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[[caption-width-right:232:...From another world, Baby!]]
->''If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was me?''
JohnCarpenter's 1982 film ''The Thing'' is a much more faithful [[TheRemake adaptation]] of Creator/JohnWCampbell's "Literature/WhoGoesThere" than the original adaptation, HowardHawks' 1951 production ''TheThingFromAnotherWorld''. It focuses on twelve men who are stuck in an Antarctic camp for the winter of 1982. After finding that the neighbouring Norwegian camp has been mysteriously destroyed, they realize that a deadly alien life form is on the loose. Most terrifying of all is the fact that this alien can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting change shape]], infecting a person on a molecular level and then relentlessly absorbing and duplicating their cells, imitating them from the inside out until there is nothing human left. Therefore, at least one among them may be the Thing.
It stars KurtRussell, KeithDavid, and Wilford "Diabeetus" Brimley.
While a commercial and critical bomb when it was first released, ''The Thing'' is a remarkable example of what [[VindicatedByHistory time can do for a film.]] These days, it is very well known and has been very successful on VHS and DVD. It is also generally ranked amongst the greatest horror films ever made.
In a serious case of either TemptingFate or ParanoiaFuel, ''The Thing'' (along with ''Film/TheShining'') is screened every year for those "wintering-over" at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, after the last plane leaves them in the long winter blackout.
[[VideoGame/TheThing A video game sequel]] was made in 2002. Please go there for game related tropes.
A {{Prequel}} focusing on the Norwegian camp prior to the events of this film was released in 2011, starring MaryElizabethWinstead. HalloweenHorrorNights 2007 in Orlando introduced a house that was a sequel to the movie, featuring the alien being moved to a new research station in Florida, but whether or not it is canon is unclear (most likely not). Another house, based on the prequel movie, is due to be at this year's event.
Unrelated to [[ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark that thing,]] [[TheCatInTheHat those things,]] [[Series/TheAddamsFamily this thing,]] [[FantasticFour the ever-lovin' Thing,]] [[BuffySpeak you know, that thingy thing,]] or an alternate English name of {{Mothra}}.
Has a [[Characters/TheThing character page]] under construction.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: The original film contains examples of:]]
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Probably one of the most horrific example to be put on film
* BadassNormal: Everyone, whenever they fight the thing, but ''especially'' Mac, who manages to go toe-to-toe with it.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Inverted. Of the two black dudes, both survive into the final act, when there are four humans left including them. One is the last guy to die, and the other is one of the two survivors in the final scene.]]
* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to the 1950's film... and compared to a hell of a lot of horror films at the time. However it wasn't trying to be a remake of ''The Thing From Another World'', which was a loose adaptation of the short story and didn't include the shapeshifter/body horror aspect. A lot of the gore isn't actually from humans being killed. The gore mostly comes from the horrible transformations the alien goes through.
* BodyHorror: And ''how''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make that scene watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out.
* BilingualBonus: The Norwegian pilot explains that the dog is a shapeshifting Thing right in the opening scene.
* BittersweetEnding: By the end of the film the characters have lost so much it isn't worth it to be paranoid anymore. On the plus side, the Thing is probably dead. On the downside, [[KillEmAll they soon will be, too.]] This is the good ending. JohnCarpenter felt it was inspiring that [[spoiler:each of the survivors were willing to give their lives to save the rest of the world.]]
* BolivianArmyEnding
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: When we meet [=MacReady=], he loses a game of chess to the computer, accuses it of being a "cheating bitch", and then pours whiskey into the CPU. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment [=MacReady's=] character will destroy the game rather than lose it]] - [[spoiler:which is what he does at the end of the movie, burning down the camp in order to deny the Thing victory. This was noted in an article in Script Magazine.]]
* TheCorpseStopsHere: Although for once this is actually a rather sensible policy, given that the "corpse" is a really contagious alien organism. Clark becomes prime suspect #1 due to his creepy behavior and prolonged exposure to the infected dogs. [[spoiler:Funnily enough, after [=MacReady=] kills him in self-defense it turns out he was human all along.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Much'' more so than the Howard Hawkes version.
* DaylightHorror: Somewhat. The base is entering a polar winter so beyond a certain point in the movie its just dark all the time. The alien usually attacks when it happens to be dark outside. However, some of the most intense scenes in the movie happen in the well-lit interiors of the base in plain view.
* DistressCall: The Norwegian camp got it out far too late.
* DownerEnding: In some versions edited for broadcast on TNT/TBS, an AlternateEnding is included that is much grimmer than the original cut. [[spoiler: After fading to black on the burning camp, the camera fades up again on a husky running across the Antarctic landscape. So not only is everyone dead but the Thing definitely survived. [[http://youtu.be/2Xu2cFljkPw?t=3m32s Can be seen here.]]]]
* DwindlingParty
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: The Thing crash lands into just about the only place in the world where it wouldn't be easy to completely take over all life on the planet. There is hardly any life around to assimilate, and it freezes before it can get to any. The men who excavate it also have flamethrowers, which is the only reliable way to kill it.
* EyeScream: The Norwegian is shot in the eye.
* TheEndOrIsIt: Even after 30 years, fans still debate if [[spoiler:the last survivors were infected, allowing the Thing to possibly live to assimilate once more.]]
* EvilIsVisceral: The alien while assimilating its victims.
* ExecutiveMeddling: An extremely bizarre example: the basic cable edit actually makes the movie a lot bleaker and nastier. Carpenter hates it for precisely this reason.
* FacePalmOfDoom: A painful-looking variation by [[spoiler:Blair]].
* {{Fingore}}: A minor example in the blood test scene - the blood is taken via fingertips using a scalpel.
* FireBreathingWeapon: Ah, the flamethrower...
