The Thing: The Ultimate Guide To The 1982 Classic And Prequel 

I was lucky enough to watch the 1951 and 1982 versions at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Base. Even though it was in the summer, it was still super creepy.

The Thing 1982 aged like a fine wine. The movie has become better over time and still holds up exceedingly well with it's practical effects. I've shown this film to some of my younger friends and they're terrified by how disturbing the thing looks in almost every scene.

One of the best examples of remaking a film. The cast was amazing. The effects were terrifying. The tone was suspenseful and engaging. I'm so baffled how it was no popular at the time.

The prequel was criminally UNDERRATED. It's too bad the studio wouldn't let them use practical effects.

The Thing (1982) is by far one of the greated sci-fi horror films of all time. It's too bad they didn't realize that back when it was first released.

Ironically, I just finished watching the prequel. Carpenter's The Thing is one of my all time favorite horror movies. It still works today.

I saw the 1982 The Thing in the theater. I remember people running out to the lobby when the guy's head peeled off and grew legs. I loved it. You have to give props to the sound engineer who created those unnerving creature sounds.

For me John Carpenter's The Thing is one of the Best Horror Movie it has a great cast, great Atomsphere, great Special Effects, great Music Score and it looks really Awsome on 4K 😎🤘 I Really enjoy The Thing from 1951 too it has also a great cast in my Opinion just like the Remake from John Carpenter.

I still can't believe The Thing was actually a massive failure upon its original release.🤯

The Hollywood premiere was AWESOME. Elvira was the host and gave away goody bags of "Thing" paraphernalia as Rob Bottin ogled the proceedings. This is definitely my favorite John Carpenter film.

My favorite John Carpenter movie ever made!

I saw this opening day with my dad in 1982 I was 11 yo and we loved it. Me and my dad could not stop talking about it a we’ve watched a million times.

Kudos to the effects guy who gave himself a bleeding ulcer, dbl pneumonia, and exhaustion in helping create this masterpiece!!

I highly recommend you all watch the original 1951 version, The Thing From Another World, it's well worth your time. Howard Hawks was a legendary director making masterpieces such as Red River, The Big Sleep, Sergeant York, Rio Bravo, and the original Scarface. Howard Hawks' foray into the sci-fi horror genre deserves to be remembered. John Carpenter idolized Howard Hawks, and not just for The Thing but for his entire film career. Thanks for putting a spotlight on all 3 Thing movies, JoBlo! John Carpenter made a masterpiece of a remake.

Hilariously the execs thought that the 2011 The Thing version looking like an 80s movie was a bad thing. That’s exactly what it should have looked like, as it was a direct prequel in the timeline. I do love how meticulous they were at little details, trying to match up with Carpenters version

This is probably the finest example of a movie that found it's home on Home Video and became the classic it always was.

What's reprehensible is that people were unable to realize that they were watching a masterpiece. A friend at work loaned me the VHS in the mid-80s and I was blown away by it.

It Would be very interesting too see The Thing from 2011 without those Bad CGI Effects.

One weekend staying on my family’s farm while my parents were away, my uncle rented the original movie and let me stay up super late to watch it after we knocked off a bunch of other films. I was 7yo. and I tell you - I loved the Thing. The story, the alien, Maccready and the rest of the cast. I was enthralled and it instantly became my fav film of all time. So much so I rented Ice-man be ause of the similar cassette cover to see if it was in anyway related to the Thing. Such an amazing movie and the world is much improved because it got made.

THE THING FROM 1982 I HAVE THE ORGINAL VERSION ON DVD AND IT STILL HOLDS A PLACE IN MY HEART.

It's a shame "The Thing" was despised because of ET. It's still a great suspenseful scifi horror film with great practical effect by Rob Bottin. The 2011 prequel was fine

This is and will always be my FAV movie ever . This movie got me into everything horror . Thank you Carpenter and everyone who worked on this for bringing this classic/masterpiece to the world ❤

There's really nothing like good sci-fi. Especially the messages from Jurassic Park and The Thing "Don't mess with things you don't understand."

The original thing is one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time..an absolute masterpiece of a movie.. I wish the Prequel was released with the original practical effects but it's still pretty enjoyable..

