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Someone in editing has a hate-on for the original film. They need to take it to that film\'s page.
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* ConspicuousCG: All over the place, but given that practical effects can't really pull off what the Thing is supposed to be, it's hard to deny why.
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***...assuming that's its original form.
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Although it used a lot of animatronics and other practical effects, nearly all of them are overlaid or enhanced with CGI, making it seem at times that the movie uses no practical effects at all. The two-face Thing is a great example of this, as it was a fullty-working animatronic, even when it "absorbed" someone else.
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Although it used a lot of animatronics and other practical effects, nearly all of them are overlaid or enhanced with CGI, making it seem at times that the movie uses no practical effects at all. The two-face Thing is a great example of this, as it was a fullty-working fully-working animatronic, even when it "absorbed" someone else.
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* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: While the Thing is prevented from escaping in its UFO, everyone but Kate and Lars is dead. Kate's nowhere to be found when help arrives at last, and Lars goes after the last Thing (in the form of a husky). If you've seen the original film, you know what happens to him]].
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* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: While the Thing is prevented from escaping in its UFO, everyone but Kate and Lars is are dead. Kate's nowhere to be found when help arrives at last, and Lars goes after the last Thing (in the form of a husky). If you've seen the original film, you know what happens to him]].him - and it fails to prevent the deaths at the American base]].
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* RedHerring: Just like in the original film, [[spoiler: none of the characters seemingly set up to be the Thing actually turn out to be the Thing.]]
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* RedHerring: Just like in the original film, [[spoiler: none of the characters seemingly set up to be the Thing actually turn out to be the Thing. In fact, before the final rampage only a couple of the base personnel were actually the Thing.]]
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* StarFishAliens: [[spoiler: In the "pilot version" of the movie, where we do get to see the alien pilot of The Thing's ship, which is probably one of the most creative sophont alien designs ever put on film.]]
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Moved to the Trivia tab.
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* ExecutiveMeddling: A lot of the film's runtime was cut in favor of the action scenes. The animatronics for the film were also ditched for CGI.
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* ConspicuousCG: All over the place, but given that practical effects can't really pull off what the Thing is supposed to be, it's hard to deny why.
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* StockSoundEffects: That otherworldly distress signal is the same one sent by the Icarus I in ''Film/{{Sunshine}}''.
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_thing_prequel_8369.jpg]]
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----
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Although it used a lot of animatronics and other practical effects, nearly all of them are overlaid or enhanced with CGI, making it seem at times that the movie uses no practical effects at all. The two-face Thing is a great example of this, as it was a fullty-working animatronic, even when it "absorbed" someone else.
to:
* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Although it used a lot of animatronics and other practical effects, nearly all of them are overlaid or enhanced with CGI, making it seem at times that the movie uses no practical effects at all. The two-face Thing is a great example of this, as it was a fullty-working animatronic, even when it "absorbed" someone else.
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized.
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily Although it used this time around, with relatively few instances a lot of puppets or animatronics and other practical effects, nearly all of them are overlaid or enhanced with CGI, making it seem at times that the movie uses no practical effects being utilized.at all. The two-face Thing is a great example of this, as it was a fullty-working animatronic, even when it "absorbed" someone else.
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* RecycledTitle: In spite of being a prequel and not a remake, the film has the exact same name as the original.
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* GratuitousFrench: A rather "suprenant exemple". The first shots show Olav trying to get a clear signal with a kind of sonar. We can see the sonar has English entries written on it, [[TooLongDidntDub despite being used by a Norwegian]]. But for no reason, you can also read "[[Technobabble Sensitivité plus grand que 2 mV]]". [[BlindIdiotTranslation Sadly]], the sensitivity is "plus grandE que" 2 mV.
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* GratuitousFrench: A rather "suprenant exemple". The first shots show Olav trying to get a clear signal with a kind of sonar. We can see the sonar has English entries written on it, [[TooLongDidntDub despite being used by a Norwegian]]. Norwegians]]. But for no reason, you can also read "[[Technobabble Sensitivité "Sensitivité plus grand que 2 mV]]". mV". [[BlindIdiotTranslation Sadly]], the sensitivity is "plus grandE grand''e'' que" 2 mV.
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* GratuitousFrench: A rather "suprenant exemple". The first shots show Olav trying to get a clear signal with a kind of sonar. We can see the sonar has English entries written on it, [[TooLongDidntDub despite being used by a Norwegian]]. But for no reason, you can also read "[[Technobabble Sensitivité plus grand que 2 mV]]". [[BlindIdiotTranslation Sadly]], the sensitivity is "plus grandE que" 2 mV.
