#DavidClennon

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Thing (1982)

I’m back, reviewing The Thing once again. My rating has not changed. Still a perfect 5/5 for this 1982 science fiction horror thriller.

In a U.S. Antarctic research facility, the men of the station (led by Kurt Russell as MacReady) have unknowingly welcomed a great danger into their midst: a parasitic alien that absorbs other life forms and then imitates them perfectly. As the days follow and no one can be sure whom or where the Thing is, paranoia takes over.

Every detail has been specifically chosen to emphasize the themes and sensations the story wants to convey. This movie is about an alien that has infiltrated the ranks of mankind. It looks like us, acts like us, and if you have the misfortune of being alone with it, it'll take you over. Now, there are two aliens and the cycle begins again. It’s a scary thought. You’re always wondering who is human, and who isn’t. Each new viewing gives new clues but you'll never be sure who's who.

In some movies, looking at little details like what information is shown on a computer monitor or who appears in what room alone would be overanalyzing it. Here, it feels like a critical step in overcoming your fears of the uncertain. The film features no female actors. Why? because this movie is about spotting the one that doesn't belong. You can't - not easily.

That’s the paranoia, what about the horror? Don't worry. The film's got legendary scares. Ever hear someone complain about the way “Everything is CGI nowadays”? It's probably because they saw The Thing and they're still drooling over what its physical animatronics, puppets, and props achieved. If the researchers weren’t being driven mad by the possibility of one of them being a shapeshifting extraterrestrial, they would be by the grotesque forms the creature takes when it attacks. The creations of Rob Bottin, Stan Winston, and their crew are the eldritch horrors H.P. Lovecraft wrote about. The Thing often appears as a twisted mix of claws, mouths, tentacles, and insect-life limbs. The only logic in the way its shape is organized appears to be "is it disturbing?". The creature is a perversion of everything we know. If I had to pick one word to describe it, I’d use “revolting”. Not disgusting, or disturbing. Its mere existence makes your stomach churn.

The Thing is tense and terrifying. It’s a visual marvel you'll need a strong stomach to handle. I fall deeper in love with it with each subsequent viewing because it never gets old. Knowing how it’s going to end means I’m able to divert my attention to another aspect of it, the way it makes skin-crawling choices to immerse you in its atmosphere of dread, or how little decisions by the cast and crew keep you guessing. It’s a robust paranoid thriller-horror with lasting power. You owe it to yourself to check out The Thing. (On Blu-ray, July 29, 2016)

[geekynerfherder]

#TheThing, first released in cinemas #OnThisDay in 1982⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #TitleScreen #OTD #JohnCarpenter #KurtRussell #WilfordBrimley #TKCarter #DavidClennon #KeithDavid #RichardDysart #CharlesHallahan #PeterMaloney #RichardMasur #DonaldMoffat #JoelPolis #ThomasGWaites https://www.instagram.com/p/CQjYfsDJ_no/?utm_medium=tumblr

[jamest541975]

HALLOWEEN-A-THON 2021 Video 70: SPECIAL BULLETIN #halloweenathon #halloweenathon2021 #specialbulletin #foundfootage #johnwoodley #edflanders #susanmyles #kathrynwalker #megbarclay #roxannehart #nuclearbomb #nuclearweapons #nuclearwar #drbrucelyman #davidclennon #stevenlevitt #christopherallport #drdavidmckeeson #davidrasche #friedabarton #rosalindcash #dianesilverman #robertamaxwell #jimseaver #ebberoesmith #mortonsanders #lanesmith #drjasonhalpern #frankdent #johnathaneherman https://www.instagram.com/p/CTpong2PZUY/?utm_medium=tumblr

[sweetnightmaresmedia]

Happy birthday to the greatest film ever made. 39 today. And no, we are not flipping well kidding .. #horrorfan #sweetnightmares #johncarpentersthething #thething #macready #filmmaking #johncarpenter #greatestfilmever #greatestfilmevermade #horrorfilm #horrormovies #vfx#sfxmakeup #kurtrussell #genius #davidclennon https://www.instagram.com/p/CQlXo_uMjiv/?utm_medium=tumblr

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : The Thing (1982)

When the video game Among Us found a sudden boom in popularity this past summer, two years after its 2018 release, immediate comparisons to John Carpenter’s classic creature feature The Thing began to pop up.  Whether intentional or not, the remote location and the sinister nature of imposter presence could not be ignored.  Seeing as I had only recently (FINALLY) gotten around to watching The Thing, now seemed like the perfect time to share my thoughts on the film.