* GenreSavvy: In the end, being Genre Savvy didn't save most of them, and a lot of them had moments of {{Genre Blind}}ness that eventually killed them. For example, try talking to Windows after he stood right in front of the [[spoiler:Palmer-Thing with a flame thrower and ended up getting his face eaten alive.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The initial cut was so gory that test audiences complained of nausea. JohnCarpenter alleviated this by ''changing nothing.'' Carpenter got away with more gore than the censors would typically allow for an R-rated movie by using different colors for the AlienBlood. In the kennel scene, the dog-Thing bleeds yellow. [[spoiler:Norris]]-Thing has blue-green slime for blood.
* GoneHorriblyRight: In one interpretation, the Thing becomes a perfect copy of the original organism, even its flaws. This would mean that [[spoiler:Norris' weak heart condition was transfered into the Thing, causing it to have a heart attack. However, it's possible that Norris's heart stopped beating ''because'' he was being taken over, and the process was completed as he lay inert]].
* {{Gorn}}: And so, SO much of it in the John Carpenter version.
* GrandTheftMe. [[CaptainObvious Duh.]]
* AHouseDivided: When they realize what the Thing is capable of, people start choosing sides and trying to convince each other they're ''not'' the Thing.
* IdiotBall: Several instances:
** 1. Nobody in the base thought it strange that the Norwegians were so hell bent in killing the dog. It would be prudent/logical to assume the dog is a carrier of some kind of disease and at least isolate it into a separate cage until it is clear what is going on with it.
*** Not completely true. They bring up how odd it is that they were so determined to kill the dog and believe that they had gone crazy from the isolation in Antarctica.
** 2. They completely forget about the dog and let it roam freely for the duration of the day(!?). Even if quarantine never crossed anyone's mind, the whole "they were desperately trying to kill the dog" angle should have reminded SOMEONE to put it with others and not let it sneak around.
** 3. After a part of the creature escapes through the ceiling before Childs has a chance to torch it, they again completely forget about it... seriously guys?
** The Norwegian guy first [[PoorCommunicationKills speaks]] [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier Norwegian to Americans]], then shoots hastily, missing the dog for Bennings, and [[TooDumbToLive walks quietly into an American camp]].
* ImpostorExposingTest: [=MacReady=] figures out a way to test for Thingness by reasoning that the Thing's blood cells are separate organisms with a survival instinct.
* JerkassHasAPoint: By smashing up all the equipment, Blair essentially trapped everyone there, but he had recognized the danger of allowing the Thing access to the outside world, a concept which the others would soon pick up on. [[spoiler:Of course, he might have been taken over by this point anyway. One of the major points still debated by fans is exactly when Blair was assimilated, in which case the Blair-Thing intentionally destroyed the radio and vehicles so they'd be trapped with it for months.]]
* JumpScare:
** [[spoiler:[=MacReady=]'s test makes the Thing's AlienBlood ''scream'' and run away.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:when the doctor is trying to use shock paddles on Norris, and a giant mouth opens in his chest and bites off the doc's hands]].
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:It's implied that even the characters who make it to the end will freeze to death.]]
* KillItWithFire: Flamethrowers, kerosene and explosives, no other way. Shotguns won't [[IncrediblyLamePun do the Thing]].
** One notable example comes late in the movie when Mac torches one of the Things with a Flamethrower, then blows it to pieces with a stick of dynamite for good measure.
* MusicalEpisode: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faq5amdK30&feature=player_embedded John Carpenter's THE THING: THE MUSICAL]] is [[LighterAndSofter a very cheerful and upbeat]] nutshelling of the movie that actually lacks none of the original's {{Gorn}} or {{Squick}}—all in the musical style of Frank Sinatra.
* MysteriousAntarctica: Played straight.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Thing was frozen in ice for a very long time, but then a team of Norwegians found its ship and then ''it''. One excavation and thawing later...
* NotHisSled: The effect isn't tremendous because ''Literature/WhoGoesThere'' isn't that well known, but [[spoiler:everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
* OhCrap:
** Windows gets several of these -- when [[spoiler:the Palmer-thing drops down from the ceiling in front of him]], when [[spoiler:he sees Bennings being assimilated]], and when [[spoiler:he realizes whoever got to the blood did so by retrieving the keys to the fridge that ''he'' dropped]].
** Everyone during the failed [[spoiler:defib scene.]]
** When the 'lynch mob' breakdown of the storeroom door [[spoiler:to find Mac holding a flare inches away from a bundle of dynamite.]]
* ParanoiaFuel: InUniverse.
* PerspectiveFlip: The short story ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ The Things]]'' by PeterWatts, which is told from the creature's POV, and makes it [[BlueAndOrangeMorality somewhat]] sympathetic.
* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:If only they knew to speak Norwegian or the Norwegian knew English]].
* PrecisionFStrike:
-->'''Palmer''': ''(Upon seeing [[spoiler:Norris']] head grow legs and walk away.)'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny You gotta be fucking kidding.]]
-->'''Mac''': ''(Upon seeing a monster crawl out of the stomach of another big monster)'' Yeah? Well ''fuck you, too!''
** And of course the probably most remembered line of the entire movie, right after one of the movie's most intense fight scenes.
--> '''Garry:''' ''"I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!"''
* ReCut: Of the TV variety. When the movie was due to premiere on TBS, a good deal of gore was cut out - to the point where they were falling under the expected runtime. To make up for the cut footage, previously cut material (such as character exposition) was edited in. A new twist to the ending was also featured in this version, but not in broadcasts on other networks (such as AMC or Sci-Fi).