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* ForegoneConclusion: Being a prequel, the ending leads to the first scene of the 1982 film.
* NamesTheSame: In spite of being a prequel and not a remake, the film has the exact same name as the original.
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* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: In spite of being a prequel and not a remake, the film has the exact same name as the original.
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* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (Film/TheThing1982 runs for 104 minutes, TheThing2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
to:
* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (Film/TheThing1982 ([[Film/TheThing1982 The original]] runs for 104 minutes, TheThing2011 this one runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
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YMMV
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* ExecutiveMeddling: A lot of the film's runtime was cut in favor of the action scenes. The animatronics for the film were also ditched for CGI. Again, the ditching of practical effects were justified by the practical effects not really being able to do what the Thing is supposed to be able to do.
to:
* ExecutiveMeddling: A lot of the film's runtime was cut in favor of the action scenes. The animatronics for the film were also ditched for CGI. Again, the ditching of practical effects were justified by the practical effects not really being able to do what the Thing is supposed to be able to do.
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* SoOkayItsAverage: Bordering on IronicEcho, both this film and the original film didn't do very well at the box office. One article did the math, explaining that the amount of tickets sold to the new film were ''nearly identical'' to the number sold for the 82 film.
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YMMV
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized. Justified, as the Thing is supposed to be a chaotic, dynamically-shapeshifting creature. [[TechnologyMarchesOn They couldn't pull that off in 82]].
to:
* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized. Justified, as the Thing is supposed to be a chaotic, dynamically-shapeshifting creature. [[TechnologyMarchesOn They couldn't pull that off in 82]].
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* SoOkayItsAverage: Bordering on IronicEcho, both this film and the original film didn't do very well at the box office. One article did the math, explaining that the amount of tickets sold to the new film were ''nearly identical'' to the number sold for the 82 film.
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Moving Conspicuous CG to YMMV, and added a few lines to point out that the CGI was required for the film to actually show what a Thing can do, Since they couldn\'t in 82.
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* ConspicuousCG: All over the place, which is a real shame since the animatronics the CG painted over were great on their own.
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* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized.
to:
* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized. Justified, as the Thing is supposed to be a chaotic, dynamically-shapeshifting creature. [[TechnologyMarchesOn They couldn't pull that off in 82]].
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* ExecutiveMeddling: A lot of the film's runtime was cut in favor of the action scenes. The animatronics for the film were also ditched for CGI.
to:
* ExecutiveMeddling: A lot of the film's runtime was cut in favor of the action scenes. The animatronics for the film were also ditched for CGI. Again, the ditching of practical effects were justified by the practical effects not really being able to do what the Thing is supposed to be able to do.
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* PreviewsPulse: * [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OpwEu7luk This trailer has two different ones]], a low one for suspense and a loud one for attack.
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* PreviewsPulse: * [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OpwEu7luk This trailer has two different ones]], a low one for suspense and a loud one for attack.
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* PreviewsPulse: * [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OpwEu7luk This trailer has two different ones]], a low one for suspense and a loud one for attack.
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** The script reveals that [[spoiler: Kate will freeze to death]].
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** [[spoiler: Collin committing suicide to avoid being taken over by a Thing after one corners him was filmed but deleted, so we only see a quick glimpse of his frozen corpse during the end credits with no explanation of how or why it happened.]]
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** Alternatively, it might have been real and everything that followed was caused by temporary lack of central control due to shock.
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* RetCon: What the UFO looked like and its condition at the end of the film, the manner of [[spoiler: the Split-face Thing's death]], and of course the original number of people at Thule station.
** Not quite. In the 1982 film it's stated there were ten people at Thule. There are in fact exactly ten people actually ''stationed'' at the camp- the other five- Kate, Carter, Jameson, Griggs, Finch, and Sander were all visiting and were brought in specifically because of the discovery. Given that there isn't a huge gap in between the two films (a couple days at most), the records just haven't been updated yet.
** Not quite. In the 1982 film it's stated there were ten people at Thule. There are in fact exactly ten people actually ''stationed'' at the camp- the other five- Kate, Carter, Jameson, Griggs, Finch, and Sander were all visiting and were brought in specifically because of the discovery. Given that there isn't a huge gap in between the two films (a couple days at most), the records just haven't been updated yet.
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* RetCon: What the UFO looked like and its condition at the end of the film, the film. The manner of [[spoiler: the Split-face Thing's death]], and of course the original number of people at Thule station.
** Not quite. In the 1982 film it's stated there were ten people at Thule. There are in fact exactly ten people actually ''stationed'' at the camp- the other five- Kate, Carter, Jameson, Griggs, Finch, and Sander were all visiting and were brought in specifically because of the discovery. Given that there isn't a huge gap in between the two films (a couple days at most), the records just haven't been updated yet.death]].
