The Thing

Man is the warmest place to hide.

Release Date 1982-06-25

Runtime 109 minutes

Genres Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction,

Status Released

Overview

A twelve-man team at a remote Antarctic research station discovers an alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Soon unfrozen, the form-changing creature wreaks havoc, creates terror...And becomes one of them.

Budget $15,000,000

Revenue $19,629,760

Vote Average 8.069/10

Vote Count 7398

Popularity 7.8127

Original Language en

Backdrop

Available Languages

English US

Title:

"Man is the warmest place to hide."

Deutsch DE

Title: Das Ding aus einer anderen Welt

"Er war die Klapperschlange. Jetzt jagt er das Ding: Kurt Russel in John Carpenters neuestem Kino-Trip."

Français FR

Title:

"L'homme est la meilleure cachette qui soit."

Italiano IT

Title: La cosa

"Non fidarti di nessuno"

Português PT

Title: Veio do Outro Mundo

Nederlands NL

Title: The Thing

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Cast

Crew

Reviews

John Chard

10.0/10

Flips the scenario round from the original to great effect. John Carpenter shows how much he loves the 1951 original by giving it the utmost respect that he possibly could, the only difference here is that Carpenter chooses to stick to the paranoiac core of John W Campbell Jr's short story. The secret to this version's success is the unbearable tension that builds up as the group of men become suspicious of each other, the strain of literally waiting to be taken over takes a fearful hold. Carpenter then manages to deliver the shocks as well as the mystery that's needed to keep the film heading in the right direction. Be it an horrific scene or a "what is in the shadow" sequence, the film is the perfect fusion of horror and sci-fi. The dialogue is laced with potency and viability for a group of men trying to keep it together under such duress, while Ennio Morricone's score is a wonderful eerie pulse beat that further racks up the sense of doom and paranoia seaming throughout the film. The cast are superb, a solid assembly line of actors led by Carpenter favourite Kurt Russell, whilst the effects used around the characters get the right amount of impact needed. But most of all it's the ending that is the crowning glory, an ending that doesn't pander to the norm and is incredibly fitting for what has gone on before it. Lets wait and see what happens indeed. 10/10

fenicka

6.0/10

It was a good and original movie but some parts were still too boring, am i the only one who thinks like this?

Wuchak

7.0/10

Stuck on a remote station in Antarctica with… The Thing RELEASED IN 1982 and directed by John Carter, “The Thing” stars Kurt Russell as the helicopter pilot of an eleven-man crew at a research station in Antarctica who encounter a ghastly shape-shifting alien that perfectly replicates the appearance of its victims. This is basically a sequel to the 1956 film and even includes footage from that classic sci-fi/horror. The creature is unconventional to say the least and this adds an eerie component to an already otherworldly and confined Antarctic setting. There are no females and therefore no romantic complications. The characters are thin so the story focuses on the thing and how the crew tries to track it down and eliminate it, if they can. The nature of the gruesome entity, how it functions and how it can or cannot be killed leaves you with a lot of questions. The ending is haunting. “The Thing” may not be as great as gushing devotees insist, but it’s solid sci-fi/horror with some pretty horrific scenes, although only one really creeped me out (the blood scene) while another made me bust out laughing (the torso jaws). THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot in Alaska & British Columbia. WRITER: Bill Lancaster. MISC. CAST: Keith David (Childs), Wilford Brimley (Blair), T.K. Carter (Nauls), Richard Masur (Clark), Thomas G. Waites (Windows), Donald Moffat (Garry), etc. GRADE: B