Never knew it flopped until years later but I was part of the original geeks who saw everything scifi, horror and action and everyone one in my circles loved it. I walked put amazed at what I saw. The suspense was palpable. Especially in the blood test scene

I used to watch The Thing on TV around Halloween in the 80s. As an adult, I found it to be far better than I thought as a kid. A true horror classic!

My favorite Carpenter flicks are Big Trouble In Little China with Escape from LA #2 and Ghosts of Mars #3

ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING IS A MASTERPIECE OF FILMMAKING. IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS MOVIE WAS NOT A ABSOLUTE SMASH AS GOOD AS IT WAS.

The Thing all about the paranoia and the people you've known for a very long time, you can no longer trust them. Where were you Child's

The 1982 version may have the best practical effects in any movie, but the the paranoia and atmosphere is what also makes it great. There's this sense of paranoia during the whole film, who is my real friend? How do I know that I'm the thing? If the thing is dead, how do I escape this isolated place anyway? There's so many things that the movie doesn't explain, the main focus is the survival part and not so much the backstory or information with this "THING", the audience just as oblivious as the charecters, we discover certain things as they discover them and it makes it easier for the audience to conect to the situation in a more visceral level. The charecters are interesting as well, we may not know much about them but their actions reveal alot about their unique personality and who they are as people, many of them show their true colours and some underestimate how intelligent others in the group can be.

Damn. All things 'The Thing" are fantastic to me. Thank you for creating this content.

I had no idea as when I saw it, it felt like a ground breaking classic and it's music and atmosphere stood out instantly

Saw this on VHS back in the day because my high school shop teacher liked it. I truly believe it is the greatest sci fi/horror film ever made. The cast, story and of course the effects are remarkable. As far as the ending, I like that it was left open for you to draw your own conclusion.

Saw the original Thing with ny Mom and Grandmother as a child ... As a teenager John Carpenter the Thing own it on VHS 😅... and now the Prequel AWESOME!!!! A MUST TO ADD TO COLLECTION 📽💎😉

I was in Boston during training for my company and got to go to the premiere of 'The Thing'. I went with a couple of my buddies and we had a blast. I also got a commemorative pin from the engagement. Over a couple of beers we discussed the movie and decided it was a great movie however after reading the reviews in the papers we couldn't decide why no one liked it. I'm happy to remember now that we were correct and all the critics were WRONG.

'82 was a different era. I turned eight that year, and I watched "The Thing" on VHS and TV dozens of times as a kid... and it still holds up, 40+ years later. It set the standard for practical effects in movies. I never pass up an opportunity to watch someone react to the movie for the first time, inevitably going from "Don't you dare hurt the dog!" to "Kill it! Kill it with fire!" The prequel... it's just a mess. It mimicked where it should've gone its own way and gone its own way where it should've mimicked, leaving me thoroughly disengaged. Whether it was the script, the direction, or the editing, I can only guess, but it was totally off... and the special effects NEEDED to match the original, but clearly didn't. It's right up there with the Star Wars sequels when it comes to NOT understanding or respecting the source material.

Anything with Keith David is awesome.

I saw this movie when it first premiered in 1982, I loved it right out of the gate! I didn't understand the critics?, Carpenter was ahead of his time.

1982 was such an amazing film year that overlooking The Thing can be somewhat understood (but not the treatment Carpenter got after). There was ET, Poltergeist, Creepshow, First Blood, Conan, Blade Runner, Wrath of Khan, Tron etc. Just an amazing year. Blade Runner was also an undervalued film that got big later...

The Thing is one of my favorite films of all time. Its epic.

I think The Thing (2011) and The Thing (1982) have one of the best prequel to original film movie transitions of all time, like you can look at people editing the two movies together on RU-vid, and it is SO… Smooth and seamless

This is why I don’t listen to critics. I like to decide for myself whether I see a movie/tv show/whatever or not.

Hell yeah! Jo Blo keeps kicking out the jams! Keep it up 😊

1982 was an amazing cinema classics year, The Thing, Blade Runner, Conan, Tron, ST the Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist...

I didn't ignore John Carpenter's THE THING . Blew my mind . 🤯 I saw it in an over half full theater and thought it would be a big hit .

