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Just got back from a midnight matinee of The Thing, and while I was bracing for another mediocre October horror schlockfest, I was pleasantly surprised by this. The film is filled with several stock horror cliches, but they are frequently used effectively, and the CG horrors are, for the most part, nightmare-inducing and terrifying. There is some great genuine tension in the middle of the film which admirably mimics the best parts of the 1982 classic, but these scenes seem disappointingly shortlived as the final act deteriorates into a generic sci-fi horror action movie. The CG Things vary in quality, at the best they look photo realistic and genuinely terrifying, and at their worst they look like a Dead Space monster on medium graphic settings. Thankfully there's more of the former than the latter. Overall the film was better than I dreaded it ended up being, but still falls short of the standard set by it's 1982 predecessor as one of the best horror films of all time. A good October horror popcorn flick, but not overly memorable and definitely not for the squeamish. 3/5
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| # ? Oct 14, 2011 10:05 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 20:20 |
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This is essentially the same movie as the 1982 Thing, only with better creature effects - which makes it a better movie overall, in my opinion. For me the biggest draws of the 1982 The Thing was the gruesome creature effects and the sense of unease and paranoia the alien creature creates among the survivors in a hostile polar environment - I could care less about what a badass Kurt Russel was. Similarly I don't really care about how the main protagonist of the 2011 movie compares to Russell - the actress does a good enough job without standing out as the next Ellen Ripley. Creature effects, gruesome deaths and pervading aura of dread are what make or break a movie like this, and the 2011 The Thing excels in all three. Unfortunately there is an extended scene towards the end that is your basic modern sci-fi blockbuster cliche, but thankfully it doesn't last too long. The final scenes of this film dovetail nicely with the start of the 1982 The Thing. Sure, there's nothing original here - this movie is a remake/prequel of 1982's The Thing which itself was a remake of a 1951 movie which got its story from a 1938 novella. It's familiar sci-fi/horror schlock, but it's well made schlock with some genuinely gruesome special effects that made me feel like a 14 year old playing Doom for the first time seeing a Cacodemon explode into a mess of brains and intestines. 4/5
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| # ? Nov 25, 2011 07:43 |
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I thought this was a serviceable prequel for the 1982 film. The acting was good, the characters didn't make a lot of really bad decisions, and the effects were really gruesome and creepy. I liked the nods to Carpenter's film, although at times they were a bit on-the-nose. The only thing that really bugged me about it was that after the creature had revealed itself in the human bodies, the human faces made angry expressions. I think a much scarier way to go about this would be to have the faces appear dead, not like they're suddenly super pissed off and in "I'M A MONSTER RAAARR" mode. Having a dead human face attached to a bizarre alien would be creepy as poo poo, and as it stands, it was a bit goofy looking. 4/5
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| # ? Dec 3, 2011 22:47 |
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I Really enjoyed the poo poo out of the movie. The story was good, acting was great, casting was great (go into that more later), and the effects was more than I expceted. There was really only two things I didn't like, I don't know if the Norwegian actors went off script, or the translators suck, but some of the Subtitles were wrong, Something I'm used to when watching Norwegian cinema, but those are fan sub's, this is a studio sub for an english audience as its primary target. So my best guess is that the Norwegians went off script a little, and the director had no idea what they were saying and assumed correct. Aside from that, the casting was great, having actual Norwegian actors playing norwegians, with dialects and everything was fantastic, Was kinda jarring to see Trond Espen Seim from the Varg Veum movies in another roll, was hard to break him out of that character in my mind but aside from my own stupid brain, casting was spot on! Asking most of my friends here in Norway if they enjoyed the movie, most said yes, but most never knew about the film, which is a shame, since it could have been marketed very easly to this audience. So the Marketing was a little off.. 4/5
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| # ? Dec 6, 2011 18:15 |
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An aggressively mediocre film about people-like creatures being killed by CGI while it's cold outside. The only reason this is getting good reviews is that it wasn't a giant turd. We're happy that we didn't see a giant turd. That's how low the bar has been set. 2.5/5
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| # ? Mar 19, 2012 16:29 |
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An OK movie, but it feels lesser than the Carpenter movie, mainly due to how the cast is handled. The actors themselves are fine but you never get the same sense of paranoia that the previous version. Everything after "the meeting" just went downhill for me and it became a stock monster flick. I realize the problem with my complaints are that if you listened to me, you'd get a very similar movie to the Carpenter version and they were probably trying to avoid that, so its a damned-do-damned-dont situation. I was entertained, but unlike that version, I feel no desire to watch this one again. 3/5
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| # ? Mar 27, 2012 01:56 |
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I'm a big fan of the original, and had heard mixed reviews about this, but I was pleasantly surprised and quite enjoyed it. I think one main problem with it is that they had to try to avoid being too similar to the original, even though the plot is effectively the same (bunch of scientists uncover alien, it gets out and infects people, paranoia and chaos ensue). What I didn't like was how the ending, to join it up with the Carpenter film, didn't seem to flow from the main story at all. Lars, the dog and the helicopter just all appeared from nowhere at the base at the same time, to set up the join with the original. Perhaps if they'd spent a bit more time showing Lars hunting the dog while the others were at the space-ship, it wouldn't have felt so bolted-on. That aside, it was interesting to have the backstory filled in (although it could be argued that there was no real need to do so anyway). 3/5
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| # ? Mar 30, 2012 16:37 |
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| # ? May 19, 2013 20:20 |
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THE GOOD The attention to detail given to the set design is impressive, with some very good performances. Casting is great. THE BAD Sterile effects lacked any real impact; the film tries but fails to create any paranoia, or much in the way of suspense. THE THING 2.5/5 wipeout fucked around with this message at May 27, 2012 around 20:34 |
| # ? May 27, 2012 19:48 |
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