* RedHerring[=/=]RedHerringMole: [[spoiler:All the characters set up to be The Thing turn out to be human. In fact, in the end it turns out that only 3 minor characters (Palmer, Norris and Blair) had been infected.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism:[=MacReady=] destroying the chess computer by pouring whiskey into it [[spoiler: mirrors the metaphorical game of chess played through the rest of the movie, and how he will destroy the game, or burn down the entire facility, to prevent his opponent from winning. Notice how in the end, he hands Childs a drink?]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Already opened [[LateToTheTragedy when our guys find it]].
* ShadowDiscretionShot: Right from the start, we can guess that that dog is the Thing. It's no spoiler to say that we're right. And in one bit, it's seen in shadow, licking the hand of a man who, from his shadow, is either [[spoiler:Palmer or Norris, both of whom turn out to be the Thing as well]]. It's actually the shadow of a crew member, who looks a lot like both the relevant characters. Carpenter felt like being indeterminate again.
* StandardHollywoodStrafingProcedure: How the Norwegians in the helicopter attack the fleeing dog with a rifle.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Pretty much whenever the Thing's new host is uncovered. And who can forget the heart attack scene?
* TenLittleMurderVictims: The bulk of the film essentially boils down to the cast wanting to kill the Thing, but not knowing who is or isn't infected.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Discussed. The survivors wonder, if the Thing perfectly mimics who it copies, does ''it'' even know it's a fake? The novel [[spoiler:claims it does, absorbing the memories and personality of the thing, and Carpenter in the commentary agrees that if it did, it wouldn't matter - it'd use their personality to react accordingly. Given that the Thing-imitations take several actions to frame unassimilated humans, and one of them is secretly building a hovercraft, it seems probable that they know what they are.]])
* TrashTheSet: The burned-down Norwegian camp was actually the same set as the American camp after the [[spoiler:final battle]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never find out [[spoiler:who got to the blood.]]
** [[spoiler:The alien blood is unaccounted for]].
* VirusVictimSymptoms: Averted for the most part, although played with in a scene with [[spoiler: Blair]], which just underscores the paranoia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: The 2011 prequel provides examples of:]]
->''It's Not Human. Yet.''
* 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.
[[/folder]]
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->Those poor bastards in the snow\\
They were clueless, now they know\\
It's a special brand of nightmare that I bring\\
'Cause they thought I was a dog but I~'m\\
The~\\
Thi~ng!!!
[[caption-width-right:232:...From another world, Baby!]]
->''If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was me?''
JohnCarpenter's 1982 film ''The Thing'' is a much more faithful [[TheRemake adaptation]] of Creator/JohnWCampbell's "Literature/WhoGoesThere" than the original adaptation, HowardHawks' 1951 production ''TheThingFromAnotherWorld''. It focuses on twelve men who are stuck in an Antarctic camp for the winter of 1982. After finding that the neighbouring Norwegian camp has been mysteriously destroyed, they realize that a deadly alien life form is on the loose. Most terrifying of all is the fact that this alien can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting change shape]], infecting a person on a molecular level and then relentlessly absorbing and duplicating their cells, imitating them from the inside out until there is nothing human left. Therefore, at least one among them may be the Thing.
It stars KurtRussell, KeithDavid, and Wilford "Diabeetus" Brimley.
While a commercial and critical bomb when it was first released, ''The Thing'' is a remarkable example of what [[VindicatedByHistory time can do for a film.]] These days, it is very well known and has been very successful on VHS and DVD. It is also generally ranked amongst the greatest horror films ever made.
In a serious case of either TemptingFate or ParanoiaFuel, ''The Thing'' (along with ''Film/TheShining'') is screened every year for those "wintering-over" at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, after the last plane leaves them in the long winter blackout.
[[VideoGame/TheThing A video game sequel]] was made in 2002. Please go there for game related tropes.
A {{Prequel}} focusing on the Norwegian camp prior to the events of this film was released in 2011, starring MaryElizabethWinstead. HalloweenHorrorNights 2007 in Orlando introduced a house that was a sequel to the movie, featuring the alien being moved to a new research station in Florida, but whether or not it is canon is unclear (most likely not). Another house, based on the prequel movie, is due to be at this year's event.
Unrelated to [[ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark that thing,]] [[TheCatInTheHat those things,]] [[Series/TheAddamsFamily this thing,]] [[FantasticFour the ever-lovin' Thing,]] [[BuffySpeak you know, that thingy thing,]] or an alternate English name of {{Mothra}}.
Has a [[Characters/TheThing character page]] under construction.
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: The original film contains examples of:]]
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Probably one of the most horrific example to be put on film
* BadassNormal: Everyone, whenever they fight the thing, but ''especially'' Mac, who manages to go toe-to-toe with it.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Inverted. Of the two black dudes, both survive into the final act, when there are four humans left including them. One is the last guy to die, and the other is one of the two survivors in the final scene.]]
* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to the 1950's film... and compared to a hell of a lot of horror films at the time. However it wasn't trying to be a remake of ''The Thing From Another World'', which was a loose adaptation of the short story and didn't include the shapeshifter/body horror aspect. A lot of the gore isn't actually from humans being killed. The gore mostly comes from the horrible transformations the alien goes through.
* BodyHorror: And ''how''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make that scene watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out.
* BilingualBonus: The Norwegian pilot explains that the dog is a shapeshifting Thing right in the opening scene.
* BittersweetEnding: By the end of the film the characters have lost so much it isn't worth it to be paranoid anymore. On the plus side, the Thing is probably dead. On the downside, [[KillEmAll they soon will be, too.]] This is the good ending. JohnCarpenter felt it was inspiring that [[spoiler:each of the survivors were willing to give their lives to save the rest of the world.]]
* BolivianArmyEnding
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: When we meet [=MacReady=], he loses a game of chess to the computer, accuses it of being a "cheating bitch", and then pours whiskey into the CPU. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment [=MacReady's=] character will destroy the game rather than lose it]] - [[spoiler:which is what he does at the end of the movie, burning down the camp in order to deny the Thing victory. This was noted in an article in Script Magazine.]]
