The Cult Classic Quentin Tarantino Hailed as ‘1 of the Greatest Horror Movies Ever Made’

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John Carpenter’s The Thing was actually a reimagining of a 1951 film, which itself was based on the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. While the story has been adapted several times, most people agree that the 1982 version is the most successful. The Thing is famous for its groundbreaking practical effects, created by the incredibly talented prosthetic makeup artist Rob Bottin, who brought the film’s terrifying visuals to life. But the movie offered more than just impressive visuals.

John Carpenter’s collaboration with Kurt Russell reached its height with The Thing, solidifying Russell’s character, R.J. MacReady, as a classic. Even though MacReady remained calm and logical, he was completely unprepared for the physical and emotional chaos caused by the alien creature. Like Jaws, which built suspense by initially concealing the shark, The Thing keeps the monster’s true appearance hidden. Instead, Carpenter focused on the terrifying effects the creature had on people, creating a horror masterpiece that Quentin Tarantino has called one of the best ever made.

The Thing Eventually Earned Its Long-Overdue Acclaim

In the early 1980s, audiences weren’t used to the level of graphic violence we see in movies today. While films like Suspiria and Alien were starting to test limits, most viewers hadn’t become desensitized to extreme gore. That’s why, when The Thing was released, many critics immediately focused on what they saw as its over-the-top special effects. Newsweek even argued that the film prioritized gore over everything else, a sentiment shared by many reviewers at the time.

Despite receiving some praise for its innovative effects, most viewers and critics felt The Thing lacked a strong narrative core. John Carpenter, the director, was initially discouraged by the film’s negative reception. He noted it was disliked even by fans of science fiction, who often drew comparisons to popular films released around the same time, such as Blade Runner and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Lots of groundbreaking films have been dismissed and forgotten, but John Carpenter’s The Thing was an exception. Thanks to the growing popularity of VHS tapes in the 1980s, the film found a wide audience and developed a strong, dedicated fanbase. Though many cult favorites aren’t praised by critics, The Thing ultimately earned its place among the greatest movies ever made.

Today’s critics overwhelmingly consider The Thing a classic, believing it deserved far more praise than it initially received. Numerous publications have listed it among the best films ever made. While its Rotten Tomatoes score of 85% might seem modest, that’s largely due to older reviews that haven’t aged well. Critics who once dismissed the film as slow and poorly made have since revised their views, now recognizing it as a brilliantly crafted study of human paranoia and a truly terrifying, thought-provoking experience.

Although it took a while for The Thing to become a classic, director John Carpenter believes the timing of its release was the issue. The film’s dark and pessimistic tone likely didn’t resonate with audiences during the economic recession at the time. However, Carpenter feels The Thing will always be a cinematic masterpiece. Notably, director Quentin Tarantino has praised the film, calling it “one of the greatest horror movies ever made, if not one of the greatest movies ever made.”

Quentin Tarantino’s film The Hateful Eight clearly pays tribute to John Carpenter’s The Thing. He borrowed stylistic elements like editing, storytelling, and camera work, and even used unused music from Ennio Morricone’s original The Thing score. Interestingly, Tarantino has also said his first film, Reservoir Dogs, was inspired by The Thing‘s atmosphere of distrust and suspicion.

The Thing Remains a Horror Masterpiece Even Today

Much of what makes The Thing so highly regarded is its incredible practical effects. Before computer-generated imagery was common, Rob Bottin crafted the creature using real-world materials like wax, bubblegum, mayonnaise, Jell-O, and even creamed corn! This allowed him to physically build a truly terrifying monster.

Bodies contort and merge in horrifying ways – skin stretches, limbs twist together, and chests open into mouths filled with rib-like teeth. Heads dissolve into spider-like forms. Despite these gruesome transformations, which should be fatal, the creature known as the Thing keeps its victims alive. It’s unclear if the characters are truly dead, and the final, monstrous form was brought to life with an impressive 50-person puppet.

If viewers or critics didn’t grasp the extreme horror in The Thing, they should have paid attention to how the characters reacted. The most terrifying aspect of the creature was its ability to perfectly imitate people, causing the characters to fear and distrust each other as they struggled to survive and avoid becoming its next victims. This created intense conflict and paranoia among them.

Putting characters in a deeply hopeless situation revealed some of the worst parts of human nature, with a lack of trust being the biggest driver for staying alive. The fear of becoming “infected” caused society to fall apart, turning everyone into individuals focused only on their own survival. The Thing powerfully shows how easily civilization can crumble when faced with basic fears: fear of those who are different, hidden dangers, and even betrayal. The movie expertly highlights just how fragile the line between order and chaos really is.

I’ve always been struck by how quickly desperation changes people in that movie. It doesn’t matter if you’re a brilliant scientist or just someone who knows how to fix things – that feeling just eats away at you, kind of like how the Thing physically transforms people. As things got worse, everyone started to turn on each other, and even MacReady, despite trying to do the right thing, couldn’t bring them back together. In a way, the Thing won because it completely destroyed any sense of trust and cooperation, leaving everyone broken.

As a huge fan of “The Thing,” that ending always gets to me. MacReady and Childs, clearly still suspecting each other of being the creature, just…accept their fate in the freezing Antarctic cold. It’s not a hopeful moment, though. Their final shared drink isn’t about friendship; it’s a sad acknowledgement that nothing really matters anymore. The Thing didn’t even have to kill them to win. It achieved its goal by destroying their trust in each other, and honestly, that’s a far more terrifying way to take down humanity. It’s a bleak but brilliant finish.

The Thing’s Legacy Made it a Landmark in the Horror Genre

The question of who—or what—the Thing really is has been debated by fans for years. Many believe Childs was the creature, but apparent inconsistencies in the film—like the lack of visible breath or eye reflection—were actually due to limitations with the special effects. While director John Carpenter admits either character could have been the Thing, Kurt Russell feels fans are overthinking the scene. Carpenter insists the important part is the intense distrust between the final two survivors, though he playfully hints he knows the truth. Interestingly, the 2002 video game based on The Thing offers a potential answer. Whether this answer is official depends on Carpenter’s approval, but it does resolve some lingering mysteries.

This movie is a landmark achievement in filmmaking and has become a lasting part of popular culture. You can see its influence everywhere – in movies, video games, and TV shows like Stranger Things, The Mist, Resident Evil 4, Futurama, and even The X-Files. There was even a playful nod to it in a Pingu episode, which director John Carpenter himself enjoyed! Beyond Quentin Tarantino, many other filmmakers – including J.J. Abrams, Rob Hardy, Neil Blomkamp, and Guillermo del Toro – have spoken about how much The Thing impacted their work. Forty-three years after its release, it still manages to shock and impress audiences. Just like the creature in the film, presumably still frozen in Antarctica, The Thing’s legacy will never die.

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2025-11-09 03:38