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If John Carpenter knows what's good for him he'll never tell us who the Thing is at the end of the movie. He knows full well that the fascination with that movie is that there is no clear answer. And it should stay that way.
Cause I think Blair was infected in multiple ways, but all were done internally and slow. For example he had the dog thing dna because he put that infected pencil in his mouth, and for sure he was infected by McCready Vodka too.
If John Carpenter knows what's good for him he'll never tell us who the Thing is at the end of the movie. He knows full well that the fascination with that movie is that there is no clear answer. And it should stay that way.
I would like your comment if you considered rephrasing it, so it may not sound like a threat. Carpenter has in interviews expressed his opinion on this matter: he knows perfectly who he had in mind, as the remaining Thing, but he appears to have no intention of sharing it, and reducing that last tension from a perfect film's legacy.
@@jamescrawford1534 Yes he walked the comments back. And for good reasons. Even Kurt Russell said it was never supposed to have a definitive answer because THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT. You as the audience member are supposed to become as paranoid as the character itself. It's one of the best horror film movies ever.
Even the drink at the end isn't a tell. They're both totally fd (if human) once the fire burns out so it wouldn't matter what the rules were and a drink before you die... Totally normal.
@@gerryheddema2555 That wasn't a threat. How overly sensitive or paranoid must someone be to see a statement of a fact as a threat? He might have had someone in mind but he and Kurt Russell during filming agreed to keep it ambiguous. That way we feel exactly what MacReady feels. No matter what he had in mind he changed it in order to to have the intended effect. And that is also the only logical ending. Even if he told us tomorrow who he originally intended it's irrelevant. That was not how he and Kurt thought by the end of the movie. They knew what had to be done and that was to keep it vague.
Definitely one of Carpenter's best, if not the very best. Ennio Morricone's subtle and spooky Score is also one of my favorite parts about it. Everyone in the cast was in their prime and their performances really sell the terror and paranoia throughout the film. An all-time classic.
@@Rykiz_VidzRight on. Top 3 for me, at least. Don't really have a number one because it's just too tough to call. MacReady, Snake Plissken, Jack Burton.. (Funny enough, ☝🏻.. those are all Carpenter characters😅)
Probably my all-time favourite sci-fi horror. Has everything you could ask for. Casting. Acting. The pinacle of practical effects (lets not mention the stop motion). Tension building atmosphere and score. Open ending.... Just perfection.
This Production Had The Blessings Of A Myrad Of Talent, Time & Work Put In. Rob Bottin Practically Lived At The Studio Creating & Perfecting. Stan Winston Helped As Well.
I think the bit at the end is the two acknowledging that even if one of them were the alien, they are both dead anyway. So, they might as well get drunk and fall asleep in the snow.
I liked that the thing was just killing i always thought it realized going all out didn't work so when it got to outpost 31 it decided to be more stealthy.
Exactly. That’s why the final form it takes is the dog. It unsuccessfully fit in with people, So it takes the form of a creature where it can better learn, without being detected.
The scene from the 1980s version where they chase it out into the snow as it's still trying to replicate one of the crew and the terror I always get when it looks at them with cold black eyes and elongated fingers with razor sharp teeth letting out a blood chilling scream as they burn it.
Every time I show some young person this movie they have a very visceral reaction to the effects. Even the not so good 80s effects look still so plastic and palpable it evokes a reaction of disgust like no other decade. Some of the makeup in Hellraiser doesn't really look realistic but it looks disgusting. And it's exactly that reaction I never see them express with today's movie's CG effects. It's just something deeply different.
So the coats were just a continuity error. If Charles was the thing, why wait and have a chat with Mcready, he had a flamethrower, why not just incinerate him. Also if you take the 2nd film as cannon. Charles still has his earring in at the end.
so, im pretty sure the liquid in the bottle at the end is rubbing alcohol, because the thing cant taste alcohol, so giving a man a drink of rubbing alcohol would naturally make him flinch, but it doesnt, hence he was taken over at that point
to further elaborate, if it mimics EVERYTHING in the human body, then its mimicing the fact thats freezing to death with mcready, so it also knew it was dying and wouldnt be aggressive for no reason
@@deaglesupinthis5968 Where, in the movie, did you learn it couldn't taste things? Rubbing alcohol is a new twist. Usually people talk about gasoline. So credit it to you there. Still. It ain't on the screen
@@deaglesupinthis5968 As for it pretending to surrender to freezing to death...The thing has survived for thousands of years frozen. The characters posit that it wants to go back to being frozen. So it doesn't have to pretend anything. If Childs or MacReady were the thing, you'd think they'd want to take over the other to have a larger possibility of being taken somewhere to thaw out and get all Thing-y with folks.
The fact it was trashed by critics when it was first released, found its first home with the cult fan base and rose to greatness as being appreciates ad one of the best films of all time, on par with Kubrick’s The Shining show just how great a movie it is. Hell, the fact we’re still talking about it and trying to dissect it over 40 years later says everything.
A thing everyone seems to miss is that Palmer was always shown smoking weed. In every scene. Then he just stops. I believe the Thing doesn't like consuming poisons. So in that aspect, Since Childs willingly drank the alcohol, he was human. Since alcohol is poisonous to all cells, the Thing wouldn't attempt to kill itself.
My take is that neither character is The Thing at the end. The film uses strange behavior of human characters, to make you think they’re the alien, when in reality, they were just scared. The choice to have Childs survive with MacReady, Being another attempt you make you suspect one of them is the Thing. Childs takes it personally when Macready begins taking extreme measures, calling him a murderer after Clark is confirmed to be human. So when Childs asks “Are *you* the only one who made it?” It isn’t a hint he isn’t human. Rather, how much less human MacReady is in the eyes of Childs. We the viewers, have spent the most time with MaCready, We’re partial to siding with him, despite how many mistakes he’s made throughout the movie. So when the character at odds with him, conveniently returns after being lost in a storm, We’re just as suspicious as the character we’re seeing the movie through. Now, these two are the ones who survived, sharing a drink, going back to their old dynamic, Despite both having seen the worst In eachother. The tension going beyond whether one of them is an alien, who can’t be taken back to society, But whether or not the people they are, deserve to be in society.
