

[@ChristopherLaHaise]

Funny enough, I saw Firestarter at 12. Loved that one, too.

[@PugAshen]

Remember the TDJ scene with de-aging is old technology regarding what they can do now though.

[@drew5262]

I’m convinced Carl will find any and all reasons to talk about the thing 🤣

[@jojotheswede8444]

im 100% with you

[@spencersegler]

I was thinking the same thing about RoboCop with the melting man.

[@lordmaddrox]

I was 8 or 10 when i first saw the thing . Was about 2am on tv when kurt russel was beneath the base with the tnt looking for the alien . I was so into the movie by then when suddenly my cat jumped on my lap whithout me realiseing it and scared the hell outta me , purrfect timeing lol.

[@TheEudaemonicPlague]

Something you should do, if you like the movie, is to read the story it was based on. John W. Campbell, Jr. was mostly known as an important science fiction magazine editor, who got the best out of his writers, but The Thing is the one story of his that doesn't get forgotten about. Much, much better than the movie...but also not especially long.

[@Ephringael]

I always thought MacReady was infected and becoming the Thing slowly from the inside. He took a drink from a bottle of alcohol, which was owned by someone we know was infected by the dog. That the Thing one in the end, due to the sharing of the bottle, and neither two characters knew it.

[@jakimusPrime_07]

If it makes you feel better it happens to me on occasion, especially in public 😂

[@adamvraden7915]

There's a good comic that continues the story.

[@artifice7838]

In the prequel she actually calls out the thing because it put that guys earring in the wrong ear so him having an earring doesn't ruin it...if anything it could make the theory better because the thing could have learned from that mistake.

[@vincentmarcellino7183]

He wasn't wearing the earring. She asked him where it was and he reached for the wrong ear, giving away he wasn't human

[@Xilefian]

You should play the 2002 The Thing video game! It's actually good, was endorsed by Carpenter himself, and (personal opinion) it respects the ambiguity of the original's ending

[@jordantomblin2302]

I think John Carpenter got the last laugh on everyone with most of his movies. Christine, Big Trouble in Little China, and so on… poorly received by critics and began to get a large cult following.

[@yig_501]

never a bad day to talk about the Thing lol video game should get a remaster like total rehaul like resident evil 2 and 3 remasters

[@youhavetoguessit]

That game was janky as hell, but really captured the paranoia of your team being a thing. Super creepy in parts too. I would love a remaster with some better systems and gun play. Or an alien isolation style of hide and seek.

[@madmodder123]

for real, i think it would sell well and be awesome, just get the Dead Space guys to make it?

[@alicepbg2042]

@@madmodder123 you mean the guys that ruined dead space with dead space 3?

[@madmodder123]

@@alicepbg2042 I hadn't played them before but i knew they were popular, was 3 ruined by story or mechanics?

[@alicepbg2042]

@@madmodder123 yes.

[@elfi643]

I got to see the thing last night and goddamnit it was so good! The blood test scene made me actually jump back on my couch, me and my dad were screaming due a lot of it, I wish i could travel back to see it in theaters with a whole bunch of people

[@MrNottocd]

I read the Novella that the movie is based on (Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell) before seeing the 1982 movie. It was one of the few written stories that frightened me. The 1982 ending is much truer to the original story than the 1951 version. In both the story and the 1982 movie humanity may not win, and is in fact likely to lose.

[@johnd.3652]

Hope your day goes well Kyle.

[@joemummerth8340]

saw it when it was new , thought the ending was perfect , and so does everyone I know !

[@juggaloclownpreacher]

At the end of the prequel film the male character has his earring in his ear but it's in the wrong side showing that the thing monster learned to put the earring back in but I didn't realize it was in the wrong side showing its adaptability even if it was wrong.

[@adventuresinportland3032]

Keith David could be the thing, as just like clothes, the earing could have been put on afterward. Of course they should see if his ears are bleeding in the fresh hole where his ear was poked

[@tommyz1082]

The thing is my favorite creature feature and my top 5 favorite movies of all time. It’s a masterpiece of practical effects and suspense. I wish they would release the prequel with the only the practical effects, and that cg crap taken off of it. Let the movie stand on its own and it would be good.

[@ton10p]

if i had that pericite in that situation after i lost everything... the only question id have is.... "WHY!?"

[@extragirth64]

Maybe The Thing learned a lesson from the Norwegian research base, meaning it's possible Keith David could have re-pierced his ears (similar to ending of The Thing prequel.) There, still ambiguous ending.

[@mochaman3081]

The thing is a movie I always watch on Halloween.

[@terreliv]

Worst part about "cannot mimic organic material" is that *clothes* are a mix of natural and synthetic--zippers, anyone? Either the Thing knows how to dry clean *gore* but not to hide fillings or it's mimicking clothes, too.

[@CaptainLavender15]

My favorite theory about the ending is Childs seems to be infected because he has no fear in drinking Macready's alcohol.

[@Calekoflight]

Weird choice to mention the RDJ de-aging scenes but not the Kurt Russell ones in GotG2 when talking about Kurt Russell.

[@fuzzythoughts8020]

The Thing is my favorite horror movie, period.

[@shark899138]

Karl they account for the earring in the prequel though. Because the end scene with the Final Girl and Final Guy the final girl roasts the Final Guy because he was a thing form and even did put the earring back in but on the wrong side which means the thing could then learn to account for exact placement in the original film

[@kain6996]

As for the prequel I have seen a theory that the thing is sentient enough that it learned from that experience and picked up the earring off the dead body after assimilating him it is a reach but if you want head cannon to bring back the ambiguity there you go