The Thing from Another World: Film Classic

Before viewing The Thing from Another World, I had never seen what would be considered a "classic" horror movie. Growing up in the 80's, Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers, etc were synonymous with the genre, and I was never all that  interested in these types of movies.  Unfortunately I didn't make it through the 80's and 90's without being subjected to a few of those. I saw them as basically reasons for people to come up with new ways to kill folks, upping the ante with each sequel (the original Halloween being the only exception). After sifting through what are considered classic films of this genre, I settled on The Thing From Another World, or, The Thing, for short.

The Thing begins with a group of Air Force troops stopping by a North Pole base to check out the crash of an unknown object. They discover that it was a flying saucer that crashed, and there is an alien being of some kind that is frozen in a block of ice. They take the block inside the base, and, of course, the alien escapes. The airmen and others on the base have to survive while they figure out a way to stop the creature.

One thing that I've noticed when watching classic films from the 30's through the 50's is that so many movies that come after them are heavily influenced by them. So much so that it makes the original source seem cliche, even though it isn't. Example: The scientist at the base wants to preserve the alien and study it, to the point that he seems "mad" by the story's end. Mad scientists are old hat these days, but back then they were few and far between. This film's influence has been so great that it has been remade twice (John Carpenter's 1982 gorefest and 2011's poorly received prequel/remake).

All in all I found The Thing to be refreshing. Instead of focusing on multiple killings and gross-out scenes, the film's pace is slow and steady as it introduces the characters, they find "The Thing", it escapes, and suspense builds. It's a simple cat and mouse game in a unique setting, and it was a precedent-setter.

Anyone looking for a classic staple in the sci-fi/horror genre need look no further than The Thing. It is available on DVD at a fairly inexpensive price, and should get a Blu-ray release before too long.