Norm McDonald's narration on this video is perfect 👌🏽 💯

I saw The Thing opening weekend at the drive-in and was completely blown away. I didn't even know the film wasn't a hit until years later. I know it was a different time, but wth was Universal thinking releasing this in June? Especially in the middle of what was arguably the most packed summer release schedule of all time. I remember Wilford Brimley saying The Thing stunk in an article a few years later and thought he was a giant asshole (not to mention dead wrong)

The Thing is a superb movie and in my all time top 10 movies.. the critical response and the studios actions after the critics ripped it apart nearly ended John Carpenters love for film making … he did slowly fall out of love with Hollywood and went back to his indie roots which is where he shines

On 12 th june 2023 i will be 32yo. I watched THE THING in 2005 for the first time and boom i was a fanboy since then. This my all time favorite horror movie of all time . p.s i am huge horror movie fan i like many horror movies but i love THE THING it holds a special place in my heart.

I love both of these movies. Thank you for all the info.

I really like "Vampires" by John Carpenter. Those vampires are very realistic, they smell bad and have very bad breath! 🧛🏻‍♀️

I actually think there is a lot to like about the 2011 prequel movie when it's viewed with a more favourable lens. It's reasonably well known now that the effects team got shafted when the decision to cover over their fantastic looking work with bland CGI and it's for the worse. If ever a movie deserved a Directors Cut, it's the 2011 Thing with the original effects restored - at least to the best of their abilities as I don't know how much of it was fully completed. Also, while not as iconic as the blood test scene, I actually really like the idea of the Thing being unable to replicate inorganic material as we know from Carpenters movie that it needs to find replacement clothes for the person it assimilates. It's a cool scenario to imagine how another group would come to the conclusion of what the Thing is and how it replicates people, independent of how the staff at Outpost 31 figured it out. I also kind of like the fact that in the prequel the Thing acts differently to how it does in Carpenters movie. In the prequel it doesn't hesitate to make itself known by attacking the humans at most available opportunities. This approach obviously fails and I like that it shows how the Thing has perhaps learned to be more stealthy by the time it makes it to the Outpost 31 station. It instead chooses to try and hide in plain sight and slowly picks off the Outpost 31 crew one by one, until it too is caught. There's also something cool and unsettling about all the Norwegians ganging up on Kate and not speaking English to her which adds to the isolation of the movie as that could be quite frightening in the specific circumstances. The movie is still not a scratch on the 1982 movie which is a bona fide classic but it's also not as bad as some people think it is.

Zgadzam się w 100%. To jeden z najlepszych sci-fi horrorów jakie powstały. Oglądałem go po raz pierwszy początkiem lat 90 jako bardzo młody ,,dzieciak'' i zrobił wrażenie jak mało który horror, większe niż film ,,ukryty'' z 87 który widziałem wcześniej i był w podobnym ,,stylu''. Ale scena ze sprawdzaniem krwi rozgrzanym drutem to mistrzostwo, nie ma osoby która nie wzdrygnie się oglądając film po raz pierwszy, i ta muzyka w tle. Pozdro dla fanów dobrego kina.

I really enjoy this video. Very interesting and insightful. I love both films and anticipation for the new film

One of the greatest films I've ever watched. Amazing, hasn't left me over 20 yrs now and I always recommend it...that and Sam Rockwell's "the moon"

The prequel had a few iffy moments, but it's a good example of a prequel being done right.

I thought The Thing 2011 was great, but I definitely wish they would’ve kept the original end, and the CGI enhanced practical effects. I still frequently watch them back to back, but the CGI is always a little hard to swallow in Thing 2011.

Blade Runner and The Thing opened on the same weekend in 1982. Two of the most influential movies of all time. On the same weekend.

Just rewatched them both. Starting with the prequel first. I know Carpenter recently speculated on a new entry. Let’s hope he decides to ,if the story is worthwhile.

Absolutely love both these films, Carpenter's classic is probably my favorite film of all time, well that flip flops sometimes between TCM 74 and Halloween 78 and First Blood 82. Really hope these rumors of a sequel to Carpenters classic are happening like they say it is.