DrewBlack

10.0/10

1982 was a good year for alien movies. The people were not really ready for it, but it was. Not only did Spielberg’s friendly and warm-hearted E.T. - The Extraterrestrial debut at Cannes, and went on to become the world’s highest grossing film, but Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan made justice with a really good motion picture to the Star Trek TV series, and Liquid Sky shook up the indie cinema scene. And, of course, the release of John Carpenter’s gruesome, thrilling and tense take on John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella Who Goes There: The Thing, probably named because of the other adaptation of Campbell Jr.’s story, The Thing from Another World (1951). But not only did Carpenter’s The Thing do poorly at the box office, it was also heavily criticized for the raw material (some level of gore and on-screen autopsies of the creature). Almost four decades later, and the movie has gone through one of the biggest re-evaluations in cinema history, becoming a standard bearer for the horror “monster movie” subgenre, and a mandatory stop for cinephiles all over the world. How does a day make a difference. One thing is certain: Nowadays, loved or hated, The Thing is still a topic of discussion. As far as this reviewer goes, I stand with the most recent evaluation. The Thing is an example of tension-building through dialogue, while also being a visually striking, fear-provoking monster flick. And, in the category of alien Sci-fi movies, it is up there with Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Alien (1979) and Predator (1987) in the race for the top spot. The premise of the film, being synthesized, is that a group of norwegian scientists in Antarctica found a 100,000 year old UFO buried in the snow. They find a frozen creature next to it, and thaw it out. The norwegian team proceeds to be almost entirely slaughtered by the unknown beast, that is able to shapeshift into other life forms. A dog, that in reality is the creature, escapes, and is chased all the way to an american base. There, it is unknowingly welcomed, until the Americans investigate the norwegian base. They find about the powers of the Thing, and from there on, the film assumes a “who-do-I-trust” suspenseful setting. The pace is never slow, because the viewer is always on the edge of its seat. The protagonist, R. J. MacReady, is brilliantly portrayed by Kurt Russell, in what would be his third collaboration with John Carpenter. The partnership started with the 1979 TV movie Elvis, and continued with Escape From New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Escape From L.A. (1996). As always, the chemistry between actor and director is important to build up a good result in the form of the film. Here, Russell brings in powerful voice tones, and his characteristic sheer physicality to give his best portrayal of a helicopter pilot who must assume a leading position with his colleagues in order to fight an unknown threat. Amongst the supporting cast, noticeable names are Keith David (They Live), Wilford Brimley (Country) and Donald Moffat (Rachel, Rachel). John Carpenter is almost guaranteed to knock it out of the park when it comes to horror, having The Fog (1980), Halloween (1978), and so many others under his direction. The Thing wouldn’t put him in critic’s graces in 1982, but in the long run, it would define his directorial style, and find its appreciation, being one of the career-defining works that cemented him as one of the authorities on the genre. The soundtrack is beautiful, and that is not for no reason. John Carpenter himself and his long-time collaborator Alan Howarth composed some of the tracks together. The fact that the director himself composes the pieces ensures an extraordinary blend between scene and music. But not only that: for select parts of the score, Carpenter had the compositions of cinematic-music icon, Ennio Morricone. The legendary italian composer made the iconic soundtrack to Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, apart from other big movies like The Untouchables and Death Rides a Horse. And to The Thing, he brought an electronic vibe, in order to approach Carpenter’s own style of music, while also incorporating european elements. The main theme for the film has its own deep meaning, representing the absorption process by the Thing, the main instrument being… An organ. The visual effects were ahead of their time. So ahead of their time, that critics and casual cinemagoers alike bashed them for being “too gruesome” or “too gross”. There are ways and ways to create fear. One of them is properly scaring people - using jumpscares, or tense and uncomfortable situations -, the other is to gross them out. And The Thing, even though it does scare in the first way really well, relishes in this second one, utilizing the advantage of working with the anatomy of a fictional creature, especially a shapeshifting one, to create horrific settings and on-screen situations. Examples of it are an autopsy of what seems to be a burned human being by the beginning, and the Thing absorbing a few alaskan malamute dogs. The thing about… Uh, The Thing, is that it is one of the early 80s monster flicks that would set the bar high for many others to come. Despite not being well received at its time, it would find deserved recognition after a re-evaluation. It has great attributes such as strong acting, directing, visual effects and a killer soundtrack. In its setting of Antarctica, The Thing delivers proper ice cold chills. For a movie about a shapeshifting creature, this one finds itself being inimitable. Oh, the irony.

The Movie Mob

10.0/10

**The Thing is a bloody disgusting groundbreaking masterpiece that reinvented cinema and reminded everyone that true fear lies in what can't be seen.** The Thing might be the greatest horror creature film ever made. In an age where aliens were cute and friendly like E.T., John Carpenter's The Thing depicted a disturbing, grotesque creature of nightmare responsible for some of film's most terrifying body horror. The Thing was so far ahead of its time in horror and effects that it brought the terror into reality. Carpenter's brilliant decision to set the film in the frozen wilderness of Antarctica deepens the isolation and paranoia of every second. The practical effects are unbelievable and so impressive, allowing the actors to interact with the horror and make their performances that much more genuine and frightening. The Thing personifies paranoia as Kurt Russell's MacReady attempts to discover who is alien and who is not, with disgusting and disastrous consequences. Carpenter's The Thing is a gut-wrenching horror masterpiece that deserved so much more acclaim and recognition than it received upon its release.