** Not quite. In the 1982 film it's stated there were ten people at Thule. There are in fact exactly ten people actually ''stationed'' at the camp- the other five- Kate, Carter, Jameson, Griggs, Finch, and Sander were all visiting and were brought in specifically because of the discovery. Given that there isn't a huge gap in between the two films (a couple days at most), the records just haven't been updated yet.
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natter, ymmv
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* ExecutiveMeddling: According to screenwriter Eric Heisserer, the studio wanted a "leaner and meaner" film. The result was that the film has been gutted of most tension-building or exposition scenes, leaving just the straight-up violence with the monster. Worse, they built very expensive animatronics for the alien which look genuinely horrifying, but the final version of the movie switched to CGI effects to make the alien's attacks faster. The CGI is okay, but its truly shocking when you see the level of detail that went into these animatronics. Further, we can tell from various cast and crew interviews that ''a lot'' of the movie's runtime was cut to focus on the action scenes and for pacing.
** TropesAreNotBad, though; on reflection, the movie makes a lot more sense as a more action-orientated film; having been the ones who dug the first Thing up in ice at the first place, the Norwegians would naturally realise it was alive the moment it escaped, so it would have had to be more direct anyway. It didn't have the chance to do things subtly, so it would have had to be blunter.
** TropesAreNotBad, though; on reflection, the movie makes a lot more sense as a more action-orientated film; having been the ones who dug the first Thing up in ice at the first place, the Norwegians would naturally realise it was alive the moment it escaped, so it would have had to be more direct anyway. It didn't have the chance to do things subtly, so it would have had to be blunter.
to:
* ExecutiveMeddling: According to screenwriter Eric Heisserer, A lot of the studio wanted a "leaner and meaner" film. film's runtime was cut in favor of the action scenes. The result was that the film has been gutted of most tension-building or exposition scenes, leaving just the straight-up violence with the monster. Worse, they built very expensive animatronics for the alien which look genuinely horrifying, but the final version of the movie switched to CGI effects to make the alien's attacks faster. The CGI is okay, but its truly shocking when you see the level of detail that went into these animatronics. Further, we can tell from various cast and crew interviews that ''a lot'' of the movie's runtime was cut to focus on the action scenes and film were also ditched for pacing.
** TropesAreNotBad, though; on reflection, the movie makes a lot more sense as a more action-orientated film; having been the ones who dug the first Thing up in ice at the first place, the Norwegians would naturally realise it was alive the moment it escaped, so it would have had to be more direct anyway. It didn't have the chance to do things subtly, so it would have had to be blunter.CGI.
** TropesAreNotBad, though; on reflection, the movie makes a lot more sense as a more action-orientated film; having been the ones who dug the first Thing up in ice at the first place, the Norwegians would naturally realise it was alive the moment it escaped, so it would have had to be more direct anyway. It didn't have the chance to do things subtly, so it would have had to be blunter.
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* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (TheThing1982 runs for 104 minutes, TheThing2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
to:
* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (TheThing1982 (Film/TheThing1982 runs for 104 minutes, TheThing2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
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* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (The Thing 1982 runs for 104 minutes, The Thing 2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
to:
* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (The Thing 1982 (TheThing1982 runs for 104 minutes, The Thing 2011 TheThing2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
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** Who ended up being the suicide victim found with his throat and wrists cut.
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** Who ended up being the suicide victim found with his throat and wrists wrist cut.
** TropesAreNotBad, though; on reflection, the movie makes a lot more sense as a more action-orientated film; having been the ones who dug the first Thing up in ice at the first place, the Norwegians would naturally realise it was alive the moment it escaped, so it would have had to be more direct anyway. It didn't have the chance to do things subtly, so it would have had to be blunter.
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:We don't have any clue what Kate will do at the end of the film. We ''do'', however, find out that Lars and the Huskey-Thing were simply hiding while the climax took place.]]
** Actually we ''do'' know [[spoiler: what will Kate do: freeze to death.]]
*** [[spoiler: How do we know that? She's last seen getting into the other snowcat and driving off, presumably to the "Russian Station 50 miles from here". Is there WordOfGod that she never made it?]]
** [[spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealed during credits scene.]]
** Actually we ''do'' know [[spoiler: what will Kate do: freeze to death.]]
*** [[spoiler: How do we know that? She's last seen getting into the other snowcat and driving off, presumably to the "Russian Station 50 miles from here". Is there WordOfGod that she never made it?]]