@@guyjpersonthis I believe is the whole point of the movie. It puts you in the same position as the characters. You never really know exactly what’s going on but you’re constantly guessing who. Carpenter deliberately takes out just enough information to keep us guessing. Definitively telling us everything defeats that purpose (although I do love all the theories).
Your breakdown of The Thing was the reason I finally sat down and watched it. It's easily one of the best horror movies ever made. The body horror is peak, and the story is tight. As always, great work, Paul. Cheers.
I didn't realize it was a remake until a few days ago and it's pretty close to the original outside of the creature itself. The original had more cast members and even a couple women in it. It was pretty much Alien before the movie Alien because the doctor was trying to save it to study it.
@@guyjpersonoriginal novella had an absolute tonne of characters so that I lost track of who was who. Blair, MacReady and (I think) Copper were all in it but I couldn’t follow anyone else.
I always knew windows dropped the keys, it's a very specific sound out of place with what is visible on screen. just genius. Also something I'm going to point out real quick before finishing the video that most don't know about the thing. The speed at which you are absorbed then imitated is directly related to how you get infected. For example contaminated food and drink infecting you takes a long time, and it is so slow and fluid that the victim would never know they are being replaced bit by bit piece by piece until a life organ is absorbed, like a liver or heart for example. At that point you would feel it and momentarily die until enough of you is absorbed and replicated to attack another person ( Norris is a great example ). In knowing this, if you rewatch the beginning, the dog leaves infector cells on Benning, but not inside him ( those small infector cells will never attack externally with others around it would be dramatic and obvious that there is something happening to dudes face or hands etc. But then McCready handed Bennings the open bottle he was drinking from, which benning takes with his infected gloves as he swigs then hands the bottle back to McCready who later on in the movie drinks from it, then later on infects a bottle of vodka he is drinking from and hands it to Blair who is paranoid and petrified that he can't trust anyone. We know Blair becomes the thing later but never how and now we do. At the end of the movie I think McCready laughs because the moment Child's takes a drink after him; he suddenly remembers something Fuches found in Blairs notes which cautioned him to warn McCready prepare your own food and drinks and don't share with anyone. McCready never passed this safety tip along to the others, and Fuches died shortly after warning McCready about this. That's why Norris didn't know better. It's in the moment that Childs takes a drink that McCready remembers and realizes he has been sharing all of his bottles with people who turned out to be the thing at some point shortly after and there's a better than average percent that he is infected by now, and wether Childs is or isn't the thing no longer matters at this point, cause he likely will be now if he isn't ... this makes him laugh at the futility of it all ...because the drink that was used to end his fight in chess, is the very drink the thing used to to end his fight to stay a man ... it fucking cheated.
I remember watching it for the first time and just thinking that they both survived at the end and were doomed to a slow death when the fire burnt itself out.
Macready was the thing, he infected childs with the bottle of JB... Then he said "lets wait a while, see what happens" So they'll both freeze and thaw out when the rescue team turns up...
Mac didn't relay the message about not sharing food/drinks. Mac also didn't tell Childs that they shouldn't let that thing go to sleep in the ice. Mac shares the drink and laughs. Mac suggests they go to sleep in the ice. Mac is probably The Thing.
I listened to Rob Ager 1 hour analysis. He mentioned the backpack McReady had at the end. The back pack was the torch gun. In other words McReady was waiting for Charles to torch him. Who destroyed the blood? It was obviously the guy who was making the new spaceship at the end.
I think the main reason why the prequal didn't worked for the fans is because you know the outcome more or less. What I think that could had freshen it up is if they added an alien survivor that was hunting them from distance, so you can't be sure, is it the thing, is it hunting them because he knows they are the thing, is it hunting them because of paranoia... that could be an interesting twist, because you know more or less what happens in the end, the interesting bit here will be that unmentioned before unknown to the equation. Hell you don't even need to show much of him, just a shot or grabbing someone and then killing it or killing a crew member off screen and when they discover the body it will be "was it the thing? They usually consume the victim, maybe it didn't had time?" You can see where I am going with this. That alone can spice up the prequel.
I mean, werent all of the alcohol bottles turned into Molotov bombs?? so if childs drank it that means he definitely was the thing and he was pretending to drink alcohol, not knowing that wasn’t filled with alcohol anymore
We don’t know if every single bottle was turned into Molotovs. It also doesn’t make sense that a Thing wouldn’t know what alcohol is or what it tastes like, since it copies its victim’s memories.
I watched the original ‘the thing’ 1982 recently and even though I’ve seen it before (it was my DVD I watched with a friend who hadn’t seen it) I still didn’t know who was and wasn’t the thing. The meant that I was looking out for things (no pun intended) that could have been where people got infected. One thing I noticed is that whenever anyone gets an injection there is the opportunity for someone to get infected. I think this is how Wilford Bromley’s character gets infected as he’s sedated in the shack by someone who is later reviled to be the thing.
8:14 Those are called 'snow goggles', early design before polarization of lenses became cheap and common. Fun fact, snow goggles imitate the irises of bovine creatures most on the lookout for predators while grazing.
Yes you are the only other person other than me that has ever said as far as I know, that the things are so self-preserving that they will sacrifice each other to save themselves, and not only that they may absorb infected victims that are still mostly human, if say they got infected sharing a joint, or drink or food, and they are slowly cell by cell changing, but not enough for it to actually defend itself yet. It would be more beneficially to just absorb that person to make yourself bigger and stronger, like Blair was by the end.
The 1982 movie is in my top 10. Thank you for the detailed inspection of The Thing and the people replaced by The Thing!! Thank you for your observations! I have another reason to go back and watch it again! The 1982 film is much loved in the comments also.