Thank You for the Video 😀

Wow I really respect all the original work that went into the prequel. Really tragic what happened with the digital fx.

I remember seeing the Thing on its 1982 debut in June of 82. Scared the Shiite out of me! I was blown away by the scare affects and the psychological component of the film. Still watch it and try to locate anything new that I might have missed. Never fails. Wish a restored version were to be put in place to put the cutting room footage back in. I've seen some of that footage and it would not ruin the film at all. There is a scene where Blair is supposed to be locked up, but he was there when Norris Thing emerged and was getting blown away. That should have been in the original.

So many aspects of the thing are masterful but the effects are insane thiss monesters are beyond any level of discomfort i had ever known before.

The Thing > Alien I love them both. Im a huge Alien fan, To the point that i even enjoy some of the lesser films. But i have never seen another film that made me feel the way i felt the 1st time I saw The Thing.

John Carpenter The Thing still creeps me out to this day. I was 12 in 84 and had a bunch of friends over for my birthday and my dad rented it for us, sitting in the living room lights out freaked out and my dad and his friend run into the living room yelling and threw a cooked lobster, it was cooled by yhis poin, on my lap i lost my shit to say the least and thats why this movie still creeps me out. Thanks dad miss you buddy RIP

I always felt the thing's first interaction with humans in the 2011 prequel were a rough start. Learning how to be among humans and get around. By the end, it learned what not to do when it was in the 1982 movie. So it's behavior is vastly different between first interaction and second interaction. If Childs is a thing or nauls, doubtful but if McCready is a thing, the world is doomed. I friggin love the thing movies.

I remember seeing the trailer for this when it came out. I was simultaneously fascinated and freaked out. I was twelve at the time. Christ I'm old.

I still can't believe this channel made another video about this movie and still can't say McCready properly like the person narrating the video hasn't even watched the damn movie! It's driving me nuts!

Seriously, the fact that they CGI'd over all the practical effects in The Thing prequel will always make me angry. The effects artists put in so much work to make those puppets, but because some people thought they were cheesy, higher ups decided to fully get rid of them for CGI that's aged terribly. When the practical effects were the ENTIRE POINT OF THE ORIGINAL FILM that the prequel was trying to FAITHFULLY ADAPT. What a disaster and brain-dead decision by the execs.

Remember the same happened to The Shining. It was seen as trash long, long ago (by the critics anyway).

i swear this channel is on my psychic wavelength or something because literally everything ive watched for the last 2 years shows up on this channel 🤘

It’s a very Shatner like delivery of the synopsis and narration. Still good to hear all about one of my favourite films

On the subject of casting, one thing not mentioned is that after working with him on Halloween four years earlier John Carpenter wanted Donald Pleasance for the role of Blair. I think he would have been good.

I was in theatres as a 12 year old and watched it a bunch of times. All the showings were full and everyone jumped and screamed. There were too many big hits out at the same time, one was a little film called ET released a month before

Idk how the hell anyone thought this was a terrible film. The first time I saw this I instantly fell in love with it, and it's probably the reason why I became such a big fan of sci-fi horror.

The Thing 2011 would have been received better had they used the practical effects instead of dumping them for CGI pushed by studio suits.

How did it take me so long to find this channel? Y'all are fan-damn-tastic!

I enjoyed all three Things. The first one was the best they could do at the time, given the limited special effects available, and succeeds more by introducing the concept, being a well directed jump scarer, and avoiding showing the alien as much as possible. I enjoyed the 2011 prequel, but it felt like they were afraid to offend the fans of the Carpenter version, and we knew that the ending had to dovetail into the 1982 film's start, meaning that since we knew the female lead character wasn't in that one, and all the characters except the two Norwegians who arrived in the helicopter had died, the ending of the prequel could never be enough of a surprise. Carpenter's version is my favourite. I've always loved the meldingof the monster and sci-fi genres (having adored Alien), so I was totally receptive to the film, the frightening takeover concept of the story, and the fact that Carpenter had directed it (having thoroughly enjoyed his The Fog). I didn't understand why it was not well-received by cinemagoers generally (and indeed most of my friends who saw it at the time!), but I think now that people just weren't ready for the disgusting effects distorting and destroying bloody and gooey human-like images, and it took time to pass before they became seen as superb and the perfect way to demonstrate the concept of the shape-changing alien. I also loved the ending, because enigma creates longevity in a story by encouraging further viewings.