** [[spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealed during credits scene.]]
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:We don't have any clue what happened to Kate will do at the end of the film.film, whether she made it to the Russian station or ended up freezing to death in the attempt. We ''do'', however, find out that Lars and the Huskey-Thing were simply hiding while the climax took place.]]
** Actually we ''do'' know [[spoiler: what will Kate do: freeze to death.]]
*** [[spoiler: How do we know that? She's last seen getting into the other snowcat and driving off, presumably to the "Russian Station 50 miles from here". Is there WordOfGod that she never made it?]]
** [[spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut Collin committing suicide to avoid being taken over by a Thing after one corners him was filmed but deleted, so we only see a quick glimpse of his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealedfrozen corpse during the end credits scene.with no explanation of how or why it happened.]]
*** [[spoiler: How do we know that? She's last seen getting into the other snowcat and driving off, presumably to the "Russian Station 50 miles from here". Is there WordOfGod that she never made it?]]
** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealed
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->''It's not human. Yet.''
'''''The Thing''''' is a horror film from 2011, starring MaryElizabethWinstead.
This film is a {{prequel}} to Creator/JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing1982'', which focuses on the Norwegian camp that discovered the shapeshifting alien creature first.
Like the other movie, a house based on the film was featured in the HalloweenHorrorNights of 2011.
!!This prequel provides examples of:
* AcousticLicense: Averted during the helicopter ride at the beginning. Carter, one of the pilots, waves at passenger Kate to put on the headset next to her so that they can talk clearly.
* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (The Thing 1982 runs for 104 minutes, The Thing 2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
* {{Badass}}: Lars, who seemingly out of nowhere appears with a flamethrower when a Thing attack occurs. Kate also applies, who by the third act is even referred to as "The Boss."
* BadassAdorable: Kate, intelligence and bravery aside, has been described by a review as "looking like a cute teenager trying to buy booze with a fake ID rather than an actual adult."
* BellyMouth: the Thing loves to pop out of the chest and turn the ribs into teeth.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: {{Subverted}}. The resident black guy is [[spoiler:directly set-up as The Thing's first victim, but it completely ignores him after breaking free. He later survives a seemingly fatal helicopter crash, and ultimately doesn't end up dying until the mid-point[=/=]climax of the movie where ''all'' the secondary characters get slaughtered]].
* BodyHorror: Due to CGI, there's a LOT more gore, tentacles, fangs, teeth, and bodies splitting apart then in the original. The [[spoiler: two-face thing]] is the embodiment of this trope.
* ChekhovsGun: It's discovered early on that the Thing cannot duplicate inorganic material, such as metal. This comes back when Kate [[spoiler: checks people's mouths to see if they have dental implants or not]]. It's also used to reveal that [[spoiler: Carter is a Thing at the very end of the film, due to his missing earring]].
* ChekhovMIA: [[spoiler: The husky. It appears he's dead at the beginning of the movie, but then we see him running during the credits, trailed by Lars]].
* CombatTentacles: Used by the Thing to kill or wound several people, usually as a prelude to assimilating the surviving biomass when it has time.
* ConspicuousCG: All over the place, which is a real shame since the animatronics the CG painted over were great on their own.
* ContinuityNod: Being a prequel, this is to be expected. Among them are:
** The fire-axe, and how it got stuck in the door.
** The UFO, discovered in a massive chamber underneath the ice.
** The two face-thing, and how it eventually appeared in its melted state.
** The block of ice, and what it looked like before it was found by [=MacReady=].
** Who ended up being the suicide victim found with his throat and wrists cut.
** [[spoiler:Those flamethrowers they give the Antarctic teams sure do have a bad habit of failing at critical moments]].
** Lars is the only one of the Norwegians who can't speak English and knows where the grenades are. Sure enough, [[spoiler:it's him at the beginning of the original film who shouts useless warnings in Norwegian at the Americans and tries to toss a grenade at the Thing]].
** Things love the chest-mouth thing they pulled on [[spoiler: Norris]].
** Also comparing stored blood with blood samples taken from everyone. [[spoiler:In the prequel the Thing hastily burns the lab -- whereas the Thing at Outpost 31, knowing in advance that this test will likely be used on it, has the time to destroy the stored blood in a way that implicates the camp leader.]]
** There is also a combination ChekhovsGun ContinuityNod, because [[spoiler:at the end of the 1982 film, Childs still has his earring]].
* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized.
* ACrackInTheIce: The movie opens with the Norwegians in a snowcat homing in on a Distress Signal. [[spoiler:They discover where it's coming from when the ground opens beneath them and they become wedged in a crevasse with their headlights shining down on a FlyingSaucer.]]