Shout out man your the reason I watched this for the film for 1st time a year ago. Your OG videos are why I subscribed and have been watching since This movie is fucking amazing
In regards to Childs, the coats being in different locations in-between these shots was only a mistake in set dressing department. Carpenter has stated this in interviews. People also grasp at the notion that you can see MacReady's breath, but not Childs, proving that Childs is the thing. The problem is, you can see Childs breath, it's just not as obvious as MacReady's because they shot the dialogue between the two characters separately and edited the two together. It was simply because the temperature was lower when they filmed Kurt Russel's part. Carpenter also said this in an interview. I've always strongly believed that the reason Mac was smirking is because he knows that they are both likely to die at this point, regardless, so in the end, it doesn't matter if they trust each other or not. It's just dark humor. As for the prequel, the alien ship looked nothing like the one in the Carpenter film. Neither did Lars or the dog. It's like they didn't even try in those departments. The two people merging to create the split face thing is all wrong. Rob Bottin said that the creature he created for the Carpenter film was one person's face stretching apart. The less I say about the prequel the better.
It doesn’t even make sense that you wouldn’t see breath from the Thing. It’s a near perfect copy with working organs. And it’s talking, aka exhaling. Of course it would be breathing.
I am old enough to remember when this came out and watched it way back when. People love it today, but imagine how much better it would be watching it when it was before all the modern technology movies use today, because it is hard to compare. Scared the absolute poo outta me in several scenes. I loved the 80's (graduated high school 88). Love the work you do... See ya punk.
I think that the detail in The Thing that at the end were not entirely sure who's who. It just gives us a more mysterious and more of a cliffhanger. Almost like in The Shining at the very end with the photos all along the walls in overlook. I love the mysterious ending and it was a more horrifying movie than if we actually knew who's who. Can you just imagine what would happen if this happened on real life.....?
I liked it so much that I put blue lights on my country property. A shack, a fuggin tracked vehicle, thing models, macready outfit and hat, I go out during blizzards here, flame thrower, radios..ham, husky dogs, fuggin pool table, macreadys whisky, all of it. Some people nearly soil their pants here in the winter..when they see all the sheet. Oh yeah. I play the sounds outside at 250 watts per channel with massive subwoofers. Relatives freak out still…fugg em. I’m living in the virtual thing movie every winter. Cops came by asking about the sound..they heard it parked 1/8 mile away. My compound has scale models …I live it. 5.5 acres here full of thing artifacts. I don’t have the helicopter
iirc not being able to see Childs breathing in the final scene is also not intended, and it makes sense that even if he was infected, it would still release vapor on exhaling.
Great breakdown Paul. The Thing is one of my top 10 movies. I liked Campbell story that served as the source, but also see a lot of similarities to Lovecrafts mountain of madness (Please SOMEONE give Del Toro the budget to do Mountains.) The best thing about the OG Thing is that we are still talking and arguing today about it. Just. Damn fine movie. And Paul your section around slasher films the group is safest together where in Thing, that’s where they were most vulnerable was fantastic
You can see Childs breathing as he's walking up and standing and sitting. Better clarity. McCready never told anyone about the food and drink. The guy was killed and burned immediately after. Didn't even want to assimilate him. Also since they're perfect imitations and take on their hosts memories I'd have to assume they know what things are and what they taste like. So the trick would be Mccready was assimilation Childs which is why he chuckles. If Mccready was assimilated at the beginning because the dog licked both gloves and he grabbed the liquor McCready provided and it chose not to assimilate the shepherd because once found out he would be the first checked. Mccready being assimilated means he has the chess playing leader who is a great advantage. Also he drank out of the Smirnoff given to Blair. Why would he risk drinking Blairs liquor when he knows not to eat or drink behind anyone? We also see with the blood that they are self serving. So they would kill other things to ensure its own survival. Blair was too loud and too flashy building that ship. But who knows. Its a great movie that can go many directions
When Keith Davis did an interview. He explained it was supposed to be a sequel and he was not the thing. In 2024 I still want to know if Russell was the Thing!!! One of my favorite movies 🎥 ❤❤❤❤
Love this breakdown. There’s another movie by John Carpenter that I absolutely loved, and I’m convinced only my older brother and I saw it and loved it. Prince of Darkness! Sure it has flaws but what a fun movie to discuss. My brother and I spent hours one day cooking up with a sequel explaining the communications from the future. So fun.
In regard to the prequel, I always wondered why they didn’t call it “The Thing: Awakening” or something like that. It would have made a lot more sense then giving it the same name as the original.
no lie, l watch this movie 3 times a week, i also play the audio book "who goes there?" as a "sleep aid".. john Campbell awsome...... this more likely our first contact with ET'S ... than silver humanoids
It's an undisputable and recognize able sub plot that JB bottle is method of transmission and MacReady is the thing. His drinking Blairs vodka bottle is the only explanation possibilty given as to how Blair was infected. Why does he give the Things mission statement at the end "Let's just sit here for awhile", laughing. To what, freeze for the rescue team? Even if it isnt canon it is an identifiable subplot. Not to mention he is the obvious suspect for eliminating Fuchs and being the 'scary guy' who was unidentified in the hallway. Even if JB Bottle is NOT a way to transmit. It appears so much with other factors, that it is legitimate to have this concept, at least for the concept of adding to suspicion. Power is disabled: An unseen infected person disables the lab's power. Fuchs goes after it: Fuchs goes after the source of the disabled power. Fuchs is killed: Fuchs is killed, either by the Thing or by suicide to prevent being taken over. Charred body is found: Mac, Nauls, and Windows find Fuchs' charred body outside in the snow a few hours later. Also, what is the point of showing it assimilate on a cellular level, if it does not actually do that? Finally, Windows is only bitten, but exhibits that he is changing and needs to be burned to stop it.