* TheCorpseStopsHere: Although for once this is actually a rather sensible policy, given that the "corpse" is a really contagious alien organism. Clark becomes prime suspect #1 due to his creepy behavior and prolonged exposure to the infected dogs. [[spoiler:Funnily enough, after [=MacReady=] kills him in self-defense it turns out he was human all along.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Much'' more so than the Howard Hawkes version.
* DaylightHorror: Somewhat. The base is entering a polar winter so beyond a certain point in the movie its just dark all the time. The alien usually attacks when it happens to be dark outside. However, some of the most intense scenes in the movie happen in the well-lit interiors of the base in plain view.
* DistressCall: The Norwegian camp got it out far too late.
* DownerEnding: In some versions edited for broadcast on TNT/TBS, an AlternateEnding is included that is much grimmer than the original cut. [[spoiler: After fading to black on the burning camp, the camera fades up again on a husky running across the Antarctic landscape. So not only is everyone dead but the Thing definitely survived. [[http://youtu.be/2Xu2cFljkPw?t=3m32s Can be seen here.]]]]
* DwindlingParty
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: The Thing crash lands into just about the only place in the world where it wouldn't be easy to completely take over all life on the planet. There is hardly any life around to assimilate, and it freezes before it can get to any. The men who excavate it also have flamethrowers, which is the only reliable way to kill it.
* EyeScream: The Norwegian is shot in the eye.
* TheEndOrIsIt: Even after 30 years, fans still debate if [[spoiler:the last survivors were infected, allowing the Thing to possibly live to assimilate once more.]]
* EvilIsVisceral: The alien while assimilating its victims.
* ExecutiveMeddling: An extremely bizarre example: the basic cable edit actually makes the movie a lot bleaker and nastier. Carpenter hates it for precisely this reason.
* FacePalmOfDoom: A painful-looking variation by [[spoiler:Blair]].
* {{Fingore}}: A minor example in the blood test scene - the blood is taken via fingertips using a scalpel.
* FireBreathingWeapon: Ah, the flamethrower...
* GenreSavvy: In the end, being Genre Savvy didn't save most of them, and a lot of them had moments of {{Genre Blind}}ness that eventually killed them. For example, try talking to Windows after he stood right in front of the [[spoiler:Palmer-Thing with a flame thrower and ended up getting his face eaten alive.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The initial cut was so gory that test audiences complained of nausea. JohnCarpenter alleviated this by ''changing nothing.'' Carpenter got away with more gore than the censors would typically allow for an R-rated movie by using different colors for the AlienBlood. In the kennel scene, the dog-Thing bleeds yellow. [[spoiler:Norris]]-Thing has blue-green slime for blood.
* GoneHorriblyRight: In one interpretation, the Thing becomes a perfect copy of the original organism, even its flaws. This would mean that [[spoiler:Norris' weak heart condition was transfered into the Thing, causing it to have a heart attack. However, it's possible that Norris's heart stopped beating ''because'' he was being taken over, and the process was completed as he lay inert]].
* {{Gorn}}: And so, SO much of it in the John Carpenter version.
* GrandTheftMe. [[CaptainObvious Duh.]]
* AHouseDivided: When they realize what the Thing is capable of, people start choosing sides and trying to convince each other they're ''not'' the Thing.
* IdiotBall: Several instances:
** 1. Nobody in the base thought it strange that the Norwegians were so hell bent in killing the dog. It would be prudent/logical to assume the dog is a carrier of some kind of disease and at least isolate it into a separate cage until it is clear what is going on with it.
*** Not completely true. They bring up how odd it is that they were so determined to kill the dog and believe that they had gone crazy from the isolation in Antarctica.
** 2. They completely forget about the dog and let it roam freely for the duration of the day(!?). Even if quarantine never crossed anyone's mind, the whole "they were desperately trying to kill the dog" angle should have reminded SOMEONE to put it with others and not let it sneak around.
** 3. After a part of the creature escapes through the ceiling before Childs has a chance to torch it, they again completely forget about it... seriously guys?
** The Norwegian guy first [[PoorCommunicationKills speaks]] [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier Norwegian to Americans]], then shoots hastily, missing the dog for Bennings, and [[TooDumbToLive walks quietly into an American camp]].
* ImpostorExposingTest: [=MacReady=] figures out a way to test for Thingness by reasoning that the Thing's blood cells are separate organisms with a survival instinct.
* JerkassHasAPoint: By smashing up all the equipment, Blair essentially trapped everyone there, but he had recognized the danger of allowing the Thing access to the outside world, a concept which the others would soon pick up on. [[spoiler:Of course, he might have been taken over by this point anyway. One of the major points still debated by fans is exactly when Blair was assimilated, in which case the Blair-Thing intentionally destroyed the radio and vehicles so they'd be trapped with it for months.]]
* JumpScare:
** [[spoiler:[=MacReady=]'s test makes the Thing's AlienBlood ''scream'' and run away.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:when the doctor is trying to use shock paddles on Norris, and a giant mouth opens in his chest and bites off the doc's hands]].
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:It's implied that even the characters who make it to the end will freeze to death.]]
* KillItWithFire: Flamethrowers, kerosene and explosives, no other way. Shotguns won't [[IncrediblyLamePun do the Thing]].
** One notable example comes late in the movie when Mac torches one of the Things with a Flamethrower, then blows it to pieces with a stick of dynamite for good measure.
* MusicalEpisode: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faq5amdK30&feature=player_embedded John Carpenter's THE THING: THE MUSICAL]] is [[LighterAndSofter a very cheerful and upbeat]] nutshelling of the movie that actually lacks none of the original's {{Gorn}} or {{Squick}}—all in the musical style of Frank Sinatra.