* DistressSignal: How the Norwegians find the FlyingSaucer. The signal sounds even more creepy and otherworldly than the signal in ''{{Film/Alien}}''.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: While the Thing is prevented from escaping in its UFO, everyone but Kate and Lars is dead. Kate's nowhere to be found when help arrives at last, and Lars goes after the last Thing (in the form of a husky). If you've seen the original film, you know what happens to him]].
* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler: With the possible exception of Kate, who may have driven to the Russian station 50 miles away instead of coming back to what she believed was an empty camp, everyone is obviously going to die either before the movie begins or at the start of the next movie (Lars and his pilot).]]
* ExecutiveMeddling: According to screenwriter Eric Heisserer, the studio wanted a "leaner and meaner" film. The result was that the film has been gutted of most tension-building or exposition scenes, leaving just the straight-up violence with the monster. Worse, they built very expensive animatronics for the alien which look genuinely horrifying, but the final version of the movie switched to CGI effects to make the alien's attacks faster. The CGI is okay, but its truly shocking when you see the level of detail that went into these animatronics. Further, we can tell from various cast and crew interviews that ''a lot'' of the movie's runtime was cut to focus on the action scenes and for pacing.
* {{Expositron 9000}}: The base computer, during the explanation of The Thing's infection and replication mechanism.
* FateWorseThanDeath: When the Thing assimilates some of its victims via direct contact, they're aware of what's happening, and are clearly in great pain during the process. [[spoiler: One of them, with a Thing lodged in his mouth, silently begs Kate to kill him]]. Another [[spoiler: is practically melted into one of the things, then dragged off before we see the process completed, leading it to become the Two-Body Thing brought back from the Norwegian camp in the original]].
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: The Thing becomes progressively more intelligent after each of its encounters. After being burned under the shed, it learns to try and isolate the cast members one by one. When's it's overpowered anyway, it starts trying to sow dissent amongst the group. In addition, it shows that it's perfectly willing to sacrifice parts of itself in order to take the pressure off it. Finally, it keeps its dog form in hiding in case all of its other forms are killed.]]
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Kate and Carter have stopped the Thing from escaping, head back to the snowmobile, and are going to head for a Russian research station about fifty miles away. Then Kate notices that Sam is missing his earring...]]
* ImpostorExposingTest: It's theorized that Thing blood will react when exposed to human blood, so a test is quickly created in order to see who's human or not. [[spoiler: The Thing then sets fire to the lab, destroying the test, and forcing the humans to use a more primitive method of seeing who has dental implants or not]].
* IdiotBall: [[spoiler: The Thing, after it exposes itself, can't help but to assimilate anything in its path, even when it puts it in danger. For example the Juliette-Thing stops to assimilate Karl, leaving it exposed in the hallway. Also the Carter-Thing could have easily killed Kate and simply drove to the Camp by itself, but doesn't in the interest of preserving its cover, despite Kate being clearly suspicious. Kate herself makes some bad judgement calls like ordering everyone to split up despite not being enough weapons to go around.]]
* ItCanThink: [[spoiler:The Thing cleans up one of its murder scenes, attempts to extinguish a fire (though this may be pure luck on the Thing's part), leads Kate into a trap, and finally briefly manages to power up the ship]].
* ItWasThereISwear: Kate realises the Thing has assimilated a human [[spoiler:when she finds blood in the shower. When she goes back after the helicopter crash, the shower stall has been cleaned up. While this removes the evidence, it also tells Kate that the Thing is still among them, and wasn't just on the helicopter.]]
* JerkAss: Dr. Sander Halvorson
* JumpScare: A cheap "Boo!" scare which makes the one directly following much more unexpected.
* LetsSplitUpGang: After the Thing is fully revealed and everyone believes Kate, the expedition still ends up splitting into teams of two even after it's been made abundantly clear this is a terrible idea. It turns out that [[spoiler: ultimately nothing bad comes of this tactic, but it was still rather careless on their part.]]
* LoadBearingBoss: The flying saucer's power system shuts down after both its control system and the Thing is destroyed.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: If the American pilots hadn't escaped, overpowered Lars and taken over the base, the Thing probably wouldn't have had the necessary chaos to continue its spree.]]
* NotHisSled: [[spoiler:The director stated there was originally a shot of a laboratory on the ship, which would have proven that the Thing is a different species than the creatures who made the ship. The original film shows that the Thing is perfectly capable of building its own ship, however.]]
* NothingIsScarier: The Thing's original form is vaguely insectoid, but we never get a very good look at it.
* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: In spite of being a prequel and not a remake, the film has the exact same name as the original.