A dog finds its way onto the grounds of an American research facility in Antartica, and shortly after its arrival, a Norwegian helicopter follows with gunfire and grenades.  After one of the Norwegian contingent accidentally blows himself up with a dropped grenade, the second is killed by station commander Garry (Donald Moffat).  MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Dr. Cooper (Richard Dysart) head to the Norwegian research facility to investigate, while the remainder of the team stays behind and watches the dog.  MacReady and Dr. Cooper find a malformed corpse they are unable to identify at the Norwegian station and bring it back to the American station for Blair (A. Wilford Brimley), the site biologist, to autopsy.  While Blair is in the midst of discovering that the creature has human organs, Clark (Richard Masur) kennels the dog, only for it to transform and absorb the other dogs it is locked in the kennel with.  Childs (Keith David) eliminates the dog-creature with a flamethrower, and in the wake of this shocking event, the entire crew attempts to investigate what is going on.  The ensuing investigation not only puts true fear into the entire crew, it manages to eliminate any sense of trust amongst the team.

For a film with such a deliberate pacing, the terror and paranoia moments presented are some of the most palatable committed to film.  The Americans do present somewhat of a united front (no pun intended) when the Norwegians first intrude upon the grounds, but as the mystery of the creature among them grows, and facts about its deceptive abilities are revealed, the group quickly begins to splinter, forming multiple factions with little to no trust of one another.  On top of all of this, from the opening to the closing moments, those ‘lucky’ enough to survive are never given a clear answer about the threat that they are facing, only wilder and wilder bits of understanding about it that make it seem more and more of an undefeatable menace.

Having an unclear, undefined force to pit the cast against works better than a standard monster, as the ability to mix the fear of the unknown and the fear of the grotesque packs a much more powerful punch.  The multiple forms that the creature takes, be it part humanoid, mid-transformation beast, or even the traces of an evasive monster, all serve to up the paranoia of both the cast and the viewer.  The sounds that come out of the mouth of the Bennings/creature combination alone are enough to fuel nightmares for a lifetime.  It’s hard to classify The Thing within the pantheon of classic movie monsters, but it is this ambiguity and fluidity that explicitly make it such a memorable movie monster.

The set design and isolated nature of the frozen location are monumental in terms of setting up the desperate nature that the team faces before any exposition is dropped or any musical cues inform us of the terror we should feel.  It goes without saying that the creature effects and sound design in the film were outstanding, with Rob Bottin’s creature budget standing at a tenth of the film’s complete budget.  The score, which John Carpenter was more than capable of handling, was assigned to Italian composing legend Ennio Morricone, and his finished product further served to build the epic nature of the outrageous situation, fueling the deep moods that the viewer rotates through.  With every role in this film being key, as the number of interactions starts limited and shrinks throughout the runtime, the strength of the cast speaks for itself.

The collaborative force that is Kurt Russell and John Carpenter is a tried and true formula, and by the time Carpenter cast Russell in The Thing, Russell had the everyman hero role down to a tee.  Keith David has a commanding presence, serving as both muscle and one of the cooler heads among a group falling to pieces.  Donald Moffat also has a commanding presence, but with all the apprehension lacking in David’s character performance.  A. Wilford Brimley lets knowledge drive his character, which makes his assimilation that much creepier, as he is able to hide it up until the point of his fantastic transformation.  T.K. Carter brings a bit of levity into the situation while also serving as a bit of an audience surrogate in regards to the realness of his fear.  Richard Masur fills in the role of gentle giant, with his particular care for animals serving as a direct in for the creature.  David Clennon, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Joel Polis and Thomas Waites also deserve recognition, as the entire ensemble does equal pulling of the weight to carry this masterpiece to fruition.

I don’t usually throw the term ‘must-see movie’ around much, but if there were a shortlist I was forced to make, The Thing would certainly be on it.  At nearly 40 years old, this movie has not only managed to escape the label of being ‘dated’, but it continues to prove that it belongs in the realm of films labelled ‘timeless’.