Watched it when it came out on video and loved it. Kurt Russell was excellent and the story/special effects fantastic. I don’t know why it flopped on the big screen!

Love the video! The 82 film is one of my all time favorite movies. And random, but what is the music you use around the 18 minute mark? I need it for my playlist please lol

The thing is my favorite horror movie. I have a list of 50 but the thing is number 1. When I watch it in bed, I can feel how cold it is. I can feel how far away I am from help. My dad showed me this movie when I was a kid so it holds precious memories for me

I'm glad as a kid I saw it in theaters or didn't because my face was buried in my arm. The prequel was well done as it appeared until the last 5 minutes to be a sequel!! Left out 2 first name casting Kieth David

Goes to show you this movie was beyond it's time. I love this movie. I liked the newest one too, but I just wish there could have been a direct sequel too...there could still be...Kurt Russell could make a cameo if they decided he actually survived that encounter. Oh well...I can dream

Scared the shit out of me when I was a teenager and it still holds its ground

The Thing is one of my all time favorite movies. The prequel is actually pretty good, but the CGI is what ruins it and takes you out of the movie. It would be nice if there was a version out there that has the practical effects.

Classic John Carpenter film!!

It's a movie I have to watch every time it's on telly. I love it.

I always felt that the failure of this film was due to timing. It was a summer release opposite films like Star Trek II, Firefox, Rocky III and other PG-rated fare. After a number of years of a lot of R-rated pictures, the 80s was finding its stride with more family friendly stuff. (ET would follow the next year.) Even that summer's Poltergeist was more about fun scares than bleak horror. I saw the film a couple of months before its release at an exhibitors' screening, and even theatre owners were turned off by it. These were the days before 15-screen megaplexes, streaming digital, and even widespread post-release video rentals, and theatre owners were cautious about science fiction, much less gory sci-fi. The mood was VERY down at the screening, and Universal's terms simply were not friendly enough for exhibitors to take the chance. I don't recall any hard numbers, but I always believed that it didn't get as wide a release as Universal hoped. I redisocvered the film on VHS in about 1985 and immediately changed my mind about it, and it's been my favorite Carpenter film ever since.

Not only one of the best horror movies ever made, one of the best films ever made 🤪👏😛

The first time I watch it was on Showtime (When cable was a big deal and you could buy cable boxes).... if you know what I mean? ;) I was a teen at that time and I had nightmares big time. There were also Drive inns playing this movie as well and if yousaw cars moving upand down, you knew they were not watching the movie....

I watched it in the eighties and I watched it other day other day and I still on TV.

Critics called this movie 'boring?" Are they stoopid? Whatever this movie is there is no way it can be called "boring." So stoopid!!

Rob Bottin AND Stan Winston on special effects. The twin titans of the industry.

Hearing the critic’s reviews is boggling. What a perfect film.

This movie scared the crap out of me. The old one, to the remake. Both were good.

The prequel was originally supposed to reference other species taken over by the Thing? I feel like that would be a cool aspect to most of the fans of '82 flick. Plus, it opens up the lore/universe to more possible stories.

I saw it at the cinema in 1982, still a favourite.

Adore them, iconic masterpiece of film. I also love the prequel and the way it was mirrored set wise, I have a difficult time NOT watching them together as if you watch the prequel first and the genius way it segways in to the original it is like one big long film when watched back to back. (not to mention it holds the crown as explaining why only a complete PLANK listens to anything "Critics" have to say.) As to the typical mob rage against Prelude, said rage is a boring as any other mob rage fest, yes it has issues with too much CGI but as a prelude to the original is still awesome to watch leading into the original. (That rage too shall pass as it should).

When something is new and different, it's difficult to know how to judge it. What criteria do you use to decide if it's good or bad? A new thing must be judged by new criteria, which take a while to propagate. Until that happens, the piece is being judged by the wrong standards. It's the definition of a work of art being ahead of its time.