CinemaSerf

7.0/10

As remakes go, this is one of the better ones that I have seen - though I still prefer the degree of menace generated by the 1951 iteration. A man in an helicopter is shooting at a lonely mutt amidst the antarctic wilderness when it arrives at an American scientific base. An accident ensures the inhabitants cannot interrogate the pursuing Norwegians and a quick visit to their nearby camp shows that disaster has struck. A large block of hollowed out ice suggests, though, that they may well have made an unique discovery - especially when they find some smouldering skeletal remains. Back at their own camp - along with their new charcoaled find - things get back to normal until the mysterious dog is put into the cage with the others and all hell breaks loose. It is soon clear to "Mac" (Kurt Russell) that they are dealing with something extremely strong, adaptable and ruthless. Can they survive? The visual effects here go a long way to compensating for the rather lacklustre acting - Russell isn't really very good - and the claustrophobic antarctic settings and howling winds add a richness and sense of peril to this superior horror story. The fact that the creature has a sort of Azazel-like ability to transfer from any life-form to another, and to more than one simultaneously adds some decent jeopardy to the plot, too, as neither they nor us know who is to be trusted right until the ending. This is certainly one of John Carpenter's better efforts - and is well worth a watch on a cold winter's night!

CinemaSerf

7.0/10

Told by way of a cycle of interconnected stories, this works well as a portmanteau of crimes and misdemeanours affecting a small town as it celebrates (or not!) Halloween. We start with a young couple returning from a party; the lady less enamoured with the occasion than her boyfriend. Suffice to say that there was no nookie for them that night (or ever again) as the series moves through a virgin, a group of glamorous vampires, a school principal with a penchant for the macabre and poor old Brian Cox's "Kreeg" who certainly has the most entertaining encounter with our tiny, pumpkin-headed, menace. The stories play well to our own fears and apprehensions, but there is also a soupçon of humour and a bit of a moral to it - suggesting, very strongly, that nay-sayers and folks who don't have treats are, quite literally, taking their lives in their own hands. There is no great reliance on visual effects. The presentation of the stories is characterful and genuinely scary a times without us looking for strings or CGI - and that makes this a more genuinely scary film that brings together many things evil and malevolent from the spiritual and fantasy worlds and couples them with some good old human vanity and nastiness. There is a sensible paucity of script - though some of Mr. Cox's one liners are potent, and Michael Dougherty allows the dark and eerie scenarios to evolve and facilitate the story with as few gimmicks as possible. Great fun, this.

Nathan

9.0/10

The Thing is a claustrophobic, paranoia-driven horror film that follows a crew of American scientists trying to fend off an extraterrestrial monster before it picks them all off, one by one. The film is incredibly grounded, in a way that increases the horror and tension surrounding our main cast. In the beginning, the story takes its time, building on the threat and fear of the creature. But this slowly transitions into a paranoia-stricken thriller that has everyone painted as a potential threat. This worked really well, keeping the audience constantly on their toes not knowing who to trust. Throughout the course of the film, there is not an incredible amount of action. The movie thrives on the tension that slowly builds through the characters distrust, but this lends itself to making the more action-packed scenes that much more effective. The prosthetic and prop department did such an incredible job on the effects. There are some really twisted scenes combining body gore and genuine horror that was ahead of its time. Technically, this film is superb. The acting is great all around, but Kurt Russell shines in this role, taking over every scene he is in. The score is subtle but adds a sense of ominousness to the film that I really appreciated. Cinematography is top notch, with some impressive set designs and creative shots that create a great amount of immersion. Overall, this film is amazing. Although it does impact me as much as Halloween did, it is still an instant classic that should go down as John Carpenter's 1B to his Halloween masterpiece. Score: 90% | Verdict: Excellent