* {{Prequel}}: It starts three days before the events in Carpenter's film, and ends with [[spoiler: everyone but Lars and Kate dead, and the Thing, in the shape of a husky, running across the snow, where it will eventually reach Outpost 31, and Lars will be killed]].
* RetCon: What the UFO looked like and its condition at the end of the film, the manner of [[spoiler: the Split-face Thing's death]], and of course the original number of people at Thule station.
** Not quite. In the 1982 film it's stated there were ten people at Thule. There are in fact exactly ten people actually ''stationed'' at the camp- the other five- Kate, Carter, Jameson, Griggs, Finch, and Sander were all visiting and were brought in specifically because of the discovery. Given that there isn't a huge gap in between the two films (a couple days at most), the records just haven't been updated yet.
* RedHerring: Just like in the original film, [[spoiler: none of the characters seemingly set up to be the Thing actually turn out to be the Thing.]]
* TheUnreveal:
** While a shape can be seen inside the block of ice, we never see exactly what the thing looks like inside. What few glimpses we do get suggest that it looks like [[spoiler: a massive, tentacled, multi-limbed insect of some kind]].
** Some fans theorized that the film would explain what the Thing was doing in the UFO. [[spoiler:While we do see inside the UFO, we never get a clear answer as to what its relationship is toward the Thing. Director van Heijningen originally intended to show that the Thing was an alien sample collected by the UFO's pilots that broke free, but the subplot was cut for pacing issues]].
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Most if not all of the trailers for the prequel have footage that clearly shows that [[spoiler: Griggs, Juliette, and Edvard are all assimilated and replaced by the Thing during the film.]] This is particularly egregious as it turns out they were the ''only'' characters that were secretly assimilated by the Thing. Also, recent television spots very briefly show [[spoiler: Carter being lit on fire by Kate in the snowmobile at the ending of the movie.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:We don't have any clue what Kate will do at the end of the film. We ''do'', however, find out that Lars and the Huskey-Thing were simply hiding while the climax took place.]]
** Actually we ''do'' know [[spoiler: what will Kate do: freeze to death.]]
*** [[spoiler: How do we know that? She's last seen getting into the other snowcat and driving off, presumably to the "Russian Station 50 miles from here". Is there WordOfGod that she never made it?]]
** [[spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealed during credits scene.]]
* WoundedGazelleGambit: [[spoiler: Edvard acts dazed and stunned by the Flamethrower explosion in order to get closer to two of the station workers.]]
** Alternatively, it might have been real and everything that followed was caused by temporary lack of central control due to shock.
----
'''''The Thing''''' is a horror film from 2011, starring MaryElizabethWinstead.
This film is a {{prequel}} to Creator/JohnCarpenter's ''Film/TheThing1982'', which focuses on the Norwegian camp that discovered the shapeshifting alien creature first.
Like the other movie, a house based on the film was featured in the HalloweenHorrorNights of 2011.
!!This prequel provides examples of:
* AcousticLicense: Averted during the helicopter ride at the beginning. Carter, one of the pilots, waves at passenger Kate to put on the headset next to her so that they can talk clearly.
* ActionizedSequel: Well, technically an Actionized {{Prequel}}, but the principal's the same. Though there's only 5 minutes of difference in run time between them (The Thing 1982 runs for 104 minutes, The Thing 2011 runs for 99 minutes), this film has a lot more outright combat and man vs. monster scenes than the more psychological "sequel". A lot of that is due to ExecutiveMeddling, though.
* {{Badass}}: Lars, who seemingly out of nowhere appears with a flamethrower when a Thing attack occurs. Kate also applies, who by the third act is even referred to as "The Boss."
* BadassAdorable: Kate, intelligence and bravery aside, has been described by a review as "looking like a cute teenager trying to buy booze with a fake ID rather than an actual adult."
* BellyMouth: the Thing loves to pop out of the chest and turn the ribs into teeth.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: {{Subverted}}. The resident black guy is [[spoiler:directly set-up as The Thing's first victim, but it completely ignores him after breaking free. He later survives a seemingly fatal helicopter crash, and ultimately doesn't end up dying until the mid-point[=/=]climax of the movie where ''all'' the secondary characters get slaughtered]].
* BodyHorror: Due to CGI, there's a LOT more gore, tentacles, fangs, teeth, and bodies splitting apart then in the original. The [[spoiler: two-face thing]] is the embodiment of this trope.
* ChekhovsGun: It's discovered early on that the Thing cannot duplicate inorganic material, such as metal. This comes back when Kate [[spoiler: checks people's mouths to see if they have dental implants or not]]. It's also used to reveal that [[spoiler: Carter is a Thing at the very end of the film, due to his missing earring]].
