The Thing From Another World

Everyone creams over John Carpenter's The Thing, and understandably so.  It's a frigid, suffocating classic with special effects that have aged well over the years (understatement of the century).  But I was looking forward to revisiting the 1951 original.  Of course, I'm referring to it as the original, but Carpenter's version isn't as much of a remake as it is an intemperate adaptation of its source material.  And no, I haven't read the short story.  Reading is hard.

Initially, our extraterrestrial brute was more of a plant monster with tentacles and such (think triffids).  Budgetary restrictions meant that the picture would have to go down the infallible, tried-and-true route of "man in a suit" stuntwork.  So even though The Thing From Another World is essentially Frankenstein on Ice, it's still a capable blast of science fiction jollification.  I'm debating whether or not I should bother with a synopsis.  Eh, let's see how far we get until I lose my patience with words.

We join a reporter, a scientist, and a regiment of Air Force pilots in a remote outpost located at the North Pole.  There has been a crash nearby, but according to radar, this is no ordinary plane.  As a matter of fact, it's an orbicular space module (I could have just said UFO) that houses a pilot of its own.  The eight-foot alien bruiser is transported back to the exploration site in a block of ice.  It's only a matter of time before he thaws out and causes a disturbance amidst an Arctic storm.

Conceptually, this is a fairly unique storyline.  I can count on one hand the number of films that vilify carrots, though I'm sensitive to the plight of the carrot community.  "What the hell are you driving at, Dom?"  Well, if you'd let me finish, the titular thing has the molecular make-up of a vegetable.  To be specific, it's a carnivorous plant.  TV cowboy James Arness gives an appropriately stiff performance as the interstellar tyrant.  Yeah, you could say that he merely mimics Boris Karloff, but he knows how to throw his sizeable frame around.  I won't detract points for the lack of head spiders.

While we don't spend enough time with the main characters to truly empathize and warm up to them, the cast handles the quick dialogue well.  I will admit that some of the chatter is too quick.  If you don't use subtitles, which I usually do (hey, I'm getting old), you will lose important details here and there.  The script is swarming with pseudo-scientific jargon that could be made up for all I know.  I mean, sure, I know that a rosette of biennial leaves produces a considerable amount of sugars that are stored in the taproot to provide energy for the plant, but not everyone can...um, reference Wikipedia at the drop of a mouse.

On the whole, The Thing From Another World is a rock solid sci-fi/horror movie that exists as a vestige of a bygone era.  John Carpenter did blow it out of the water, but c'mon.  You've got to give a little love to the golden oldies.  After all, nostalgia is the warmest place to hide or something to that effect.