The Old “The Thing” vs. The New “The Thing”

The Thing From Another World, directed by Christian Nyby and (unofficially) Howard Hawks in 1951, is a sci-fi thriller based on John W. Campbell, Jr.’s 1938 novella ‘Who Goes There?’. It was released by RKO, a production firm connected to several outstanding horror works from the era.

We begin with a group of US Air Force troops stationed in Alaska being sent to the Arctic after a scientist at an outpost claims to have detected a crashed flying saucer. Despite the Air Force’s distrust, their investigation is accurate, and they discover a humanoid figure frozen in the ice. They return this figure to the base for assessment after accidentally destroying the craft.

As the scientists and military debate over who runs the show, the soldier guarding the frozen entity wraps it in a blanket to avoid looking at it. Unfortunately, it’s an electric blanket, which thaws the alien and releases it on the base. Investigation of the alien flesh indicates that it is composed of plant materials. It requires blood to survive and attacks sled dogs and humans to drain their blood. The scientists locate seeds and conclude that the supernatural plans to reproduce.

While the scientists experiment with growing the seeds in blood, troops try to destroy the alien by burning it but fail. When the temperature controls are destroyed, leading them into a confrontation, the scientists seek but fail to reason with the alien. They then lure the alien into a magnetic trap, reducing it to ash before destroying all alien samples achieved. We finish with the reporter who accompanied the soldiers and broadcasted his account with the legendary remark “Keep watching the skies”.

While it is frequently overlooked in favor of the remake, the 1951 picture holds up well and is worth watching if you enjoy science-fiction movies. The horror components will not faze current audiences, but the concept is sound. The premise of a vegetable monster sounds ludicrous but they play around with it as much as you’d expect them to in the film.

The Remake of The New “The Thing”

When John Carpenter remade The Thing From Another World in 1982, he reduced the title and resorted to the source material to find additional inspiration. Once again, we’re in secluded surroundings in the frigid wastes, while an alien infiltrates the group of people stationed there and begins murdering them. The internal conflict produced by the incursion is a key subject, as is the alien’s seemingly unstoppable nature and desire to spread.

A large amount of illustrations are lifted from the 1951 film. The title design remains unchanged, and the footage of the Norwegians discovering the UFO and alien is similar to the original, incorporating an episode of them standing in a wide circle to indicate the enormity of the craft. The schism between scientists and the military resurfaces, but it is not as significant; rather, it is their personalities that separate them. The alien begins its invasion by selecting husky dogs before humans, and it can spread through tiny parts of itself.

Although some of the primary concepts remain, there is a significant amount of change here. For starters, the characters we meet are stationed in Antarctica, not the Arctic, and they are not the first to discover the alien craft. As they later discover, a nearby Norwegian station uncovered and defrosted the monster ultimately succumbing to its attacks. The creature, disguised as a malamute dog, approaches the American base, followed by the remaining Norwegians. The Americans, unable to understand them, have no idea why the Norwegians are attempting to kill the dog and assume they are nuts, forcing them to murder them and accept the dog.

The Thing 2011 Reboot Was Disappointing….

Why is this categorized as a remake as opposed to a prequel or a new product based on the same source material? A prequel, on the other hand, would have to expand on the original rather than repeat it. The same surroundings, a comparable cast of individuals, and practically the same chain of sad events, but with ‘flashier’ special effects. This offers nothing to either of the originals. Not even close.

The only significant differences are the presence of a female protagonist and a minor language barrier among some characters. They replaced the physical effects with out-of-date CGI that is as ludicrous as the scary effects dated 1982. They never appear to be there, and adding the presence of a billion flying tentacles to each sequence is overwhelming. More is not constantly better, especially when they are less interesting.