The Thing (1982)***

 The isolation of the setting is a definite strong suit and that British Columbia shoot brought about a real sense of enclosure from civilization. Being cut off, no contact for weeks, these men clearly bored and tired of each other. No women or fresh entertainment. And if something bad was to happen, as ultimately does by the end, rescue seemed unlikely. And when Kurt Russell's MacReady tells Carter's Nauls, Moffat's Garry, and Keith's Childs that it appears they would inevitably die, needing to blow up their entire research installation, it is seriously a bummer! They've accepted that they will not escape...they could only try to make sure the alien doesn't reach anyone else, especially even a small town.

I remember feeling quite down about MacReady and Stiles pretty much awaiting their demise as the fire of exploded structures they once called home was eventually to diminish and die out. As a kid that was quite disheartening. But the situation really beared its claws in deep, sinking into my psyche. That these guys take in this wolf being hunted by Norwegians from a distant base only to face the same terror unawares. Visiting the base, MacReady and Dysart's Dr. Copper scan the mayhem, particularly a frozen victim in a chair with his throat slashed open, with blood iced over...this left quite an imprint on my memory. And the ice MacReady finds with the creature removed from it. The video of the find and the trip to the ship's location. Even the mini-ship Blair later makes out of parts from shattered equipment held in secret under Blair's shack prison. The film really separates itself from the classic Hawks' production, a film very much a part of Carpenter's own childhood. 

While I might have wanted to see what actually happened to Fuchs (Joel Polis), found burned alive, an ally MacReady desperately needed to help under the science behind the monster, and Nauls who hears a noise in the generator room and goes to investigate never to be seen again, I got plenty more to truly marinate on. A wolf head splitting with this alien being surfacing or Clennon' entire head cracking open to devour another victim's face more than makes up for mysteries regarding others' fates. Choosing to pick our battles of scrutiny and criticism, I feel comfortable allowing those minor annoyances slide.

And I barely scratched the surface of dog wrangler Masur and how he is alone with the alien wolf visitor, never assimilated, proven to be a great red herring for the film. Or the tensions between MacReady and Childs. MacReady treated as a threat, needing to protect himself with dynamite when the others assume he's alien. Once I started writing I can't seem to stop!