Gary wasn't at all " cowardly". It only makes tactical sense to stay in cover/ concealment. There are people that would jump out to give the enemy a " fair chance". We call these people " idiots". Also, were he to go to a door to go outside and face down the lunatic shooting all " high noon " style , he would have given the man more chances to shoot Gary's UNARMED coworkers. And he's wrong about the thing keeping to itself unless attacked. It attacks the dogs, unprovoked. It attacks Bennings unprovoked. It assimilates Norris, leading to his death. It Attacks Fuchs, as far as we know, unprovoked.
"was the coat left or right? Who cares, put it where ever you wanna, nobody cares." - someone 40 years later " they wanted to tell us something with the coats"
11:44 Thing Blair could be researching their technology & how long till total world assimilation tho. Plus the noose could be for lowering things into the workshop in the hole like the gas tanks which have rope tied around them @ 14:51
The poster in the backround at 14:00 isn't an ID card, it's a condom. That was an sti awareness poster saying that the ones with STIs aren't labelled. A bunch of men with tainted blood and uncertainty in a film in the 80s? Yeah, it's referencing the panic around AIDS which has become prominent the year before this came out, and would have been all over the news when carpenter was refining script and waiting to begin shooting.
Hell yeah! First caravan of garbage dropped their “the thing” breakdown and now the king heavy spoilers dropping his! Great video man and an absolute classic movie! Much love brother! 🤘🔥
I remember in 1998 when I was in high school being told by my science teacher the science of The Thing is more plausible than ET, Aliens, Predator and that scared me
Man, I don't know.... Id say Gigers, Alien is based in most reality. I mean in the sense that apart from acid blood, the aliens really act, behave and live like giant insects. Where as "the thing", imo is more akin to a giant virus, the way it replicates down to a cellular level in order to disguise and facilitate spreading of itself......
@@wajidhussain5305Am I missing the fact that the xenomorphs were inspired by insects, which exist???? I'm aware of loads of insects and how many of them objectively do and behave like said xenos. Yet, objectively there's never been a invasive organisim that descended from space, ever. So, you have your subjective opinion. Obviously both franchises are science fiction. Aliens, is not "dark fantasy".... Twilight is dark fantasy. I could say the Thing is a body/shock horror movie, but it's not. Aliens is Science fiction horror, in exactly the same way the Thing, is science fiction horror. Objectively speaking.... What behaves like a xeno, an insect. What behaves like the Thing, a mutagenic virus. That's the stone cold facts.... My teacher once told the class when you sneeze you go unconscious... 😂
Massive fan of the original and I also really enjoyed the prequel, as for the difference in behaviour from the original to the prequel I always thought it was more aggressive because whilst its having its very relaxing 100 thousand year nap it was then rudely awakened by some horrible alien things sticking drill bits into it ,that's enough to make anyone a wee bit kranky when waking, then by the time it got to the American outpost its had time to rethink its strategy thus its far more sneaky
The thing is my all time favorite horror movie. Love the prequel just wish they would have kept most of it practical instead of covering it up with cg.
Let us know your thoughts on the movies. If you enjoyed this video then please subscribe to the channel ua-cam.com/channels/q3hT5JPPKy87JGbDls_5BQ.html
If John Carpenter knows what's good for him he'll never tell us who the Thing is at the end of the movie. He knows full well that the fascination with that movie is that there is no clear answer. And it should stay that way.
The prequel ruins The Thing.
@@anubusx Yes. Some things lose the fascination the more you explain them. Predator too.
Am I crazy or did you already do this? I’m sure I remember seeing this breakdown already.
Cause I think Blair was infected in multiple ways, but all were done internally and slow. For example he had the dog thing dna because he put that infected pencil in his mouth, and for sure he was infected by McCready Vodka too.
If John Carpenter knows what's good for him he'll never tell us who the Thing is at the end of the movie. He knows full well that the fascination with that movie is that there is no clear answer. And it should stay that way.
I would like your comment if you considered rephrasing it, so it may not sound like a threat. Carpenter has in interviews expressed his opinion on this matter: he knows perfectly who he had in mind, as the remaining Thing, but he appears to have no intention of sharing it, and reducing that last tension from a perfect film's legacy.
He's said in different interviews that Childs was the thing, then has said Mac is the thing
@@jamescrawford1534 Yes he walked the comments back. And for good reasons. Even Kurt Russell said it was never supposed to have a definitive answer because THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT. You as the audience member are supposed to become as paranoid as the character itself. It's one of the best horror film movies ever.
Even the drink at the end isn't a tell. They're both totally fd (if human) once the fire burns out so it wouldn't matter what the rules were and a drink before you die... Totally normal.
@@gerryheddema2555 That wasn't a threat. How overly sensitive or paranoid must someone be to see a statement of a fact as a threat? He might have had someone in mind but he and Kurt Russell during filming agreed to keep it ambiguous. That way we feel exactly what MacReady feels. No matter what he had in mind he changed it in order to to have the intended effect. And that is also the only logical ending. Even if he told us tomorrow who he originally intended it's irrelevant. That was not how he and Kurt thought by the end of the movie. They knew what had to be done and that was to keep it vague.
Definitely one of Carpenter's best, if not the very best. Ennio Morricone's subtle and spooky Score is also one of my favorite parts about it. Everyone in the cast was in their prime and their performances really sell the terror and paranoia throughout the film.
An all-time classic.
I love the score. It perfectly captures the whole atmosphere of the film.
This is hands down my favorite Kurt Russell character and acting role of his.
@@lea-anne9133Absolutely. It really does.
@@Rykiz_VidzRight on. Top 3 for me, at least. Don't really have a number one because it's just too tough to call. MacReady, Snake Plissken, Jack Burton..
(Funny enough, ☝🏻.. those are all Carpenter characters😅)
@@VaderPopsVicodin10 that man knew his way around a western soundtrack I have his greatest hits on repeat all the time
Probably my all-time favourite sci-fi horror. Has everything you could ask for. Casting. Acting. The pinacle of practical effects (lets not mention the stop motion). Tension building atmosphere and score. Open ending.... Just perfection.