[fugandhi]

John Carpenter’s “The Thing”

Still one of the BEST SciFi/Horror films I’ve ever seen! Definitely one of the best remakes I’ve seen and John Carpenter’s best film (in my personal opinion). SUCH a Brutal & Gnarly movie that pulls no punches. So terrifying! Highly recommended viewing for anyone who wants a SpOoKy time!

🍿😳📺

🎃😁🤙

[vicsage-retroist]

"Nobody, nobody trusts anybody now, and we're all very tired. There's nothing more I can do... just wait." - The Thing (1982) #kurtrussell #keithdavid #davidclennon #charleshallahan #johncarpenter #saturdayfrights #horrorpodcast #masterpiece #scifihorror #horrorcommunity #whogoesthere https://www.instagram.com/p/B-t4LxxAUtg/?igshid=doev5247aess

[technicolor-cinema-fire]

The Thing (1982) #KurtRussell #KeithDavid #WilfordBrimley #PeterMaloney #RichardADysart #DonaldMoffat #RichardMasur #DavidClennon #TKCarter #ThomasGWaites #CharlesHallahan #JoelPolis #JohnCarpenter #JohnWCampbell #Horror #ClassicHorror #80shorror #scifi #scienceFiction #80smovies https://www.instagram.com/p/B6IqqWRgsPD/?igshid=11s8xwoj2l6ye

[willfilm13]

I knew it was a good idea to get those tickets a month ago. #TheThing #JohnCarpenter #KurtRussell #WilfordBrimley #TKCarter #DavidClennon #KeithDavid #RichardDysart #CharlesHallahan #PeterMaloney #RichardMasur #DonaldMoffat #JoelPolis #ThomasWaites #EnnioMorricone #DeanCundey #RobBottin #Cinema #Cinephile #70mmFilm #SoldOutShow (at Egyptian Theatre)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Falling in Love (1984)

Falling in Love is one of those romantic dramas that makes you want to question the people involved in it. There is something to say about finding the love of your life at the wrong time but the way this movie plays out is cringe-inducing.

Robert De Niro plays Frank Raftis, an architectural engineer who is married with two kids. Merryl Streep plays Molly Gilmore, a freelance artist who is married to a doctor. When they meet in a book store on Christmas Eve and then keep finding each other on the subway. Despite neither being able to move forward with the romance, they just can’t stay apart.

I wish the DVD that somehow found its way into my hands had included some amount of special features (instead of nothing) because I have no idea how anyone would sell this movie. Am I supposed to cheer for Frank as he contemplates abandoning his two children and his loving wife to get together with a woman he randomly bumped into? In any other movie, he'd be the villain the way he’s asking his friends how they went about with their affairs. The Same goes for Molly. She doesn’t have any children, not even a dog but her husband isn’t a jerk or anything. Everyone knows doctors work long hours saving lives. Did he surprise her career upon her?

You have a hard time accepting the concept so what's the draw? It certainly isn’t the chemistry between the leads. I didn’t feel any. There’s not even a steamy and cheesily shot love scene that would have appealed to the lizard component of my brain and had me appreciate the film on a sleazy level.

Often, I criticize films for having broadly-written characters. This movie could've used some. For the most part, everyone is realistic. The plot is a little contrived at times, with the two constantly bumping each other (and the beginning of the film seeming to imply that they should have met long ago but haven’t) but the people act like people do. We don’t have angry spouses that clearly resent each other, on one is abusive, we never learn Frank got married young because he got his girlfriend pregnant or anything like that. There’s not even some kind of animal desire where Frank and Molly are just lusting after each other and everything else becomes a blur.