whitsbrain

10.0/10

I've seen this movie so many times. I own it twice on DVD, I own it on 4K, Blu-Ray and I even have a copy on the now defunct HD-DVD format. I regret not seeing it in the theaters back in 1982. I don't know why I didn't go. I was certainly old enough to appreciate it. Instead, I saw "E.T.". I got swept up in happy little alien fever. I went with the crowd. All I had to do was wander over to a different screen and watch Carpenter's creation in all its paranoid glory. Sigh... As with all good movies, music, or books, I experience something new every time I view it. I keep trying to piece together how the Thing spread throughout the camp. I keep looking for clues. Like when Blair performs an autopsy on the recently roasted Thing. While he's presenting his thoughts on what the Thing is, he absent-mindedly taps his pencil eraser on the steaming carcass, crosses his arms and brings the pencil eraser perilously close to his mouth. Then he makes a talking point by waving the pencil in the air and ever so briefly...it touches his lip! Did he infect himself? Is it too late?!?!? Has the Thing spread itself to Blair?!?! These kinds of moments fill the movie. It so suspenseful and so paranoid. And the isolation is torture. You know they all have nowhere to go. All those nameless men. Well, they aren't nameless, it's just that it's hard to remember them all. And the strange thing about it is, we still seem to care about them. I think that's because Carpenter has done such a masterful job of building the suspense through threat and isolation that we can't help but subconsciously put ourselves into their places. There are so many great scenes. The opening helicopter-chases-dog scene. The horror of finding the Thing in the dog pen. The death and subsequent transformation of Norris. Wow! Is it gory! And in this particular case, I think the gore is absolutely necessary. That's kind of the knock on this film. The gore has been classified as extreme. And it is. But this is a story about such a faceless, out-of-this-world beast that it all seems so appropriate. And those effects. I don't think I need to say any more than others have already posited about the very special practical effects by Rob Bottin. They have to be the best I've ever seen. Then there's the "blood test" scene. All of the men at the Antarctic station volunteer to give a blood sample and then have it tested, while tied to chairs, to see if it reveals which of them are actually the "Thing". One by one, a heated copper wire is placed into a petri dish of blood from each one of the men. Seeing the smoke rise from the wire when it's touched to the dish of blood brings some relief. Will the next dish be Thing-free? You'll have to watch it and see for yourself. The setup and execution of this scene is one of the most intense and frightening things I've ever watched. I am very happy that this film has found its place thanks to Home Video. It's now considered a Horror/Sci-Fi classic. It is without a doubt my favorite Horror movie, perhaps my favorite monster flick and quite possibly my top Sci-Fi feature. It's that good.

Famous Conversations

MACREADY: Where these tracks headed?

BENNINGS: Nowhere... Just straight to the ocean.

MACREADY: Maybe dinner.

BENNINGS: Dogs don't eat each other.

MACREADY: I know.

BENNINGS: All right... Box of dynamite... box of thermite... three shotguns... box of flares... two flare guns... thirty cans gasoline... and a case of alcohol.

MACREADY: Let's load 'em.

BENNINGS: Pretty nasty out, Mac. Thirty-five knots.

MACREADY: Screw it, I'm going up anyway.

BENNINGS: What do you want from us?

MACREADY: Just listen.

BENNINGS: Sixteen.

MACREADY: And the horse you rode in on. Sixteen for how long?! You can't predict this time of year...

CLARK: What the hell you looking at me like that for?

BLAIR: Nothing. Nothing at all.

BLAIR: How long were you with the dog? Alone, I mean?

CLARK: Ah... He was hurt bad. Bullet nicked an artery... I don't know... An hour... hour and a half...

BLAIR: That night?

CLARK: Yeah.

BLAIR: What was he doing in the rec room?

CLARK: Well, after I worked on him -- thought I'd let him rest. Left the room for a bit. When I came back, he was gone.

BLAIR: Well, where was he? Where did he go?

CLARK: Don't know. Looked for him for a bit... couldn't find him.

BLAIR: You're saying he wasn't put into the kennel until the night?

BLAIR: Clark, did you notice anything strange about that dog? Just anything at all? Any little thing?

CLARK: No. Just that he recovered real quick... That night when I found him in the rec room, he had already scraped off his bandage. Before I put him with the others, I redressed his wound and noticed it had healed up real good...

CLARK: What do you mean "got" to the dog?

BLAIR: It was a life form that was able to imitate and reproduce, whatever it ate or absorbed, cell for cell.

BLAIR: Don't you understand?! That Thing didn't want to become a dog...

GARRY: Damn you, Blair! You've already got everybody half-hysterical around here.

BLAIR: You can't let anybody leave!

GARRY: I've got six dead Norwegians on my hands, a burned up flying saucer, and we've just destroyed the scientific find of the century. Now fuck off!

BLAIR: Listen to me, Garry. Please...

GARRY: If the weather clears enough before we reach anybody -- I'm sending you and Doc up to MacMurdo...

BLAIR: ... It could have gotten to somebody...

GARRY: Anybody sick?

BLAIR: No, I... I don't mean infection... or disease...

BLAIR: Look, I know it's hard to believe...

GARRY: So what's our problem?

BLAIR: Well... there's still some cell activity... it's not entirely dead yet.

GARRY: Couldn't make much of it myself.