This Production Had The Blessings Of A Myrad Of Talent, Time & Work Put In. Rob Bottin Practically Lived At The Studio Creating & Perfecting. Stan Winston Helped As Well.
Its rewatchable rating is 10/10
I think the bit at the end is the two acknowledging that even if one of them were the alien, they are both dead anyway. So, they might as well get drunk and fall asleep in the snow.
I liked that the thing was just killing i always thought it realized going all out didn't work so when it got to outpost 31 it decided to be more stealthy.
Good thinking
Exactly.
That’s why the final form it takes is the dog.
It unsuccessfully fit in with people,
So it takes the form of a creature where it can better learn, without being detected.
Really interesting take
Only film I literally fell off the couch from jumping in the blood scene.
The scene from the 1980s version where they chase it out into the snow as it's still trying to replicate one of the crew and the terror I always get when it looks at them with cold black eyes and elongated fingers with razor sharp teeth letting out a blood chilling scream as they burn it.
Every time I show some young person this movie they have a very visceral reaction to the effects. Even the not so good 80s effects look still so plastic and palpable it evokes a reaction of disgust like no other decade. Some of the makeup in Hellraiser doesn't really look realistic but it looks disgusting. And it's exactly that reaction I never see them express with today's movie's CG effects. It's just something deeply different.
So the coats were just a continuity error. If Charles was the thing, why wait and have a chat with Mcready, he had a flamethrower, why not just incinerate him. Also if you take the 2nd film as cannon. Charles still has his earring in at the end.
@@hugheffo Childs
so, im pretty sure the liquid in the bottle at the end is rubbing alcohol, because the thing cant taste alcohol, so giving a man a drink of rubbing alcohol would naturally make him flinch, but it doesnt, hence he was taken over at that point
to further elaborate, if it mimics EVERYTHING in the human body, then its mimicing the fact thats freezing to death with mcready, so it also knew it was dying and wouldnt be aggressive for no reason
@@deaglesupinthis5968 Where, in the movie, did you learn it couldn't taste things? Rubbing alcohol is a new twist. Usually people talk about gasoline. So credit it to you there. Still. It ain't on the screen
@@deaglesupinthis5968 As for it pretending to surrender to freezing to death...The thing has survived for thousands of years frozen. The characters posit that it wants to go back to being frozen. So it doesn't have to pretend anything. If Childs or MacReady were the thing, you'd think they'd want to take over the other to have a larger possibility of being taken somewhere to thaw out and get all Thing-y with folks.
The fact it was trashed by critics when it was first released, found its first home with the cult fan base and rose to greatness as being appreciates ad one of the best films of all time, on par with Kubrick’s The Shining show just how great a movie it is. Hell, the fact we’re still talking about it and trying to dissect it over 40 years later says everything.
A thing everyone seems to miss is that Palmer was always shown smoking weed. In every scene. Then he just stops. I believe the Thing doesn't like consuming poisons. So in that aspect, Since Childs willingly drank the alcohol, he was human. Since alcohol is poisonous to all cells, the Thing wouldn't attempt to kill itself.
As we all know...R.J. MacReady survied. 10 years later...He was known as 'Capt. Ron.'...He left that Artic desert to pursue the Oceans.
Horror culture is a great channel! Props to you for giving him a shoutout, he deserves more viewers
My take is that neither character is The Thing at the end.
The film uses strange behavior of human characters, to make you think they’re the alien, when in reality,
they were just scared.
The choice to have Childs survive with MacReady,
Being another attempt you make
you suspect one of them is the Thing.
Childs takes it personally when Macready begins taking extreme measures, calling him a murderer after Clark is confirmed to be human.
So when Childs asks
“Are *you* the only one who made it?”
It isn’t a hint he isn’t human.
Rather, how much less human MacReady is in the eyes of Childs.
We the viewers, have spent the most time with MaCready,
We’re partial to siding with him,
despite how many mistakes he’s made throughout the movie.
So when the character at odds with him, conveniently returns after being lost in a storm,
We’re just as suspicious as the character we’re seeing the movie through.
Now, these two are the ones
who survived, sharing a drink,
going back to their old dynamic,
Despite both having seen the worst
In eachother.
The tension going beyond whether one of them is an alien,
who can’t be taken back to society,
But whether or not the people they are, deserve to be in society.
If is not spelled out for you, John Carpenter himself posted a tweet answering the question and confirmed that one of the two was indeed The Thing.
Oh jeez I wonder which one 😅
@@Rykiz_Vidz I feel like if it was one of them, it had to Childs
@@greenmrkitty1 Hmm..and how many others are there again? 😂
@yobrothermouzone he's been teasing things for years. The point was paranoia. Hes also said you're not supposed to know
@@guyjpersonthis I believe is the whole point of the movie.
It puts you in the same position as the characters. You never really know exactly what’s going on but you’re constantly guessing who.
Carpenter deliberately takes out just enough information to keep us guessing. Definitively telling us everything defeats that purpose (although I do love all the theories).
You could release a “The Thing” video every day for the rest of time and I would watch every second to completion. Happy Tuesday
Always enjoy these deep-dive breakdowns of classic movies. 👍🏻
Thank you Paul. 🙏🏻
If You Could Do The JC " Apocalypse Trilogy".... , Please Do Prince Of Darkness & The Mouth Of Madness.
The bottle being full of fuel is not plausible as the thing copies all memories, even the knowledge that fuel is not drinkable.
Your breakdown of The Thing was the reason I finally sat down and watched it. It's easily one of the best horror movies ever made. The body horror is peak, and the story is tight. As always, great work, Paul. Cheers.
I didn't realize it was a remake until a few days ago and it's pretty close to the original outside of the creature itself. The original had more cast members and even a couple women in it. It was pretty much Alien before the movie Alien because the doctor was trying to save it to study it.
@moorebounce its not so much a remake as both springing from the same source material
@@guyjpersonoriginal novella had an absolute tonne of characters so that I lost track of who was who.