* MysteriousAntarctica: Played straight.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Thing was frozen in ice for a very long time, but then a team of Norwegians found its ship and then ''it''. One excavation and thawing later...
* NotHisSled: The effect isn't tremendous because ''Literature/WhoGoesThere'' isn't that well known, but [[spoiler:everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
* OhCrap:
** Windows gets several of these -- when [[spoiler:the Palmer-thing drops down from the ceiling in front of him]], when [[spoiler:he sees Bennings being assimilated]], and when [[spoiler:he realizes whoever got to the blood did so by retrieving the keys to the fridge that ''he'' dropped]].
** Everyone during the failed [[spoiler:defib scene.]]
** When the 'lynch mob' breakdown of the storeroom door [[spoiler:to find Mac holding a flare inches away from a bundle of dynamite.]]
* ParanoiaFuel: InUniverse.
* PerspectiveFlip: The short story ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ The Things]]'' by PeterWatts, which is told from the creature's POV, and makes it [[BlueAndOrangeMorality somewhat]] sympathetic.
* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:If only they knew to speak Norwegian or the Norwegian knew English]].
* PrecisionFStrike:
-->'''Palmer''': ''(Upon seeing [[spoiler:Norris']] head grow legs and walk away.)'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny You gotta be fucking kidding.]]
-->'''Mac''': ''(Upon seeing a monster crawl out of the stomach of another big monster)'' Yeah? Well ''fuck you, too!''
** And of course the probably most remembered line of the entire movie, right after one of the movie's most intense fight scenes.
--> '''Garry:''' ''"I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!"''
* ReCut: Of the TV variety. When the movie was due to premiere on TBS, a good deal of gore was cut out - to the point where they were falling under the expected runtime. To make up for the cut footage, previously cut material (such as character exposition) was edited in. A new twist to the ending was also featured in this version, but not in broadcasts on other networks (such as AMC or Sci-Fi).
* RedHerring[=/=]RedHerringMole: [[spoiler:All the characters set up to be The Thing turn out to be human. In fact, in the end it turns out that only 3 minor characters (Palmer, Norris and Blair) had been infected.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism:[=MacReady=] destroying the chess computer by pouring whiskey into it [[spoiler: mirrors the metaphorical game of chess played through the rest of the movie, and how he will destroy the game, or burn down the entire facility, to prevent his opponent from winning. Notice how in the end, he hands Childs a drink?]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Already opened [[LateToTheTragedy when our guys find it]].
* ShadowDiscretionShot: Right from the start, we can guess that that dog is the Thing. It's no spoiler to say that we're right. And in one bit, it's seen in shadow, licking the hand of a man who, from his shadow, is either [[spoiler:Palmer or Norris, both of whom turn out to be the Thing as well]]. It's actually the shadow of a crew member, who looks a lot like both the relevant characters. Carpenter felt like being indeterminate again.
* StandardHollywoodStrafingProcedure: How the Norwegians in the helicopter attack the fleeing dog with a rifle.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Pretty much whenever the Thing's new host is uncovered. And who can forget the heart attack scene?
* TenLittleMurderVictims: The bulk of the film essentially boils down to the cast wanting to kill the Thing, but not knowing who is or isn't infected.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Discussed. The survivors wonder, if the Thing perfectly mimics who it copies, does ''it'' even know it's a fake? The novel [[spoiler:claims it does, absorbing the memories and personality of the thing, and Carpenter in the commentary agrees that if it did, it wouldn't matter - it'd use their personality to react accordingly. Given that the Thing-imitations take several actions to frame unassimilated humans, and one of them is secretly building a hovercraft, it seems probable that they know what they are.]])
* TrashTheSet: The burned-down Norwegian camp was actually the same set as the American camp after the [[spoiler:final battle]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never find out [[spoiler:who got to the blood.]]
** [[spoiler:The alien blood is unaccounted for]].
* VirusVictimSymptoms: Averted for the most part, although played with in a scene with [[spoiler: Blair]], which just underscores the paranoia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: The 2011 prequel provides examples of:]]
->''It's Not Human. Yet.''
* 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.
[[/folder]]
----
->Those poor bastards in the snow\\
They were clueless, now they know\\
It's a special brand of nightmare that I bring\\
'Cause they thought I was a dog but I~'m\\
The~\\
Thi~ng!!!
to:
[[caption-width-right:232:...From another world, Baby!]]
->''If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was me?''
JohnCarpenter's 1982 film ''The Thing'' is a much more faithful [[TheRemake adaptation]] of Creator/JohnWCampbell's "Literature/WhoGoesThere" than the original adaptation, HowardHawks' 1951 production ''TheThingFromAnotherWorld''. It focuses on twelve men who are stuck in an Antarctic camp for the winter of 1982. After finding that the neighbouring Norwegian camp has been mysteriously destroyed, they realize that a deadly alien life form is on the loose. Most terrifying of all is the fact that this alien can [[VoluntaryShapeshifting change shape]], infecting a person on a molecular level and then relentlessly absorbing and duplicating their cells, imitating them from the inside out until there is nothing human left. Therefore, at least one among them may be the Thing.
It stars KurtRussell, KeithDavid, and Wilford "Diabeetus" Brimley.
While a commercial and critical bomb when it was first released, ''The Thing'' is a remarkable example of what [[VindicatedByHistory time can do for a film.]] These days, it is very well known and has been very successful on VHS and DVD. It is also generally ranked amongst the greatest horror films ever made.
In a serious case of either TemptingFate or ParanoiaFuel, ''The Thing'' (along with ''Film/TheShining'') is screened every year for those "wintering-over" at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, after the last plane leaves them in the long winter blackout.
[[VideoGame/TheThing A video game sequel]] was made in 2002. Please go there for game related tropes.