BLAIR: I've asked him to try and locate the site. Okay with you?

GARRY: Sure. You think there's a connection?

BLAIR: Maybe.

BLAIR: Was that dog, the Norwegian dog?

GARRY: I just can't comprehend any of this. It was just a dog.

NAULS: Now why'd you go and...

BLAIR: And I don't want any more food with sedatives in it. I know what you're up to. Don't think I don't. And if anyone tries to get in here -- I've got rope. I'll hang myself before it gets to me.

NAULS: You promise?

NAULS: What you doin'?

BLAIR: Nobody's getting in here. You can tell them all that!

NAULS: Well, who the hell you think wants to get in there with you?

BLAIR: Whatever that Norwegian dog was... It... It was capable of changing its form... ... when it attacked our dog... it somehow was able to digest... or... absorb it... and in the process shaped its own cells to imitate our dog's cells exactly... ... This for instance isn't dog at all -- it's imitation... We got to it before it had time to finish or...

NAULS: Finish what?

BLAIR: ... I think the whole process would have taken an hour... maybe more. And then I suppose both would have changed back to dog form.

BLAIR: I've changed my mind... I'd... I'd like to come back inside... I don't want to stay out here any more... Funny things... I hear funny things out here.

MACREADY: Have you come across Fuchs?

BLAIR: Fuchs...? No, it's not Fuchs... You must let me back in... I won't harm anyone... I promise...

MACREADY: We'll see...

MACREADY: How you doin', old boy?

BLAIR: I don't know who to trust.

MACREADY: Know what you mean, Blair. Trust is a tough thing to come by these days. Just trust in the Lord.

BLAIR: Watch Clark.

MACREADY: What?

BLAIR: Watch him close. Ask him why he didn't kennel the dog.

BLAIR: ... Can't you see...? If one cell of this Thing got out it could imitate every living thing on Earth. Nothing could stop it! Nothing!

MACREADY: Look Blair, maybe you're right about this. But we've got to be rational. We've got to talk this over. I'm unarmed and I'm coming in.

BLAIR: No, you're not! I don't trust any of you!

MACREADY: Too damn dangerous.

BLAIR: ... You think this Thing wants to become an animal? Dogs can't make it 1000 miles to the sea. No skua gulls to imitate this time of year... No penguins this far inland... Don't you understand?! It wanted to become us!

PALMER: Let's open it. Now...

CHILDS: Why you so damn anxious to let him in here...

PALMER: He's so close. Maybe our best chance to blow him away.

CHILDS: No. Just let him freeze out there.

PALMER: Let's open it.

CHILDS: Hell no.

PALMER: Could have been anytime. Anywhere.

CHILDS: If it did get to him.

PALMER: Why didn't it imitate Fuchs? Isn't that its number -- to get more recruits.

CHILDS: Wasn't enough time. Generator was out, what...? Thirty minutes. Takes the bastards an hour, maybe two to absorb somebody.

PALMER: We got to burn 'em.

CHILDS: Now hold on, you dumb...

PALMER: Childs!!

CHILDS: Let go of me...

PALMER: Don't get near 'em. The plants! They're alive. Those things can imitate anything...

CHILDS: What's it going to do, being a plant?

PALMER: Somebody broke in.

CHILDS: Now who'd go and do...

PALMER: Auxiliary light cables...? Been cut.

CHILDS: Cut, bullshit. Been pulled apart.

PALMER: What?

CHILDS: Don't walk behind me.

PALMER: Childs, where's that magneto from Chopper One?

CHILDS: Ain't it there?

PALMER: Happens all the time, man. They're falling out of the skies like flies. Government knows all about it... Chariots of the Gods, man... They practically own South America. I mean they taught the Incas everything they knew...

CHILDS: Cool it, Palmer!!

CHILDS: I said where? Where'd you go?!

GARRY: Was dark... find a light...

CHILDS: You lying bastard...

GARRY: I suppose... well, it's possible someone might have lifted it from me. But...

CHILDS: That key ring of yours is always hooked to your belt. Now how could somebody get to it without you knowing?

GARRY: Look, I haven't been near that... that refrigerator.

GARRY: You catch anything he was saying?

CHILDS: Am I starting to look Norwegian to you, Bwana?

NAULS: Cut him loose of the line up by his shack.

CHILDS: Cut him loose?

NAULS: When we were up poking around his place... I found this...

NAULS: Somebody's taken it. I can't find it!

CHILDS: Clark, you want me to come in after you?!

CHILDS: Cut that out, Copper. Nauls? What's taking you?!

