The Thing

So I went and saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes today (which I enjoyed) and with it was a preview for The Thing. At first I thought it was a simple remake of the 1982 'remake'. Then I realized that it was a prequel and dealt with the Norwegian camp. I'm actually looking forward to seeing this as I'm interested in several things.

Like how they are going to deal with the dog getting to the American camp, and a few other aspects. Anyone else have any thoughts or suppositions?

 

Turns out the 1982 thing was a remake as well.

They need to explain Kurt Russell's epic beard.

I'm excited to see this because I want to know if Hollywood is capable of producing CGI monsters as creepy-good as the old puppet ones.

John Carpenter's horror movies have a special place in my heart. I've got all of them on DVD (several duplicates due to boxed sets).

 

There is no way that CGI will ever recreate what Bottin put his life into, literally making himself sick with the amount of time he spent on the effects and lack of sleep. It was only after his breakdown that Baker took over, and of course, he's an fx genius. Hollywood just doesn't have the creative capacity to make interesting creature features anymore. Hell, I don't think Carpenter has that capacity anymore, looking at some of the stuff he has done lately. But my favorite flic is still Big Trouble In Little China, so I can't complain too much about him.

 

Big Trouble in Little China is awesome, but one can only imagine how bad it would be if it had been done with CGI with George Lucas at the helm...

 

Big Trouble in Little China is a great film. It's all about the monster that climbs up from under the semi rig at the end. Plus a young Kim Cattrall? Yes please!

That said I knew the 1982 version was a remake. I need to actually see the original, but it's from the 50's so I'm torn. I'm cautiously optimistic that this prequel will be at least entertaining. Sure the effects will by no means measure up to the 82 version, but then it's not the same film either.

 

I did not realize it was a prequel. I am pretty jaded, but that scared the mess out of me.

 

Even with word "prequel" in mind, the thought still scares me. I like both the original and the '82 remake but have a hard time picturing either the story or the effects done properly on this one.

 

I love John Carpenter's remake. When I first saw it, it kind of changed the way I thought about film. It was such a sparse and moody film. It was all about the characters, even though it had special effects, they didn't get in the way. The music was minimal and completely effective. It scared the crap out of me.

That, and it had Kurt Russel, who, until that time, I'd only seen in Disney films. And he was awesome.

I only hope the new prequel doesn't end up being an over-produced hunk of crap. That said, I am cautiously optimistic.

 

That's my fear. They are going to try and make it more exciting and "in your face" because today's audience has a shorter attention span. It could be really good, it could also be really bad. We'll know in a few months.

 

I started watching the 1982 remake on Netflix to refresh my memory and I would love to see a properly done story (as in minimal but powerful effects, sparse music - what you see in the last one) showing the Norwegian base and the eventual path to destruction those 10 men there have.
and Kurt Russell's hair is truly one of the stars of the film by itself.

 

This could be the best horror movie in years if they keep it in line with the '82 remake. Or, it could be a total dud. Either way, I'm looking forward to finding out.