The Thing [1982]
So it turns out that order of operations in important and I NEED to do a review of the first Thing [1982] before I even consider a review of the newer one. So below is my review of a movie I haven't seen in a while, but in all honesty I remember extremely well.
Synopsis:
So the movie actually starts very weird, where a helicopter is seen chasing down a dog, trying to kill it for whatever reason when they run into another camp in the middle of the arctic. The camp sees this action and tells the helicopter to not come any closer, but of course the helicopter does and so, thinking that he has gone mad since he's chasing a dog, they kill them.
Well, turns out the dog is actually an evil monster (that's not the surprise, you know it by the way that they are doing everything in the movie) and the other camp had discovered the monster buried in the ice. The rest of the movie plays out trying to solve how the monster works and, using the best graphics and special effects available for 1982, a horrific show is created where the true terror is in the story, the idea, and overall just the brilliant concept.
Verdict: 4.5 / 5 Stars
This movie is a horror CLASSIC! If you are big into horror movies or big into cult films, then please give this movie your support by going and watching it. And although the movie is considered old now (30 years and counting), the concept for the time was brilliant, the special effects were well done, and the way they use the camera to really bring out the horror is what makes this movie. So if you have some free time and don't mind things that goes on the slightly gross side, then please check this out.
But just to be frank, the best part of the movie was actually when they develop a way to solve who the thing is. Seriously, it's the most memorable scene in the movie and it has probably the biggest impact. Especially since the way they solved it was so primitive and yet so brilliant. Add in the natural terror that it could be anyone, and it's a brilliant effect.
Seriously, I can't tell how many bad horror movies I've seen, but this one has a great concept and is done very well. So my personal verdict is 4.5/5 stars!
The Thing [2011]
And so now we move onto the more recent film. Now I know I didn't give that last film a very big introduction or really any synopsis at all, but that's because the real intent of this review is to describe the newer movie of the two. I mean, surely with new special effects and a classic horror idea they couldn't go wrong, or so I thought...
Synopsis:
First of all, it is extremely important for me to point out that this movie is not the sequel to the 1982 horror, but actually the prequel. That's right, the end of this movie is obviously the beginning of the next movie. So what we know right away is that only two people should live, the thing should become the dog, and in the end we should see him chasing the pooch away. At least, in theory that's what we should see.
Well this movie starts out with some Norwegians on a big truck running all over the place and they're talking about something stupid. To be fair and honest, I was reading the text at the bottom for a minute, but it really didn't matter at this point since he's telling some sick story about a boy and his grandmother (you can imagine). Then their big truck or whatever crashes through the ice where they make a major discovery, there's an alien ship. So far so good. Well, really that's the last of the staying-on-track parts of this movie. And it should be very simple to get form point one, discovering the alien, to point two, where the whole base is dead...
Verdict: 1.75 / 5 Stars
See the cast and crew was perfectly fine, the set-up was exactly what was expected since it was the prequel to the original thing, but the problem with this movie is clearly that they would rather invest more money in special effect than work with a large group of writers that want the movie to follow the best story possible. From start to finish, you'll see where they spent countless hours trying to flash gory scenes and really bring to life the Thing, but they never quite get it looking right either. And so instead of doing what made the first film great, which is sort of hiding the creature for most of the film and making it into more a mystery of who is the thing, they go about trying to turn this movie into an action thriller.
But not just that ruins this movie. No, the creators also went into depth to really try and make something new for us to watch be hunted. But in the end, they actually end up ruining the original movie because in this movie the Thing was able to do SO many more things that it makes the Think from the original look pathetic. That's right, special effects are truly the deviant in this film series and what brought about the end to what was probably the greatest idea ever.
I think what really made me want to subtract points was that the original movie had such a clever way of solving who the Thing was that when the scientists came up with a way in this movie, it seemed like the creators of this prequel didn't understand what made the original so damn classical. And that frustrates me as a movie goer, because I WANTED this movie to be good.
However, with all that said and done, the new movie does a decent (though it could have been better) job of getting from the two points. That's why I gave it a star. And they did put some effort into the movie, it just didn't have the flavor that the original cult classic had and it really showed why modern horror is going in the drain. To the producers, I would like you to cast a view towards this movie as why special effects, which cast MILLIONS to make, will never substitute for a well written and re-written story, which costs much less.
Overall I give it a 1.75/5 stars.
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