NAULS: I'm working it! Nothing's happening!

CHILDS: That's impossible, man! Okay, Clark, out of the john where I can see you!

NAULS: It's shorted out or something!

CHILDS: Clark, you come on out here!!

NAULS: Childs! That a fuse?

CHILDS: No. The generator. You got the auxiliary box just off the kitchen. Get to it. Where's the damn flashlight? You fellas okay over there?

NAULS: Lighten your load, sucker. You ain't the judge and executioner around here!

CHILDS: Who you trying to protect, mutherfucker? I'm telling you this S.O.B. could be one of them.

MACREADY: Maybe we shouldn't make it.

CHILDS: If you're worried about anything, let's take that blood test of yours.

MACREADY: If we've got any surprises for each other -- we shouldn't be in any condition to do anything about it. You play chess?

MACREADY: Not the only one.

CHILDS: The fire's got the temperature way up all over camp... won't last long though.

MACREADY: Neither will we.

CHILDS: Maybe we should try and fix the radio... try and get some help.

MACREADY: Maybe we shouldn't.

CHILDS: Then we'll never make it.

MACREADY: I think so.

CHILDS: What do you mean "you think so?"

CHILDS: Spaceship of some kind.

MACREADY: Smart S.O.B. He put it together piece by piece.

CHILDS: Load of bullshit.

MACREADY: We'll see. Let's try Clark.

CHILDS: We should have jumped his ass.

MACREADY: Now Copper, you tie Palmer up.

CHILDS: You ain't tying me up.

MACREADY: Then I'll have to kill you.

CHILDS: Then kill me.

MACREADY: Palmer, you and Copper tie everyone down. Real tight.

CHILDS: What for?

MACREADY: For your health.

MACREADY: ... Ever occur to the jury that anybody could have gotten to some of my clothes and stuck them up...

CHILDS: We ain't buying that.

CHILDS: We found your clothes -- the ones you tried to burn.

MACREADY: What clothes?

CHILDS: You been made, MacReady.

MACREADY: What are you doing?

CHILDS: You're a dead man, MacReady -- or a dead whatever the hell you are!

CHILDS: ... Nothing human could have made it back here in this weather without a guideline...

MACREADY: ... Where is everybody?! I'm half frostbit!

CHILDS: Well, who says I want you going with me?!

MACREADY: Cut the bullshit... Okay, Sanchez, you come with us. Norris... you stay here... Any of them move -- you fry 'em. And if you hear anything, anything at all you let loose the siren. We all meet back here in twenty minutes regardless. And everybody watch whoever you're with. Real close.

CHILDS: MacReady!

MACREADY: What?

CHILDS: Garry's missing!

MACREADY: Oh, shit! Well, hang on!

CHILDS: Gee, thanks!

CHILDS: What do we do about those three?

MACREADY: We got morphine, don't we.

MACREADY: Torch them!!

CHILDS: But...

MACREADY: He's gone already! Do it!

CHILDS: What we going to do?!

MACREADY: How the fuck do I know?!

CHILDS: Where's the other half?

MACREADY: Probably the next meal.

CHILDS: I can get maybe another five or six feet out of it.

MACREADY: That's good enough.

MACREADY: Yeah, they dig him up and cart him back. He gets thawed out, wakes up and scares the shit out of them. And they get into one hell of a brawl...

CHILDS: Now how's this motherfucker wake up after thousands of years in the ice, huh?

MACREADY: I don't know how. Because he's different than we are. Because he's a space guy. What do you want from me, anyway. Go ask Blair.

CHILDS: You buy any of this, Blair?

MACREADY: ... So it crashes, and this guy, whoever he is, gets thrown out, or walks out, and ends up freezing.

CHILDS: I just can't believe this voodoo bullshit. You believe this voodoo bullshit, Blair?

CHILDS: MacReady!

MACREADY: Look, I'm just guessing...

CHILDS: Well, go on.

MACREADY: Torch it over there!

CHILDS: The dogs?

MACREADY: Screw the dogs!! Torch it!!

CHILDS: What's happening?

MACREADY: Childs, you got the torch? You get your ass in here!!

MACREADY: I guess you're okay.

DR. COPPER: Thank you.

MACREADY: Didn't think you'd use that fibrillator on Norris if you were one of them.

MACREADY: And if anyone tries to wake me...

DR. COPPER: Damn you, MacReady!

DR. COPPER: Now hold him.

MACREADY: I'm a real light sleeper, Childs...