I've got no complaints about the performances. The dialogue is fine. It's just difficult to accept what it's selling. Falling In Love - imaginative title by the way - is very much an “oh I want to be with you, but I can’t” kind of movie... and your inability to relate to its sentiments will make it feels like it lasts for an eternity. (On DVD, May 20, 2015)

[jamest541975]

HALLOWEEN-A-THON 2021 Video 56: JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING #halloweenathon #halloweenathon2021 #johncarpentersthething #thething #thething1982 #rjmacready #kurtrussell #childs #keithdavid #drblair #wilfordbrimley #palmer #davidclennon #garry #donaldmoffat #clark #richardmasur #nauls #tkcarter #windows #thomasgwaites #vancenorris #charleshallahan #drcooper #richarddysart #georgebennings #petermaloney #fuchs #joelpolis #norbertweisser https://www.instagram.com/p/CS-CjQAhd1w/?utm_medium=tumblr

[robduterte76-blog]

John Carpenter's The Thing is both a remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 film of the same name and a re-adaptation of the John W. Campbell Jr. story "Who Goes There?" on which it was based. Carpenter's film is more faithful to Campbell's story than Hawks' version and also substantially more reliant on special effects, provided in abundance by a team of over 40 technicians, including veteran creature-effects artists Rob Bottin and Stan Winston. The film opens enigmatically with a Siberian Husky running through the Antarctic tundra, chased by two men in a helicopter firing at it from above. Even after the dog finds shelter at an American research outpost, the men in the helicopter (Norwegians from an outpost nearby) land and keep shooting. One of the Norwegians drops a grenade and blows himself and the helicopter to pieces; the other is shot dead in the snow by Garry (Donald Moffat), the American outpost captain. American helicopter pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell, fresh from Carpenter's Escape From New York) and camp doctor Copper (Richard Dysart) fly off to find the Norwegian base and discover some pretty strange goings-on. The base is in ruins, and the only occupants are a man frozen to a chair (having cut his own throat) and the burned remains of what could be one man or several men. In a side room, Copper and MacReady find a coffin-like block of ice from which something has been recently cut. That night at the American base, the Husky changes into the Thing, and the Americans learn first-hand that the creature has the ability to mutate into anything it kills. #TheThing #JohnCarpenter #KurtRussell #WilfordBrimley #TKCarter #DavidClennon #KeithDavid #RichardDysart #CharlesHallahan #PeterMaloney #RichardMasur #DonaldMoffat #JoelPolis #ThomasGWaites #NorbertWeisser #LarryJFranco #NateIrwin #80sHorror #HorrorGram #HorrorMania #HorrorNation #HorrorFanatic #HorrorAddict #ILoveHorror #InstaHorror #AddictedToHorror #Scary #Creepy #Gore #FollowMeIfYouLoveHorrorMovies

[technicolor-cinema-fire]

The Thing (1982) #KurtRussell #KeithDavid #WilfordBrimley #PeterMaloney #RichardADysart #DonaldMoffat #RichardMasur #DavidClennon #TKCarter #ThomasGWaites #CharlesHallahan #JoelPolis #JohnCarpenter #JohnWCampbell #Horror #ClassicHorror #80shorror #scifi #scienceFiction #80smovies https://www.instagram.com/p/B6IqCF_A2Lq/?igshid=1mz8bjxvmymmx

[technicolor-cinema-fire]

The Thing (1982) #KurtRussell #KeithDavid #WilfordBrimley #PeterMaloney #RichardADysart #DonaldMoffat #RichardMasur #DavidClennon #TKCarter #ThomasGWaites #CharlesHallahan #JoelPolis #JohnCarpenter #JohnWCampbell #Horror #ClassicHorror #80shorror #scifi #scienceFiction #80smovies https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Ip6mZAvmK/?igshid=1faaq8m3fcpuh

[technicolor-cinema-fire]

The Thing (1982) #KurtRussell #KeithDavid #WilfordBrimley #PeterMaloney #RichardADysart #DonaldMoffat #RichardMasur #DavidClennon #TKCarter #ThomasGWaites #CharlesHallahan #JoelPolis #JohnCarpenter #JohnWCampbell #Horror #ClassicHorror #80shorror #scifi #scienceFiction #80smovies https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Ip3DrA0bM/?igshid=1f9267zm69xwa

[technicolor-cinema-fire]

The Thing (1982) #KurtRussell #KeithDavid #WilfordBrimley #PeterMaloney #RichardADysart #DonaldMoffat #RichardMasur #DavidClennon #TKCarter #ThomasGWaites #CharlesHallahan #JoelPolis #JohnCarpenter #JohnWCampbell #Horror #ClassicHorror #80shorror #scifi #scienceFiction #80smovies https://www.instagram.com/p/B6IqzPbgBLo/?igshid=1gztorqjd5hst