* ChekhovMIA: [[spoiler: The husky. It appears he's dead at the beginning of the movie, but then we see him running during the credits, trailed by Lars]].
* CombatTentacles: Used by the Thing to kill or wound several people, usually as a prelude to assimilating the surviving biomass when it has time.
* ConspicuousCG: All over the place, which is a real shame since the animatronics the CG painted over were great on their own.
* ContinuityNod: Being a prequel, this is to be expected. Among them are:
** The fire-axe, and how it got stuck in the door.
** The UFO, discovered in a massive chamber underneath the ice.
** The two face-thing, and how it eventually appeared in its melted state.
** The block of ice, and what it looked like before it was found by [=MacReady=].
** Who ended up being the suicide victim found with his throat and wrists cut.
** [[spoiler:Those flamethrowers they give the Antarctic teams sure do have a bad habit of failing at critical moments]].
** Lars is the only one of the Norwegians who can't speak English and knows where the grenades are. Sure enough, [[spoiler:it's him at the beginning of the original film who shouts useless warnings in Norwegian at the Americans and tries to toss a grenade at the Thing]].
** Things love the chest-mouth thing they pulled on [[spoiler: Norris]].
** Also comparing stored blood with blood samples taken from everyone. [[spoiler:In the prequel the Thing hastily burns the lab -- whereas the Thing at Outpost 31, knowing in advance that this test will likely be used on it, has the time to destroy the stored blood in a way that implicates the camp leader.]]
** There is also a combination ChekhovsGun ContinuityNod, because [[spoiler:at the end of the 1982 film, Childs still has his earring]].
* CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel: Being released almost 29 years after the original, CGI is heavily used this time around, with relatively few instances of puppets or other practical effects being utilized.
* ACrackInTheIce: The movie opens with the Norwegians in a snowcat homing in on a Distress Signal. [[spoiler:They discover where it's coming from when the ground opens beneath them and they become wedged in a crevasse with their headlights shining down on a FlyingSaucer.]]
* DistressSignal: How the Norwegians find the FlyingSaucer. The signal sounds even more creepy and otherworldly than the signal in ''{{Film/Alien}}''.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: While the Thing is prevented from escaping in its UFO, everyone but Kate and Lars is dead. Kate's nowhere to be found when help arrives at last, and Lars goes after the last Thing (in the form of a husky). If you've seen the original film, you know what happens to him]].
* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler: With the possible exception of Kate, who may have driven to the Russian station 50 miles away instead of coming back to what she believed was an empty camp, everyone is obviously going to die either before the movie begins or at the start of the next movie (Lars and his pilot).]]
* ExecutiveMeddling: According to screenwriter Eric Heisserer, the studio wanted a "leaner and meaner" film. The result was that the film has been gutted of most tension-building or exposition scenes, leaving just the straight-up violence with the monster. Worse, they built very expensive animatronics for the alien which look genuinely horrifying, but the final version of the movie switched to CGI effects to make the alien's attacks faster. The CGI is okay, but its truly shocking when you see the level of detail that went into these animatronics. Further, we can tell from various cast and crew interviews that ''a lot'' of the movie's runtime was cut to focus on the action scenes and for pacing.
* {{Expositron 9000}}: The base computer, during the explanation of The Thing's infection and replication mechanism.
* FateWorseThanDeath: When the Thing assimilates some of its victims via direct contact, they're aware of what's happening, and are clearly in great pain during the process. [[spoiler: One of them, with a Thing lodged in his mouth, silently begs Kate to kill him]]. Another [[spoiler: is practically melted into one of the things, then dragged off before we see the process completed, leading it to become the Two-Body Thing brought back from the Norwegian camp in the original]].
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: The Thing becomes progressively more intelligent after each of its encounters. After being burned under the shed, it learns to try and isolate the cast members one by one. When's it's overpowered anyway, it starts trying to sow dissent amongst the group. In addition, it shows that it's perfectly willing to sacrifice parts of itself in order to take the pressure off it. Finally, it keeps its dog form in hiding in case all of its other forms are killed.]]
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Kate and Carter have stopped the Thing from escaping, head back to the snowmobile, and are going to head for a Russian research station about fifty miles away. Then Kate notices that Sam is missing his earring...]]
* ImpostorExposingTest: It's theorized that Thing blood will react when exposed to human blood, so a test is quickly created in order to see who's human or not. [[spoiler: The Thing then sets fire to the lab, destroying the test, and forcing the humans to use a more primitive method of seeing who has dental implants or not]].