DR. COPPER: Enough, MacReady!

MACREADY: Would that test have worked?

DR. COPPER: I think so.

MACREADY: Well, who's got access to it?

DR. COPPER: I guess I'm the only one.

MACREADY: What are you doing?

DR. COPPER: Could be important work. Might as well bring it back.

MACREADY: It's getting late. Hurry it. I'm going to check the last few rooms.

MACREADY: Anything?

DR. COPPER: All in Norwegian.

MACREADY: Hey, Sweden!!!

DR. COPPER: They're not Swedish, goddamn it, they're Norwegian, MacRe --

DR. COPPER: My God, what in hell happened here?

MACREADY: Come on, Copper.

DR. COPPER: Screw regulations! Four guys could be crawling around on their bellies out there!

MACREADY: So, I don't want to end up crawling around with them when we go down.

GARRY: How long will it take you to prepare this?

DR. COPPER: A couple of hours.

GARRY: Well, get to it.

GARRY: Hold on, damn it. We're getting nowhere... If this bit of Blair's about absorbing and imitating is true... then that dog could have gotten to anybody.

DR. COPPER: And if it got to Clark... Clark could have gotten to anybody.

DR. COPPER: Goes on like that quite awhile. What do you gentlemen make of it?

GARRY: Could be anything... Men in isolation... some beef that snowballed... got out of hand...

DR. COPPER: ... Guys as crazy as that could have done a lot of damage to their own before they got to us.

GARRY: Nothing we can do about that.

DR. COPPER: Yes, there is. I'd like to go up.

GARRY: In this weather?

DR. COPPER: Bennings?

DR. COPPER: I'm getting worried about you. You ought to have a checkup.

NORRIS: Let's just not get worried about anything just now.

DR. COPPER: After all this mess then.

NORRIS: After all this mess.

DR. COPPER: I don't see how... when I'm finished I return it right away.

NORRIS: When was the last time you used it?

DR. COPPER: A day or so ago... I guess.

NORRIS: Can there be... some kind of test? To find out who's what?

DR. COPPER: A serum test possibly.

FUCHS: Right. Why not?

GARRY: What's that?

GARRY: How many in their party?

FUCHS: Started with six. There'd be four others left.

FUCHS: Gotta be from the Norwegian camp.

GARRY: How far's that?

FUCHS: 'Bout eighty kilos southwest.

GARRY: That far?

GARRY: Put that down!

SANCHEZ: No.

GARRY: I'll put this right through your head.

SANCHEZ: Couple seconds of an Argentine disco station.

GARRY: Well, stick with it. I want you at it round the clock. We got to get help in here...

SANCHEZ: Hey, man...!

GARRY: You reach anybody yet?

SANCHEZ: We're a thousand miles from anybody else, man. It's going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better.

GARRY: Well, stick to it.

GARRY: How long's it been?

MACREADY: Little over two hours.

MACREADY: Looks good.

GARRY: One thousand volts. Should be enough.

GARRY: Pure nonsense. This won't prove a damn thing.

MACREADY: Thought you'd feel that way, Garry. You were the only one who could have gotten to that blood plasma... ... we'll do you last...

GARRY: Let's rush him. He's not going to blow us all up.

MACREADY: Damn if I won't.

GARRY: Ah... no one... I give it to Copper when he needs it...

MACREADY: Could anyone have gotten it from you?

MACREADY: Get these things out of supply and meet me over by the snowmobiles.

GARRY: You're not going to catch them in one of those with the start they got.

MACREADY: Palmer, how long would it take you to strap those big four-cylinder carburetors on?

GARRY: You're not thinking of going after them, are you?

MACREADY: I am going after them.

GARRY: We're on fire!

MACREADY: Don't let up, Childs!

GARRY: Extinguishers.

GARRY: Look, if you're going to keep bitching, MacReady -- Palmer's offered to take him up...

MACREADY: What are you talking?! He's had two months training in those choppers!

MACREADY: Tie up Clark, too.

PALMER: He's dead.

MACREADY: Norris looked pretty dead, himself. Bullets don't kill these Things.

PALMER: What kind of test?

MACREADY: I'm sure a lot of you already know.

MACREADY: Sanchez, you and Palmer search the inside...

PALMER: I ain't going with Sanchez.

PALMER: Somebody definitely messed with it.

MACREADY: We going to make it?

PALMER: Hope so. Another ten, fifteen minutes. What I don't get is...

MACREADY: Sanchez...? Hey, who...

PALMER: Mac, where the hell is that pump!!

