Editorials
John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ Turns 35 Today!
Can one write enough articles about John Carpenter’s masterpiece of a remake, The Thing? The correct answer is no. The Thing turns 35 today, so let’s celebrate (as if you needed another reason to pop this bad boy in the Blu-Ray player).
The Thing opened on June 25, 1982, the same day as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and just two weeks after the release of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Because of this (Carpenter believed that audiences wanted a more positive outlook at alien life), the film was a critical and commercial flop. It was greeted with negative reviews upon its release and earned just $3.1 million on its opening weekend, placing it at the number eight spot at the box office.
The Thing went on to gross $19.6 million against its $15 million budget, which doesn’t account for marketing and advertising costs. Of course, the film was eventually reappraised by critics and is now considered one of Carpenter’s best films, if not one of the best films ever made, horror or otherwise.
In fact, the film has had a rather significant impact on pop culture over the last 35 years. It seems that any film or television show includes a reference to the 1982 classic (okay, that’s an exaggeration, but just look at this list!), so here are some of the more memorable references to the film over the past 35 years.
Tomb Raider III: The Adventures of Lara Croft
Not only does much of the climax of this video game take place in an Antarctic research base where the human researchers have been turned into mutants by an alien that crash landed on earth, but the final boss is a giant spider creature with a human head! They should have just called this Tomb Raider III: The Thing.
The Faculty
This one probably needs to explanation, but screenwriter Kevin Williamson pays homage (Or rips off? Your call.) to the infamous blood testing scene in The Thing with a slight tweak (ha ha) on the formula. The students in this alien invasion thriller learn that the aliens are susceptible to a homemade drug made by Zeke (Josh Hartnett) so they all take turns snorting it to figure out if any of them have been infected. Spoiler alert: it’s Delilah (Jordana Brewster).
Ghosts of Mars
I couldn’t find a clip of this, but John Carpenter references one of his best films in one of his worst films. Pam Grier’s character asks the question “Who goes there?”, which is the name of the novella that Carpenter’s film (and the original) is based on. She probably shouldn’t have asked, because this is what happens to her later:
Resident Evil 4
The Resident Evil franchise is known for its eclectic set of monsters for your character to fight against, but the dogs in Resident Evil 4 dog transformationfrequently have tentacles from the Las Plagas parasite emerge from their spines. This is a direct homage to the in The Thing.
Slither
Attentive viewers will see that the funeral home is in James Gunn’s 2006 film Slither is owned by none other than R.J. MacReady, the name of Kurt Russell’s character in The Thing. Maybe he did make it out of Antarctica after all?
The Mist
The opening scene of Frank Darabont’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novella features quite a few Easter Eggs for horror fans, the most high profile of which is some Dark Tower artwork and a poster of The Thing hung up on a wall.
Monsters Vs. Aliens
In the 2009 film Monsters Vs. Aliens, the Missing Link (Will Arnett) escapes from a block of ice much like the titular baddie in Carpenter’s 1982 film.
Futurama: “Murder on the Planet Express”
The 24th episode of the seventh season of Futurama is a full-on parody of The Thing. The episode sees the core cast of characters thrust into a team-building trust exercise in which an alien slowly begins shape-shifting into them and eating the other characters.
Celebrity Deathmatch: “Deathbowl ’98”
In this episode of the hilariously inappropriate MTV series, Charles Manson bites a chunk of flesh out of Marilyn Manson’s shoulder and spits it out. After a brief moment, the chunk of flesh grows legs and walks away, much like Norris’s (Charles Hallahan) head in The Thing.
The X-Files: “Ice”
The eighth episode of the first season of The X-Files took a lot of inspiration from The Thing in that it put Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) in an Alaskan outpost where an alien parasite has begun taking over the team of geophysicists who are stationed there. Before they know it, they are turning against everyone on their team, which includes Desperate Housewives‘ Felicity Huffman, as they try to figure out who is infected and who isn’t.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: “Buried Secrets”
April O’Neil’s mother returns to her in the third episode of the third season of Nickelodeon’s hit cartoon series, but she is actually a Kraang creature posing as her to get intel from the Turtles. The tentacles that emerge from her are highly reminiscent of the creature in The Thing.