* IdiotBall: [[spoiler: The Thing, after it exposes itself, can't help but to assimilate anything in its path, even when it puts it in danger. For example the Juliette-Thing stops to assimilate Karl, leaving it exposed in the hallway. Also the Carter-Thing could have easily killed Kate and simply drove to the Camp by itself, but doesn't in the interest of preserving its cover, despite Kate being clearly suspicious. Kate herself makes some bad judgement calls like ordering everyone to split up despite not being enough weapons to go around.]]
* ItCanThink: [[spoiler:The Thing cleans up one of its murder scenes, attempts to extinguish a fire (though this may be pure luck on the Thing's part), leads Kate into a trap, and finally briefly manages to power up the ship]].
* ItWasThereISwear: Kate realises the Thing has assimilated a human [[spoiler:when she finds blood in the shower. When she goes back after the helicopter crash, the shower stall has been cleaned up. While this removes the evidence, it also tells Kate that the Thing is still among them, and wasn't just on the helicopter.]]
* JerkAss: Dr. Sander Halvorson
* JumpScare: A cheap "Boo!" scare which makes the one directly following much more unexpected.
* LetsSplitUpGang: After the Thing is fully revealed and everyone believes Kate, the expedition still ends up splitting into teams of two even after it's been made abundantly clear this is a terrible idea. It turns out that [[spoiler: ultimately nothing bad comes of this tactic, but it was still rather careless on their part.]]
* LoadBearingBoss: The flying saucer's power system shuts down after both its control system and the Thing is destroyed.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: If the American pilots hadn't escaped, overpowered Lars and taken over the base, the Thing probably wouldn't have had the necessary chaos to continue its spree.]]
* NotHisSled: [[spoiler:The director stated there was originally a shot of a laboratory on the ship, which would have proven that the Thing is a different species than the creatures who made the ship. The original film shows that the Thing is perfectly capable of building its own ship, however.]]
* NothingIsScarier: The Thing's original form is vaguely insectoid, but we never get a very good look at it.
* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: In spite of being a prequel and not a remake, the film has the exact same name as the original.
* {{Prequel}}: It starts three days before the events in Carpenter's film, and ends with [[spoiler: everyone but Lars and Kate dead, and the Thing, in the shape of a husky, running across the snow, where it will eventually reach Outpost 31, and Lars will be killed]].
* RetCon: What the UFO looked like and its condition at the end of the film, the manner of [[spoiler: the Split-face Thing's death]], and of course the original number of people at Thule station.
** Not quite. In the 1982 film it's stated there were ten people at Thule. There are in fact exactly ten people actually ''stationed'' at the camp- the other five- Kate, Carter, Jameson, Griggs, Finch, and Sander were all visiting and were brought in specifically because of the discovery. Given that there isn't a huge gap in between the two films (a couple days at most), the records just haven't been updated yet.
* RedHerring: Just like in the original film, [[spoiler: none of the characters seemingly set up to be the Thing actually turn out to be the Thing.]]
* TheUnreveal:
** While a shape can be seen inside the block of ice, we never see exactly what the thing looks like inside. What few glimpses we do get suggest that it looks like [[spoiler: a massive, tentacled, multi-limbed insect of some kind]].
** Some fans theorized that the film would explain what the Thing was doing in the UFO. [[spoiler:While we do see inside the UFO, we never get a clear answer as to what its relationship is toward the Thing. Director van Heijningen originally intended to show that the Thing was an alien sample collected by the UFO's pilots that broke free, but the subplot was cut for pacing issues]].
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Most if not all of the trailers for the prequel have footage that clearly shows that [[spoiler: Griggs, Juliette, and Edvard are all assimilated and replaced by the Thing during the film.]] This is particularly egregious as it turns out they were the ''only'' characters that were secretly assimilated by the Thing. Also, recent television spots very briefly show [[spoiler: Carter being lit on fire by Kate in the snowmobile at the ending of the movie.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:We don't have any clue what Kate will do at the end of the film. We ''do'', however, find out that Lars and the Huskey-Thing were simply hiding while the climax took place.]]
** Actually we ''do'' know [[spoiler: what will Kate do: freeze to death.]]
*** [[spoiler: How do we know that? She's last seen getting into the other snowcat and driving off, presumably to the "Russian Station 50 miles from here". Is there WordOfGod that she never made it?]]
** [[spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealed during credits scene.]]
* WoundedGazelleGambit: [[spoiler: Edvard acts dazed and stunned by the Flamethrower explosion in order to get closer to two of the station workers.]]
** Alternatively, it might have been real and everything that followed was caused by temporary lack of central control due to shock.
----