PALMER: No it ain't there. Would I be asking if it were there?

MACREADY: Move it, Palmer.

PALMER: How's that Thing get to the dogs? I though we stopped it in time.

MACREADY: Copper thinks they swallowed pieces of it during the fight.

PALMER: And that was enough?

PALMER: Oh, I got you. Not too long.

MACREADY: Then get a move on. Childs, come with me.

MACREADY: What's...

PALMER: Blair. He's gone berserk.

PALMER: Four!

MACREADY: What is it out there, anyway? Forty-five knots?

SANCHEZ: He might just wait us out.

MACREADY: I'm going to blow the generator when you get back. He'll have to come for us -- or freeze.

SANCHEZ: What if it doesn't come?

MACREADY: It'll come. It needs us. We're the only thing left to imitate... Give me a hand.

MACREADY: We've got to find Fuchs. When we find him -- we kill him.

SANCHEZ: Why?

MACREADY: If he's one of those Things, we've got to get to him before he changes... Nauls, you and Childs and I'll check the outside shacks...

SANCHEZ: Where were the flashlights?

MACREADY: Screw the flashlights. Where the hell were you?

SANCHEZ: How we going to try and find out who's... you know, who's who?

MACREADY: Can you think of any other tests?

NAULS: Maybe it ain't coming.

MACREADY: Then we go after him.

NAULS: Bet the last place you ever go.

NAULS: Got Sanchez... World War Three wouldn't mess with this fucker... Can go through walls... And it's like all over the place...

MACREADY: Calm down and get in your position.

NAULS: Position, my ass...

NAULS: Get back!!

MACREADY: The generator!

NAULS: Screw the generator!!

MACREADY: You and Nauls got to block off the west side bunks, the mess hall and the kitchen.

NAULS: You crazy? He might be inside already?

MACREADY: Chance we got to take. We got to force him to come down the east side to the door we got rigged.

NAULS: What about Childs?

MACREADY: Forget about Childs. He's over.

NAULS: Where was he trying to go?

MACREADY: Anyplace but here.

NAULS: What is it?

MACREADY: Everything that's been missing.

MACREADY: We're going to draw a little bit of everybody's blood.

NAULS: What are you going to do? Drink it?

MACREADY: Watching Norris in there... gave me the idea that maybe every part of you bastards is a whole. Every piece of you is self-sufficient, an animal unto itself. When a man bleeds it's just tissue. But blood from one of you Things won't obey. It's a newly formed individual with a built-in desire to protect its own life. When attacked, your blood will try and survive -- and crawl away from a hot needle say.

MACREADY: ... Hey, somebody! Open up, it's me, MacReady... ... Come on, damn it... The towline snapped. Been crawling around like a seal out here...

NAULS: Bullshit! He's got to know damn well I cut it!

NAULS: This storm do that?

MACREADY: Couldn't be possible. Must have weighted a ton and a half...

NAULS: That thing's too smart to be hiding any more of its clothes, MacReady.

MACREADY: Just keep looking.

MACREADY: What's happened?!

NORRIS: MacReady, that you?

MACREADY: Yeah!

NORRIS: It's the generator I think! No power.

MACREADY: Well, let's get down there.

NORRIS: We should sleep in shifts.

MACREADY: Right. Half of us awake at all times.

NORRIS: Somebody else sure as hell thought so.

MACREADY: Who else could have used that key?

NORRIS: Magnesium of some type... or some kind of strange alloy. And those poor dumb bastards had to go and blow the hell out of it.

MACREADY: So what do you make of it?

NORRIS: You know damn well what we both make of it.

MACREADY: No chance it could have been some new kind of test craft?

NORRIS: You jerking off or just pissed?

MACREADY: We got any more of those electronic chess things down in supply?

NORRIS: Get your gear on.

MACREADY: What for?

NAULS: It's got into the pub! It's turned on the stereo!

SANCHEZ: What?!

NAULS: It's in between us and them!! How we going to get back?!

SANCHEZ: Can't hear you.

SANCHEZ: You hear that?

NAULS: Hear what?

NAULS: ... Made sure I got ahead of him on the towline on the way back... cut him loose.

SANCHEZ: MacReady...?

NAULS: He's one of them.

SANCHEZ: When do you think it got to him?

Oscar Awards

Wins

Haven't Won A Oscar

Nominations

Haven't Nominated for Oscar

Media

Behind the Scenes

THE THING 1982 miniature effects

Clip

"He's Not Breathing" - Extended Preview

Teaser

40th Anniversary Spot

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