Previous comment so right cuz they were covered in some form of grease also I love how even good stop frame animation you can see a fraction of pause in the creatures movement. Awesome for 1881 I think
Everyone always mentions when Talos turns his head. For me the scariest part is when they’re inside the pedestal and they first hear that creaking tortured metal sound.
Very cool short film! I wish I could see Mark Sullivan's "Nightspeed" (or is it "Night Speed"?) that was featured in a brief clip on the Star Wars documentary "SPFX".
The stop mo looks like Sinbad 70s Ray Harryhausen style, it doesn't fit the style of the anamatronics/puppetry used earlier on in the film like the spider head etc. I love it but you can see why it was cut.. Best film ever in my opinion used to watch all the time in the 80s,90s,10s and even now. GENIUS from carpenter like They Live.
i think this version works so much better for 2 reasons 1. the shot of the dog being spat out on the ground. this one shot does such a good job at expressing the fact the thing was REACHING OUT to mac. it was trying to grab him, and using the dog to be able to either snag him or chase him down. in the original, it feels like the dog is simply a defensive maneuver, like in the kennel when it made the flower of teeth. it didnt wanna be touched. it just doesnt work in the final scene, its not really actively stopping mac. 2. the MOVEMENT. the base monster is just too stiff, i get it its a giant ass puppet, but i feel like it couldnt even bend over to grab mac if it had all the time in the world. the stop motion gives it so much life, and gives a real sense of urgency that mac needs to gtfo or hes done for.
the small part they cut makes sense; As it plays now we assume it's waaay bigger under the ice. Here, sudenly we get it standing there like a still drying Harryhausen fan film by a schlong-obsessed teenage boy with a weak sense of anatomical proportion, just kind of standing there, waiting for direction.
I remember seeing this when I was 4 and freaked me out but also captured my imagination. Used to recreate these scenes with my dinosaurs. I’m 34 now looking back at this.
Good call by Carpenter. That looks like old Sinbad movies. Totally makes it look dated 15 years earlier. Sticking with practical effects was the right call.
1982 The Thing is like the pinnacle of practical effects, it didnt get much better , 1981 american werewolf in london, the transformation scene, is another example