The Hateful Eight
Not only does Quentin Tarantino’s latest film feature a group of people locked in an icy setting as they try to figure out who among them is working against them, but it also features an Academy Award-winning score by Ennio Morricone, the same man who composed the score for The Thing!
Stranger Things
Any science fictions television set in the 80s has to mention The Thing, right? There is a poster for the film in Mike’s house and footage from the film can be seen on science teacher Mr. Clarke’s TV screen in the seventh episode of the series.
There are a lot more references to The Thing out there in popular culture, and I’m sure I’ve missed most of them. What are some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below and help celebrate The Thing‘s 35th anniversary!
I was never against Sony’s initial idea to produce solo movies based on Spider-Man’s most memorable supervillains. After all, a hero is only as good as his Rogues’ Gallery is intimidating, so it stands to reason that there were plenty of dark stories to tell here.
While rushed productions like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter didn’t quite turn out as I had hoped, it’s a relief to see James Gunn and the DC Extended Universe learn the right lessons from Marvel’s flops by investing in supervillain stories that aren’t afraid to step into the horror genre.
The new trailer for James Watkins’ upcoming Clayface movie is a great example of this, as the new footage confirms our suspicions that the movie is set to be a full-on piece of body horror focusing more on telling a standalone scary story than setting up a brand.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a closer look at the trailer in order to find out what we can expect from this highly anticipated comic-book adaptation from hell.
So without further ado, here are four things we learned from the new Clayface trailer!
4. Matt Hagen is a Club Vesuvius Regular
A seedy nightclub owned by “former” mobster Johnny Sabatino, the comic books have established Club Vesuvius as a hotspot for criminal activity and metahuman action since 2009. Throughout the years, the club has seen everything from an attempted arson by Firefly to magical acts performed by Zatanna herself.
The trailer for Clayface appears to suggest that Vesuvius will feature prominently in this story as well, as the footage shows us several shots of Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) casually attending the club as well as a couple of more concerning moments where Gotham City Police roll up to the establishment to deal with some kind of emergency.
3. The Movie Will Not Adapt Any Single Specific Comic
As I mentioned before in my Clayface primer for horror fans who aren’t all that familiar with the character, the initial teaser for the film had me convinced that the project would be more of an adaptation of Batman: The Animated Series’ two-part episode Feat of Clay rather than any specific comic-book.
This latest trailer has only confirmed my suspicions, with Hagen’s predicament here feeling much more in line with Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves’ sympathetic vision of the character than the more traditional criminal that we usually see in the comics. That being said, I’m curious to see how the filmmakers intend to connect this tragic version of Clayface to the more unpleasant monster we saw in Creature Commandos now that it’s been confirmed that these are indeed the same person.
2. James Watkins is Combining Practical and Digital Effects
I’ll always prefer a well-executed practical effect over CGI simply because the former is closer to the stage magic that inspired early moviemaking. That being said, there’s an undeniable artistry to well-crafted visual effects, and I’d argue that a character like Clayface requires the best of both worlds in order to be convincingly brought to life on the big screen.
I’m clearly not the only one who thinks so, as the trailer has shown us that Watkins is combining digital imagery with prosthetics and plenty of flesh-colored goop to depict Hagen’s unique brand of monstrous body horror. James Gunn had already promised us that the film would feature plenty of old-school practical effects wizardry, so it’s exciting to see that this approach in action.
1. Hagen Will Eventually Transform into Clayface’s Iconic True Form
In the comics, whenever Clayface isn’t pretending to be someone else, the character spends most of his time in his “natural” form resembling a gigantic golem-like monster. This look has certainly evolved over the years, but, at this point, most artists have settled on a vaguely humanoid shape accompanied by a gaping maw (though the villain’s terrifying re-imagining in DC’s Absolute Universe is a bit more complicated than that).
While fans were initially skeptical regarding whether or not the upcoming adaptation would even feature this admittedly outlandish design, the trailer has basically confirmed that Hagen’s condition will get progressively worse until he finally resembles the hulking monstrosity from the comics!
Be sure to comment below if you think we overlooked any interesting details in the trailer, and keep in mind that Clayface will be hitting theaters on October 23.
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