A {{Prequel}} focusing on the Norwegian camp prior to the events of this film was released in 2011, starring MaryElizabethWinstead. HalloweenHorrorNights 2007 in Orlando introduced a house that was a sequel to the movie, featuring the alien being moved to a new research station in Florida, but whether or not it is canon is unclear (most likely not). Another house, based on the prequel movie, is due to be at this year's event.
Unrelated to [[ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark that thing,]] [[TheCatInTheHat those things,]] [[Series/TheAddamsFamily this thing,]] [[FantasticFour the ever-lovin' Thing,]] [[BuffySpeak you know, that thingy thing,]] or an alternate English name of {{Mothra}}.
Has a [[Characters/TheThing character page]] under construction.
----
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: The original film contains examples of:]]
* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Probably one of the most horrific example to be put on film
* BadassNormal: Everyone, whenever they fight the thing, but ''especially'' Mac, who manages to go toe-to-toe with it.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler:Inverted. Of the two black dudes, both survive into the final act, when there are four humans left including them. One is the last guy to die, and the other is one of the two survivors in the final scene.]]
* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to the 1950's film... and compared to a hell of a lot of horror films at the time. However it wasn't trying to be a remake of ''The Thing From Another World'', which was a loose adaptation of the short story and didn't include the shapeshifter/body horror aspect. A lot of the gore isn't actually from humans being killed. The gore mostly comes from the horrible transformations the alien goes through.
* BodyHorror: And ''how''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make that scene watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out.
* BilingualBonus: The Norwegian pilot explains that the dog is a shapeshifting Thing right in the opening scene.
* BittersweetEnding: By the end of the film the characters have lost so much it isn't worth it to be paranoid anymore. On the plus side, the Thing is probably dead. On the downside, [[KillEmAll they soon will be, too.]] This is the good ending. JohnCarpenter felt it was inspiring that [[spoiler:each of the survivors were willing to give their lives to save the rest of the world.]]
* BolivianArmyEnding
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: When we meet [=MacReady=], he loses a game of chess to the computer, accuses it of being a "cheating bitch", and then pours whiskey into the CPU. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment [=MacReady's=] character will destroy the game rather than lose it]] - [[spoiler:which is what he does at the end of the movie, burning down the camp in order to deny the Thing victory. This was noted in an article in Script Magazine.]]
* TheCorpseStopsHere: Although for once this is actually a rather sensible policy, given that the "corpse" is a really contagious alien organism. Clark becomes prime suspect #1 due to his creepy behavior and prolonged exposure to the infected dogs. [[spoiler:Funnily enough, after [=MacReady=] kills him in self-defense it turns out he was human all along.]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Much'' more so than the Howard Hawkes version.
* DaylightHorror: Somewhat. The base is entering a polar winter so beyond a certain point in the movie its just dark all the time. The alien usually attacks when it happens to be dark outside. However, some of the most intense scenes in the movie happen in the well-lit interiors of the base in plain view.
* DistressCall: The Norwegian camp got it out far too late.
* DownerEnding: In some versions edited for broadcast on TNT/TBS, an AlternateEnding is included that is much grimmer than the original cut. [[spoiler: After fading to black on the burning camp, the camera fades up again on a husky running across the Antarctic landscape. So not only is everyone dead but the Thing definitely survived. [[http://youtu.be/2Xu2cFljkPw?t=3m32s Can be seen here.]]]]
* DwindlingParty
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: The Thing crash lands into just about the only place in the world where it wouldn't be easy to completely take over all life on the planet. There is hardly any life around to assimilate, and it freezes before it can get to any. The men who excavate it also have flamethrowers, which is the only reliable way to kill it.
* EyeScream: The Norwegian is shot in the eye.
* TheEndOrIsIt: Even after 30 years, fans still debate if [[spoiler:the last survivors were infected, allowing the Thing to possibly live to assimilate once more.]]
* EvilIsVisceral: The alien while assimilating its victims.
* ExecutiveMeddling: An extremely bizarre example: the basic cable edit actually makes the movie a lot bleaker and nastier. Carpenter hates it for precisely this reason.
* FacePalmOfDoom: A painful-looking variation by [[spoiler:Blair]].
* {{Fingore}}: A minor example in the blood test scene - the blood is taken via fingertips using a scalpel.
* FireBreathingWeapon: Ah, the flamethrower...
* GenreSavvy: In the end, being Genre Savvy didn't save most of them, and a lot of them had moments of {{Genre Blind}}ness that eventually killed them. For example, try talking to Windows after he stood right in front of the [[spoiler:Palmer-Thing with a flame thrower and ended up getting his face eaten alive.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The initial cut was so gory that test audiences complained of nausea. JohnCarpenter alleviated this by ''changing nothing.'' Carpenter got away with more gore than the censors would typically allow for an R-rated movie by using different colors for the AlienBlood. In the kennel scene, the dog-Thing bleeds yellow. [[spoiler:Norris]]-Thing has blue-green slime for blood.
* GoneHorriblyRight: In one interpretation, the Thing becomes a perfect copy of the original organism, even its flaws. This would mean that [[spoiler:Norris' weak heart condition was transfered into the Thing, causing it to have a heart attack. However, it's possible that Norris's heart stopped beating ''because'' he was being taken over, and the process was completed as he lay inert]].
* {{Gorn}}: And so, SO much of it in the John Carpenter version.
* GrandTheftMe. [[CaptainObvious Duh.]]
* AHouseDivided: When they realize what the Thing is capable of, people start choosing sides and trying to convince each other they're ''not'' the Thing.
* IdiotBall: Several instances:
** 1. Nobody in the base thought it strange that the Norwegians were so hell bent in killing the dog. It would be prudent/logical to assume the dog is a carrier of some kind of disease and at least isolate it into a separate cage until it is clear what is going on with it.