Blair, MacReady and (I think) Copper were all in it but I couldn’t follow anyone else.
I always knew windows dropped the keys, it's a very specific sound out of place with what is visible on screen. just genius. Also something I'm going to point out real quick before finishing the video that most don't know about the thing. The speed at which you are absorbed then imitated is directly related to how you get infected. For example contaminated food and drink infecting you takes a long time, and it is so slow and fluid that the victim would never know they are being replaced bit by bit piece by piece until a life organ is absorbed, like a liver or heart for example. At that point you would feel it and momentarily die until enough of you is absorbed and replicated to attack another person ( Norris is a great example ). In knowing this, if you rewatch the beginning, the dog leaves infector cells on Benning, but not inside him ( those small infector cells will never attack externally with others around it would be dramatic and obvious that there is something happening to dudes face or hands etc. But then McCready handed Bennings the open bottle he was drinking from, which benning takes with his infected gloves as he swigs then hands the bottle back to McCready who later on in the movie drinks from it, then later on infects a bottle of vodka he is drinking from and hands it to Blair who is paranoid and petrified that he can't trust anyone. We know Blair becomes the thing later but never how and now we do. At the end of the movie I think McCready laughs because the moment Child's takes a drink after him; he suddenly remembers something Fuches found in Blairs notes which cautioned him to warn McCready prepare your own food and drinks and don't share with anyone. McCready never passed this safety tip along to the others, and Fuches died shortly after warning McCready about this. That's why Norris didn't know better. It's in the moment that Childs takes a drink that McCready remembers and realizes he has been sharing all of his bottles with people who turned out to be the thing at some point shortly after and there's a better than average percent that he is infected by now, and wether Childs is or isn't the thing no longer matters at this point, cause he likely will be now if he isn't ... this makes him laugh at the futility of it all ...because the drink that was used to end his fight in chess, is the very drink the thing used to to end his fight to stay a man ... it fucking cheated.
Bravo 👏🏻
"The Things" is an excellent short story from the creatures perspective.
I remember watching it for the first time and just thinking that they both survived at the end and were doomed to a slow death when the fire burnt itself out.
Macready was the thing, he infected childs with the bottle of JB...
Then he said "lets wait a while, see what happens"
So they'll both freeze and thaw out when the rescue team turns up...
Mac didn't relay the message about not sharing food/drinks. Mac also didn't tell Childs that they shouldn't let that thing go to sleep in the ice.
Mac shares the drink and laughs. Mac suggests they go to sleep in the ice.
Mac is probably The Thing.
17:34 No. Thing 1982 is not a remake of the 50s film. It is based on a novel. And it's more faithful to the source material than the 50s movie.
I’m obsessed with this series
I’ve seen basically ever video made on UA-cam about this movie.
Thank you for the 45 mins of this
I love you ❤
Subconsciously it begins and ends with Mac feeding his enemy a drink
I listened to Rob Ager 1 hour analysis. He mentioned the backpack McReady had at the end. The back pack was the torch gun. In other words McReady was waiting for Charles to torch him. Who destroyed the blood? It was obviously the guy who was making the new spaceship at the end.
I think the main reason why the prequal didn't worked for the fans is because you know the outcome more or less. What I think that could had freshen it up is if they added an alien survivor that was hunting them from distance, so you can't be sure, is it the thing, is it hunting them because he knows they are the thing, is it hunting them because of paranoia... that could be an interesting twist, because you know more or less what happens in the end, the interesting bit here will be that unmentioned before unknown to the equation. Hell you don't even need to show much of him, just a shot or grabbing someone and then killing it or killing a crew member off screen and when they discover the body it will be "was it the thing? They usually consume the victim, maybe it didn't had time?" You can see where I am going with this. That alone can spice up the prequel.
One of the best films I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen it many times
That shadow is clearly noris 😂
That's what I thought, yet there are those that say it's Palmer
Yep. If Carpenter meant for it to be an unknown actor, he did a pretty bad job. It looks just like Norris.
One of my all time favorite horror movies. I've been watching it for damn near 40 years and it still gives me the creeps.
I mean, werent all of the alcohol bottles turned into Molotov bombs?? so if childs drank it that means he definitely was the thing and he was pretending to drink alcohol, not knowing that wasn’t filled with alcohol anymore
We don’t know if every single bottle was turned into Molotovs. It also doesn’t make sense that a Thing wouldn’t know what alcohol is or what it tastes like, since it copies its victim’s memories.
@@Gunnar001 i can see that being the case as well! good point
I watched the original ‘the thing’ 1982 recently and even though I’ve seen it before (it was my DVD I watched with a friend who hadn’t seen it) I still didn’t know who was and wasn’t the thing. The meant that I was looking out for things (no pun intended) that could have been where people got infected. One thing I noticed is that whenever anyone gets an injection there is the opportunity for someone to get infected. I think this is how Wilford Bromley’s character gets infected as he’s sedated in the shack by someone who is later reviled to be the thing.
Maybe watch the movie one more time. Nobody who has been infected by the thing shivers in the cold. Take a closer look.
8:14 Those are called 'snow goggles', early design before polarization of lenses became cheap and common. Fun fact, snow goggles imitate the irises of bovine creatures most on the lookout for predators while grazing.
Bouta be another banger for sure!
I love this movie. It's so rare to have a movie play mind games long after seeing it
My Only Issue With The Thing 2011 Was How Amalgamated Dynamics Work Was Treated.
This is my favourite horror movie, and not to toot my own horn here, but I label it as an "ambiguous horror masterpiece"
Yes you are the only other person other than me that has ever said as far as I know, that the things are so self-preserving that they will sacrifice each other to save themselves, and not only that they may absorb infected victims that are still mostly human, if say they got infected sharing a joint, or drink or food, and they are slowly cell by cell changing, but not enough for it to actually defend itself yet. It would be more beneficially to just absorb that person to make yourself bigger and stronger, like Blair was by the end.
