This movie is my favorite horror film. My dad introduced it to me when I went through this major horror phase in high school and it STILL manages to scare the shit out of me. The blood test scene is horrifying and hilarious.
Horrifying and hilarious is the perfect way to describe it. At the one hand, HOLY SHIT TENTACLES AND BLOOD AND OMFG. On the other hand, the guys still tied to the couch are losing their shit in an understandable but ridiculous way.
It's easily one of my favourite horror films of all time, oh yes.
The Thing is AMAZING. I remember seeing the original first-- mom and dad did not even watch this one after I went to bed because they realized my habit of creeping around and watching 'their' movies from doorways-- and the scene where they all try to figure out what's under the ice and move to make an outline and the moment they realize they're standing in a perfect circle? LOVE. That was what got me interested in seeing the remake.
And sometimes remakes are severely disappointing, but ohhh, this one. The amped-up paranoia is just wonderful and creepy and I so need to watch this again.
Second of all, I've only seen it once, it was about two years ago, but I don't remember any gore at all.
I mean, for a film I've seen once, the powerful chord it struck with me was "UNNERVING. PARANOIA. ISOLATION. UNCERTAINTY." I remember being in a constant state of suspense over who was human and who wasn't. I felt like I was holding my breath for the entire film.
I honest to god don't remember any gore.
I mean, I know it's there, but it was SO not what I was paying attention to. How genius, that there is a horror thing out there that takes the shape as anything alive it comes in contact with. You never know... you just never know who's real and who isn't.
In reading your review - which is totally awesome, btw - I was reading it going, "was it really that gory?"
I remember it being creepy. Holy batshit insane creepy. And I loooooooooooooooooooooove creepy. I will always prefer creepy over gory.
Now I want to watch it again and write about the suspense!!!
YES YES YES to the paranoia and constant state of suspense. It's totally a breath-stealing film.
I find it interesting that you don't remember any of the gore, though. Maybe this is one of those films that show exactly how people are wired -- some people focus solely on the body horror and gore, while others pay attention more to the unease and tension. The violent horror was what I most remember from my first viewings, though as I've gotten older I've been more disturbed by the paranoia element.
I would LOVE to read your take on this film in your own review! You should go for it!
apropo icon?siochembioOctober 2 2011, 15:58:59 UTC
I have a strong feeling that the reason we read it differently is because of the ages at which we first watched it. 30 vs 10. If I had seen this film as a kid, the only thing that would have been imprinted on my mind would be "scary ass special effects run and hide!"
But I DIDN'T see it as a kid. I saw it when I was thirty. So I'm not really focusing on the gore, or shocked by it, per se. If the amount of gore/violence in a film is within my "reasonable limits" (re: not torture porn), then I'm okay with it and it's unlikely to make too much of an impression on me.
All the better to focus on the atmosphere!
I remember watching Star Wars when I was 6. Well, no, I remember ONE PART of watching Star Wars when I was six, and that is the trash compactor scene and the monster under the water. That scene scared the crap out of me and I didn't watch Star Wars again for another 8 years because I was too frightened. I honest to god have no other early memories of that film because that ONE SCENE was so scary for me
( ... )
OH MANNNN, I remember being freaked the hell out by that scene as a child, too! Any time you can't see the creature is always fifty times worse than actually seeing what it is -- your imagination can always concur something far scarier than anything they could put on screen.
...Though The Thing itself is something even I would be hard put to create in my worst nightmares...
Have you gotten a chance to watch the director's commentary with Carpenter and Russell? They tell some great anecdotes. They also have some really smart, funny and insightful conversations, and you can tell they're having a lot of fun as they discuss the movie, so it's pretty entertaining. So many of the director's commentaries I've seen involve the director droning on and on about difficult camera shots, or problems with lighting or weather - stuff in which I'm not remotely interested. Carpenter and Russell talk about the emerging AIDS epidemic in relation to the blood testing scene, the morality of destroying an alien that is just doing what it takes to survive - fantastic stuff.
Sadly, the last two times I've watched this was via Netflix's streamingn - thus, no commentary. I need to just finally bite the bullet and buy the DVD, because it's certainly one I need and will watch a billion times, but my poverty continues to thwart me.
The scene with the shock paddles scared the crap out of me because it was so totally unexpected, and then... there was ol' spider-head. Again, this was something completely unexpected, and the overall sense of paranoia really enhanced the "shock value" of the entire movie.
Horrifying and hilarious at the same time, and that's a rare achievement in itself.
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It's easily one of my favourite horror films of all time, oh yes.
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And sometimes remakes are severely disappointing, but ohhh, this one. The amped-up paranoia is just wonderful and creepy and I so need to watch this again.
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Second of all, I've only seen it once, it was about two years ago, but I don't remember any gore at all.
I mean, for a film I've seen once, the powerful chord it struck with me was "UNNERVING. PARANOIA. ISOLATION. UNCERTAINTY." I remember being in a constant state of suspense over who was human and who wasn't. I felt like I was holding my breath for the entire film.
I honest to god don't remember any gore.
I mean, I know it's there, but it was SO not what I was paying attention to. How genius, that there is a horror thing out there that takes the shape as anything alive it comes in contact with. You never know... you just never know who's real and who isn't.
In reading your review - which is totally awesome, btw - I was reading it going, "was it really that gory?"
I remember it being creepy. Holy batshit insane creepy. And I loooooooooooooooooooooove creepy. I will always prefer creepy over gory.
Now I want to watch it again and write about the suspense!!!
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I find it interesting that you don't remember any of the gore, though. Maybe this is one of those films that show exactly how people are wired -- some people focus solely on the body horror and gore, while others pay attention more to the unease and tension. The violent horror was what I most remember from my first viewings, though as I've gotten older I've been more disturbed by the paranoia element.
I would LOVE to read your take on this film in your own review! You should go for it!
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But I DIDN'T see it as a kid. I saw it when I was thirty. So I'm not really focusing on the gore, or shocked by it, per se. If the amount of gore/violence in a film is within my "reasonable limits" (re: not torture porn), then I'm okay with it and it's unlikely to make too much of an impression on me.
All the better to focus on the atmosphere!
I remember watching Star Wars when I was 6. Well, no, I remember ONE PART of watching Star Wars when I was six, and that is the trash compactor scene and the monster under the water. That scene scared the crap out of me and I didn't watch Star Wars again for another 8 years because I was too frightened. I honest to god have no other early memories of that film because that ONE SCENE was so scary for me ( ... )
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...Though The Thing itself is something even I would be hard put to create in my worst nightmares...
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Sadly, the last two times I've watched this was via Netflix's streamingn - thus, no commentary. I need to just finally bite the bullet and buy the DVD, because it's certainly one I need and will watch a billion times, but my poverty continues to thwart me.
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Horrifying and hilarious at the same time, and that's a rare achievement in itself.
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