*** Not completely true. They bring up how odd it is that they were so determined to kill the dog and believe that they had gone crazy from the isolation in Antarctica.
** 2. They completely forget about the dog and let it roam freely for the duration of the day(!?). Even if quarantine never crossed anyone's mind, the whole "they were desperately trying to kill the dog" angle should have reminded SOMEONE to put it with others and not let it sneak around.
** 3. After a part of the creature escapes through the ceiling before Childs has a chance to torch it, they again completely forget about it... seriously guys?
** The Norwegian guy first [[PoorCommunicationKills speaks]] [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier Norwegian to Americans]], then shoots hastily, missing the dog for Bennings, and [[TooDumbToLive walks quietly into an American camp]].
* ImpostorExposingTest: [=MacReady=] figures out a way to test for Thingness by reasoning that the Thing's blood cells are separate organisms with a survival instinct.
* JerkassHasAPoint: By smashing up all the equipment, Blair essentially trapped everyone there, but he had recognized the danger of allowing the Thing access to the outside world, a concept which the others would soon pick up on. [[spoiler:Of course, he might have been taken over by this point anyway. One of the major points still debated by fans is exactly when Blair was assimilated, in which case the Blair-Thing intentionally destroyed the radio and vehicles so they'd be trapped with it for months.]]
* JumpScare:
** [[spoiler:[=MacReady=]'s test makes the Thing's AlienBlood ''scream'' and run away.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:when the doctor is trying to use shock paddles on Norris, and a giant mouth opens in his chest and bites off the doc's hands]].
* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:It's implied that even the characters who make it to the end will freeze to death.]]
* KillItWithFire: Flamethrowers, kerosene and explosives, no other way. Shotguns won't [[IncrediblyLamePun do the Thing]].
** One notable example comes late in the movie when Mac torches one of the Things with a Flamethrower, then blows it to pieces with a stick of dynamite for good measure.
* MusicalEpisode: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8faq5amdK30&feature=player_embedded John Carpenter's THE THING: THE MUSICAL]] is [[LighterAndSofter a very cheerful and upbeat]] nutshelling of the movie that actually lacks none of the original's {{Gorn}} or {{Squick}}—all in the musical style of Frank Sinatra.
* MysteriousAntarctica: Played straight.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Thing was frozen in ice for a very long time, but then a team of Norwegians found its ship and then ''it''. One excavation and thawing later...
* NotHisSled: The effect isn't tremendous because ''Literature/WhoGoesThere'' isn't that well known, but [[spoiler:everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
* OhCrap:
** Windows gets several of these -- when [[spoiler:the Palmer-thing drops down from the ceiling in front of him]], when [[spoiler:he sees Bennings being assimilated]], and when [[spoiler:he realizes whoever got to the blood did so by retrieving the keys to the fridge that ''he'' dropped]].
** Everyone during the failed [[spoiler:defib scene.]]
** When the 'lynch mob' breakdown of the storeroom door [[spoiler:to find Mac holding a flare inches away from a bundle of dynamite.]]
* ParanoiaFuel: InUniverse.
* PerspectiveFlip: The short story ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ The Things]]'' by PeterWatts, which is told from the creature's POV, and makes it [[BlueAndOrangeMorality somewhat]] sympathetic.
* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler:If only they knew to speak Norwegian or the Norwegian knew English]].
* PrecisionFStrike:
-->'''Palmer''': ''(Upon seeing [[spoiler:Norris']] head grow legs and walk away.)'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny You gotta be fucking kidding.]]
-->'''Mac''': ''(Upon seeing a monster crawl out of the stomach of another big monster)'' Yeah? Well ''fuck you, too!''
** And of course the probably most remembered line of the entire movie, right after one of the movie's most intense fight scenes.
--> '''Garry:''' ''"I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!"''
* ReCut: Of the TV variety. When the movie was due to premiere on TBS, a good deal of gore was cut out - to the point where they were falling under the expected runtime. To make up for the cut footage, previously cut material (such as character exposition) was edited in. A new twist to the ending was also featured in this version, but not in broadcasts on other networks (such as AMC or Sci-Fi).
* RedHerring[=/=]RedHerringMole: [[spoiler:All the characters set up to be The Thing turn out to be human. In fact, in the end it turns out that only 3 minor characters (Palmer, Norris and Blair) had been infected.]]
* RuleOfSymbolism:[=MacReady=] destroying the chess computer by pouring whiskey into it [[spoiler: mirrors the metaphorical game of chess played through the rest of the movie, and how he will destroy the game, or burn down the entire facility, to prevent his opponent from winning. Notice how in the end, he hands Childs a drink?]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Already opened [[LateToTheTragedy when our guys find it]].
* ShadowDiscretionShot: Right from the start, we can guess that that dog is the Thing. It's no spoiler to say that we're right. And in one bit, it's seen in shadow, licking the hand of a man who, from his shadow, is either [[spoiler:Palmer or Norris, both of whom turn out to be the Thing as well]]. It's actually the shadow of a crew member, who looks a lot like both the relevant characters. Carpenter felt like being indeterminate again.
* StandardHollywoodStrafingProcedure: How the Norwegians in the helicopter attack the fleeing dog with a rifle.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Pretty much whenever the Thing's new host is uncovered. And who can forget the heart attack scene?
* TenLittleMurderVictims: The bulk of the film essentially boils down to the cast wanting to kill the Thing, but not knowing who is or isn't infected.
* TomatoInTheMirror: Discussed. The survivors wonder, if the Thing perfectly mimics who it copies, does ''it'' even know it's a fake? The novel [[spoiler:claims it does, absorbing the memories and personality of the thing, and Carpenter in the commentary agrees that if it did, it wouldn't matter - it'd use their personality to react accordingly. Given that the Thing-imitations take several actions to frame unassimilated humans, and one of them is secretly building a hovercraft, it seems probable that they know what they are.]])