The 1982 movie is in my top 10. Thank you for the detailed inspection of The Thing and the people replaced by The Thing!! Thank you for your observations! I have another reason to go back and watch it again! The 1982 film is much loved in the comments also.
So ready for this one! The thing is one of my favourite movies of all time! Nice one!
I just decided to watch this last night, what a weird coincidence you post this.
Shout out man your the reason I watched this for the film for 1st time a year ago. Your OG videos are why I subscribed and have been watching since
This movie is fucking amazing
That sequel idea is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Paul you lovely SOB. Wonderful breakdown
In regards to Childs, the coats being in different locations in-between these shots was only a mistake in set dressing department. Carpenter has stated this in interviews. People also grasp at the notion that you can see MacReady's breath, but not Childs, proving that Childs is the thing. The problem is, you can see Childs breath, it's just not as obvious as MacReady's because they shot the dialogue between the two characters separately and edited the two together. It was simply because the temperature was lower when they filmed Kurt Russel's part. Carpenter also said this in an interview. I've always strongly believed that the reason Mac was smirking is because he knows that they are both likely to die at this point, regardless, so in the end, it doesn't matter if they trust each other or not. It's just dark humor.
As for the prequel, the alien ship looked nothing like the one in the Carpenter film. Neither did Lars or the dog. It's like they didn't even try in those departments. The two people merging to create the split face thing is all wrong. Rob Bottin said that the creature he created for the Carpenter film was one person's face stretching apart. The less I say about the prequel the better.
It doesn’t even make sense that you wouldn’t see breath from the Thing. It’s a near perfect copy with working organs. And it’s talking, aka exhaling. Of course it would be breathing.
I am old enough to remember when this came out and watched it way back when. People love it today, but imagine how much better it would be watching it when it was before all the modern technology movies use today, because it is hard to compare. Scared the absolute poo outta me in several scenes. I loved the 80's (graduated high school 88). Love the work you do... See ya punk.
I think that the detail in The Thing that at the end were not entirely sure who's who. It just gives us a more mysterious and more of a cliffhanger. Almost like in The Shining at the very end with the photos all along the walls in overlook. I love the mysterious ending and it was a more horrifying movie than if we actually knew who's who. Can you just imagine what would happen if this happened on real life.....?
I liked it so much that I put blue lights on my country property. A shack, a fuggin tracked vehicle, thing models, macready outfit and hat, I go out during blizzards here, flame thrower, radios..ham, husky dogs, fuggin pool table, macreadys whisky, all of it. Some people nearly soil their pants here in the winter..when they see all the sheet. Oh yeah. I play the sounds outside at 250 watts per channel with massive subwoofers. Relatives freak out still…fugg em. I’m living in the virtual thing movie every winter. Cops came by asking about the sound..they heard it parked 1/8 mile away. My compound has scale models …I live it. 5.5 acres here full of thing artifacts. I don’t have the helicopter
iirc not being able to see Childs breathing in the final scene is also not intended, and it makes sense that even if he was infected, it would still release vapor on exhaling.
the eraser thing for Blaire is also a mistake, and was just a mannerism of the actor and not actually intended in the script
Great breakdown Paul. The Thing is one of my top 10 movies. I liked Campbell story that served as the source, but also see a lot of similarities to Lovecrafts mountain of madness (Please SOMEONE give Del Toro the budget to do Mountains.)
The best thing about the OG Thing is that we are still talking and arguing today about it. Just. Damn fine movie.
And Paul your section around slasher films the group is safest together where in Thing, that’s where they were most vulnerable was fantastic
It's Paul! Of the Heavy Spoilers Show!
Such a great breakdown, watched it twice in a row. Wrote off the prequel as not worth it, but will definitely check it now! Great work
Everytime heavy spoilers makes one of these I watch and then have to go watch the movie over again. 😍
I never thought Windows was called that because of his glasses. But because he was their comms guy
You can see Childs breathing as he's walking up and standing and sitting. Better clarity. McCready never told anyone about the food and drink. The guy was killed and burned immediately after. Didn't even want to assimilate him. Also since they're perfect imitations and take on their hosts memories I'd have to assume they know what things are and what they taste like. So the trick would be Mccready was assimilation Childs which is why he chuckles. If Mccready was assimilated at the beginning because the dog licked both gloves and he grabbed the liquor McCready provided and it chose not to assimilate the shepherd because once found out he would be the first checked. Mccready being assimilated means he has the chess playing leader who is a great advantage. Also he drank out of the Smirnoff given to Blair. Why would he risk drinking Blairs liquor when he knows not to eat or drink behind anyone? We also see with the blood that they are self serving. So they would kill other things to ensure its own survival. Blair was too loud and too flashy building that ship. But who knows. Its a great movie that can go many directions
When Keith Davis did an interview. He explained it was supposed to be a sequel and he was not the thing. In 2024 I still want to know if Russell was the Thing!!! One of my favorite movies 🎥 ❤❤❤❤
Paul!!
"DO the right Thing "😂😂😂
Love this breakdown. There’s another movie by John Carpenter that I absolutely loved, and I’m convinced only my older brother and I saw it and loved it. Prince of Darkness! Sure it has flaws but what a fun movie to discuss. My brother and I spent hours one day cooking up with a sequel explaining the communications from the future. So fun.
I just did a rewatch last weekend, awesome!😊
The only thing that hurts the prequel, was the choice to replace the amazing practical effects with cgi.
One of my fave movies ever
took me a long time to finally watch this movie (no particular reason) but man, quickly became one of my favorites.
In regard to the prequel, I always wondered why they didn’t call it “The Thing: Awakening” or something like that. It would have made a lot more sense then giving it the same name as the original.
Ah man the 1980s Thing is like one of my top 5 movies of all time.
I wonder if having the thing attack more openly in the prequel was on purpose. it could show that it was learning to be more discreet.
Back for part 2! heck yeah.
I'm convinced Macready is the thing and that he was the first person to get infected
no lie, l watch this movie 3 times a week, i also play the audio book "who goes there?" as a "sleep aid".. john Campbell awsome...... this more likely our first contact with ET'S ... than silver humanoids
The dog had a gleam in it's eyes too.😮
The og is a great film as also. This version did it justice for the special effects. It still stands up in 2024.
It's an undisputable and recognize able sub plot that JB bottle is method of transmission and MacReady is the thing. His drinking Blairs vodka bottle is the only explanation possibilty given as to how Blair was infected. Why does he give the Things mission statement at the end "Let's just sit here for awhile", laughing. To what, freeze for the rescue team? Even if it isnt canon it is an identifiable subplot. Not to mention he is the obvious suspect for eliminating Fuchs and being the 'scary guy' who was unidentified in the hallway. Even if JB Bottle is NOT a way to transmit. It appears so much with other factors, that it is legitimate to have this concept, at least for the concept of adding to suspicion.
Power is disabled: An unseen infected person disables the lab's power.
Fuchs goes after it: Fuchs goes after the source of the disabled power.
Fuchs is killed: Fuchs is killed, either by the Thing or by suicide to prevent being taken over.
Charred body is found: Mac, Nauls, and Windows find Fuchs' charred body outside in the snow a few hours later.
Also, what is the point of showing it assimilate on a cellular level, if it does not actually do that?
Finally, Windows is only bitten, but exhibits that he is changing and needs to be burned to stop it.
I love this channel, could binge watch these videos forever.
Never stop what you do, mate.
👌🏼
Thanks so much, really appreciate that comment, hope you have a great week
I hope im ready for this vid
my favorite movie of all time
LFG!!!! Needed this today ❤
Gary wasn't at all " cowardly".
It only makes tactical sense to stay in cover/ concealment.
There are people that would jump out to give the enemy a " fair chance".
We call these people " idiots".
Also, were he to go to a door to go outside and face down the lunatic shooting all " high noon " style , he would have given the man more chances to shoot Gary's UNARMED coworkers.
And he's wrong about the thing keeping to itself unless attacked.
It attacks the dogs, unprovoked.
It attacks Bennings unprovoked.
It assimilates Norris, leading to his death.
It Attacks Fuchs, as far as we know, unprovoked.
Studios: We're going to change everything about the movie that we greenlit for you to make
Also Studios: WhY wOnT PeOpLe gO tO tHe MoViEs?!?!
One of my favorite movies, love the break down!
"was the coat left or right? Who cares, put it where ever you wanna, nobody cares." - someone 40 years later " they wanted to tell us something with the coats"
I Love the 80s version and the prequel, the only bad thing i have against that, is the Studio insisting on using CGI fx 😢
I've watched this literally 100's of times and not once did I clock the Doctors nasal piercing 😮
I would love to get a second movie revolving around the comic book with his son resuming the McCready role.
Child's was super paranoid of everything... until the end scene...
I saw Mr Sunday Movies recently did a breakdown of this film too. Am I missing something? Is it coming back out or something?
It’s the 40 anniversary
11:44 Thing Blair could be researching their technology & how long till total world assimilation tho. Plus the noose could be for lowering things into the workshop in the hole like the gas tanks which have rope tied around them @ 14:51
The poster in the backround at 14:00 isn't an ID card, it's a condom. That was an sti awareness poster saying that the ones with STIs aren't labelled.
A bunch of men with tainted blood and uncertainty in a film in the 80s?
Yeah, it's referencing the panic around AIDS which has become prominent the year before this came out, and would have been all over the news when carpenter was refining script and waiting to begin shooting.
Hell yeah! First caravan of garbage dropped their “the thing” breakdown and now the king heavy spoilers dropping his! Great video man and an absolute classic movie! Much love brother! 🤘🔥
you fucking beauty!!! been having a shite day all day and now i see this!!! heavy spoilers ultimate breakdown on my favorite film ever! thanks guys!
I remember in 1998 when I was in high school being told by my science teacher the science of The Thing is more plausible than ET, Aliens, Predator and that scared me
Man, I don't know....
Id say Gigers, Alien is based in most reality.
I mean in the sense that apart from acid blood, the aliens really act, behave and live like giant insects.
Where as "the thing", imo is more akin to a giant virus, the way it replicates down to a cellular level in order to disguise and facilitate spreading of itself......
@@SpaceHCowboy the science of a virus coming from space infecting people can happen, Gigers xenomorph creation was dark fantasy
@@wajidhussain5305Am I missing the fact that the xenomorphs were inspired by insects, which exist????
I'm aware of loads of insects and how many of them objectively do and behave like said xenos.
Yet, objectively there's never been a invasive organisim that descended from space, ever.
So, you have your subjective opinion.
Obviously both franchises are science fiction.
Aliens, is not "dark fantasy"....
Twilight is dark fantasy.
I could say the Thing is a body/shock horror movie, but it's not.
Aliens is Science fiction horror, in exactly the same way the Thing, is science fiction horror.
Objectively speaking....
What behaves like a xeno, an insect.
What behaves like the Thing, a mutagenic virus.
That's the stone cold facts....
My teacher once told the class when you sneeze you go unconscious...
😂
Massive fan of the original and I also really enjoyed the prequel, as for the difference in behaviour from the original to the prequel I always thought it was more aggressive because whilst its having its very relaxing 100 thousand year nap it was then rudely awakened by some horrible alien things sticking drill bits into it ,that's enough to make anyone a wee bit kranky when waking, then by the time it got to the American outpost its had time to rethink its strategy thus its far more sneaky
As Vast & Eclectic As JC's Filmography Is....Top 3 In My Book Is The Thing, Starman & Big Trouble In Little China.
This is a must own on 4k
I want a well thought out sequel
20:18
Interesting. This was basically The Thing's version of The Space Jockey(or would have been).
I saw this movie back in the 80's and it scared the shit out of me. GREAT film! Looking forward to your breakdown. XOXO
The thing is my all time favorite horror movie. Love the prequel just wish they would have kept most of it practical instead of covering it up with cg.