* TrashTheSet: The burned-down Norwegian camp was actually the same set as the American camp after the [[spoiler:final battle]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
** We never find out [[spoiler:who got to the blood.]]
** [[spoiler:The alien blood is unaccounted for]].
* VirusVictimSymptoms: Averted for the most part, although played with in a scene with [[spoiler: Blair]], which just underscores the paranoia.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: The 2011 prequel provides examples of:]]
->''It's Not Human. Yet.''
* 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.
[[/folder]]
----
->Those poor bastards in the snow\\
They were clueless, now they know\\
It's a special brand of nightmare that I bring\\
'Cause they thought I was a dog but I~'m\\
The~\\
Thi~ng!!!
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[[caption-width-right:232:...From another world, Baby!]]
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It stars KurtRussell, KeithDavid, and Wilford Brimley.
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It stars KurtRussell, KeithDavid, and Wilford "Diabeetus" Brimley.
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----
to:
->Those poor bastards in the snow\\
They were clueless, now they know\\
It's a special brand of nightmare that I bring\\
'Cause they thought I was a dog but I~'m\\
The~\\
Thi~ng!!!
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** Actually, we also know that too: [[spoiler: It was Colin, the British guy. Revealed during credits scene.]]
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* KillItWithFire: Flamethrowers, kerosene and dynamites, no other way. Shotguns won't [[IncrediblyLamePun do the Thing]].
to:
* KillItWithFire: Flamethrowers, kerosene and dynamites, explosives, no other way. Shotguns won't [[IncrediblyLamePun do the Thing]].
** One notable example comes late in the movie when Mac torches one of the Things with a Flamethrower, then blows it to pieces with a stick of dynamite for good measure.
** One notable example comes late in the movie when Mac torches one of the Things with a Flamethrower, then blows it to pieces with a stick of dynamite for good measure.
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** [[Spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
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** [[Spoiler: [[spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
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*** Not completely true. They bring up how odd it is that they were so determined to kill the dog and believe that they had gone crazy from the isolation in Antarctica.
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** 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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* 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.
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* DoomedByCanon
to:
* DoomedByCanonDoomedByCanon: [[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).]]
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* 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]].
to:
* 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]].completed, leading it to become the Two-Body Thing brought back from the Norwegian camp in the original]].
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*** [[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.]]
** [[Spoiler: We have no idea who the Norwegian who cut his throat and wrists was, nor why he committed suicide.]]
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** The two face-thing, and how it eventually appeared in it's melted state.
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** The two face-thing, and how it eventually appeared in it's its melted state.
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* PerspectiveFlip: The short story ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ The Things]]'', which is told from the creature's POV, and makes it [[BlueAndOrangeMorality somewhat]] sympathetic.
to:
* PerspectiveFlip: The short story ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ The Things]]'', Things]]'' by PeterWatts, which is told from the creature's POV, and makes it [[BlueAndOrangeMorality somewhat]] sympathetic.
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* AndThenJohnWasaZombie: Probably one of the most horrific example to be put on film
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* AndThenJohnWasaZombie: AndThenJohnWasAZombie: Probably one of the most horrific example to be put on film
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* AndThenJohnWasaZombie: Probably one of the most horrific example to be put on film
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* NotHisSled: The effect isn't tremendous because ''Literature/WhoGoesThere'' isn't that well known, but [[spoiler:everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
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* RedHerring[=/=]RedHerringMole:
** [[spoiler:All the characters set up to be The Thing turn out to be human. In fact, in the end it turns out that only 3 minor characters (Palmer, Norris and Blair) had been infected.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
** [[spoiler:All the characters set up to be The Thing turn out to be human. In fact, in the end it turns out that only 3 minor characters (Palmer, Norris and Blair) had been infected.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
to:
* RedHerring[=/=]RedHerringMole:
**RedHerring[=/=]RedHerringMole: [[spoiler:All the characters set up to be The Thing turn out to be human. In fact, in the end it turns out that only 3 minor characters (Palmer, Norris and Blair) had been infected.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.]]
**
** [[spoiler:Also, everyone who was the Thing in the original short story turns out to be human in the film, with the exception of Blair.
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* 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.
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* EvilIsVisceral: The alien while assimilating its victims.
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* {{Fingore}}: A minor example in the blood test scene - the blood is taken via fingertips using a scalpel.
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Changed line(s) 54 (click to see context) from:
** The Norwegian guy first [[PoorCommunicationSkills speaks]] [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier Norwegian to Americans]], then shoots hastily, missing the dog for Bennings, and [[TooDumbToLive walks quietly into an American camp]].
to:
** The Norwegian guy first [[PoorCommunicationSkills [[PoorCommunicationKills speaks]] [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier Norwegian to Americans]], then shoots hastily, missing the dog for Bennings, and [[TooDumbToLive walks quietly into an American camp]].
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Added DiffLines:
** The Norwegian guy first [[PoorCommunicationSkills speaks]] [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier Norwegian to Americans]], then shoots hastily, missing the dog for Bennings, and [[TooDumbToLive walks quietly into an American camp]].
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Changed line(s) 16,17 (click to see context) from:
Unrelated to [[ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark that thing,]] [[TheCatInTheHat those things,]] [[Series/TheAddamsFamily this thing,]] [[FantasticFour the ever-lovin' Thing,]] or an alternate English name of {{Mothra}}.
to:
Unrelated to [[ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark that thing,]] [[TheCatInTheHat those things,]] [[Series/TheAddamsFamily this thing,]] [[FantasticFour the ever-lovin' Thing,]] [[BuffySpeak you know, that thingy thing,]] or an alternate English name of {{Mothra}}.
