History NightmareFuel / TheThing1982

*** Every time the camera looked at the mass of flesh that was once the Dog-Thing, it gets '''worse'''. Like it's mutating even further in the span of a few seconds. One moment it's trying to take the shape of a weird bug with tentacles, then it abandons that and sprouts grotesque, reptilian arms and then it starts manifesting eyes and even some kind of weapon to defend itself with.

* Oh, one last thing [[SarcasmMode to calm your nerves]] - official production information has ''explicitly'' confirmed that ''[[FridgeHorror creatures replaced by the Thing don't always know it.]]''

* Oh, one last thing [[SarcasmMode to calm your nerves]] - official production information has ''explicitly'' confirmed that ''[[FridgeHorror people replaced by the Thing don't always know it.]]''

** And let's not forget to mention the horrific, inhuman wailing the creature's making the entire time. It's pretty much the icing on the nightmare/nausea cake. MacReady bursts in with a shotgun ready to defend the dogs and even he's immediately stunned just by the sounds he's hearing.

** And let's not forget to mention the horrific, inhuman wailing the creature's making the entire time. It's pretty much the icing on the nightmare/nausea cake.

* And right after the blood test, Palmer's transformation begins, with the thing masquerading as him [[LastVillainStand not wanting to go down without a fight]], with two other guys flailing and screaming bloody murder ''because they've been tied together with him.''

* Oh, one more thing [[SarcasmMode to calm your nerves]]... official production information has ''explicitly'' confirmed that ''[[FridgeHorror people replaced by the Thing don't always know it.]]''

** When his transformation starts, Palmer begins to convulse violently, then starts [[EyeScream bleeding from the eyes]] while the new Palmer-Thing lets out an ungodly scream. His head [[BodyHorror swells in gross, bleeding bumps which push the liquefied eyeballs out of the sockets]] (the pic at the top is merely the ''start'' of this), busts out of the rope, then splits down the middle to reveal a [[BodyHorror giant, tooth-filled maw]]. Once transformed, it wraps a long tongue around Windows' neck, pulls his head into the maw, and proceeds to give him an absolutely '''brutal''' mauling while [=MacReady=] is furiously trying to get the flamethrower working...

*** According to the commentary track featuring Creator/JohnCarpenter, the animal actor (his name was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_(wolfdog) Jed]]) didn't need special training to perform the creepy deliberateness and intensity because he was half-wolf. Jed was highly trained, but he's still a wolfdog; he doesn't act like other dogs do. The stillness and staring all come from the wolf in him. On set, the actors were genuinely spooked by him, despite his good behavior.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_palmerthing.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:The ''beginning'' of the Palmer Thing's emergence...with much, '''much''' worse to come.]]

** With the speed at which the men came back, and the fact that discarded clothes were lying on the floor covered in blood when Windows walked in, it's likelier that this isn't Bennings being assimilated, but the Bennings-Thing ''being spat out''. Bennings had already been digested, copied, and slid back into place. MacReady just came back so fast that the Bennings-Thing hadn't had a chance to fully disguise itself before it was forced to flee.

** With the speed at which the men came back, and the fact that discarded clothes were lying on the floor covered in blood when Windows walked in, it's likelier that this isn't Bennings being assimilated, but the Bennings-Thing ''being spat out''. Bennings had already been digested, copied, and slid back into place.

** Hell, even before the Dog-Thing outed itself, the dog it was disguised as was off-the-scale creepy. It's no spoiler to point out that something's ''Just Not Right'' about that dog from the first time you see it. [[UncannyValley It stands perfectly still, and stares, and never wags its tail.]] You can see it coolly calculating and planning, waiting for the right moment. And that music...

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_palmerthing.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:The ''beginning'' of the Palmer Thing's emergence...with much, '''''much''''' worse to come.]]

* The Bennings scene. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Z44BIDPPc Absolutely everything about this scene is horrific]]. The first slow pan from a chair, covered in blood, with a shredded uniform in it. Then you - and Windows - [[HellIsThatNoise hear the noise]]. He slowly turns his head to the source of the noise - Bennings being visibly digested by the '''''VERY MUCH ALIVE''''' Split-Face-Thing, tentacles pouring out of every orifice. It ends with him just softly whispering [[PrecisionFStrike "holy shit"]], dropping the key - and running for his life.

* Stopping to think about how dangerous the Thing is will keep you up at night on its own. The only reason it's not a movie about an ''apocalypse'' is because Earth was fortunate enough that the Thing landed on Antarctica, the only place on the planet that could be considered unpopulated. The Thing's opening act shows that it can seemingly replicate ''any'' creature, even if it prefers humans. The only reason it hasn't [[ApocalypseHow taken over the world]] is because the place it landed is too far from a coast for it to not freeze on the way. If it ever got close enough to the ocean, or any other creature it could replicate... A spider, a bee, a colony of ants, a ''fish''... [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt No one would ''ever'' find it or ''ever'' be able to stop it. Humanity would be doomed with no recourse]].

* Oh, one last thing [[SarcasmMode to calm your nerves]]... official production information has ''explicitly'' confirmed that ''[[FridgeHorror people replaced by the Thing don't always know it.]]''

* The Bennings scene. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Z44BIDPPc Absolutely everything about this scene is horrific]]. The first slow pan from a chair, covered in blood, with a shredded uniform in it. Then you - and Windows - [[HellIsThatNoise hear the noise]]. He slowly turns his head to the source of the noise - Bennings being consumed by the '''''VERY MUCH ALIVE''''' Split-Face-Thing, tentacles pouring out of every orifice. It ends with him just softly whispering [[PrecisionFStrike "holy shit"]], dropping the key - and running for his life.

* The jump scare when Fuchs's light goes out. He takes a flare and walks to his door and trips something and all of a sudden we see a shadow shoot by with one of the most horrific sounds ever put on screen. This jump scare mixed psychological horror and paranoia as we don't know who it is and the sound that it makes is so alien and inhuman that it will ALWAYS crawl under your skin.

* The plans for the never-produced Sci-Fi Channel series: ''The Thing figures out how to get around the blood test.'' Even further, it played with the idea of The Thing and showed just how unstoppable it would be if it ever got to a place that wasn't mostly devoid of life. We really would not stand a chance.

* The same sound is heard when the Blair-Thing shows up to kill Garry by MORPHING HIS HAND INTO HIS MOUTH. In the scene afterwards we're shown his body being dragged by his hand melded to Garry's head.

** One of the unfortunate dogs was attacked by the thing with a jet of liquid, implied to be digestive acids. The next and last time we see that dog [[Main/AndIMustScreamit is hairless, its flesh looks melted, and it can only whimper]] as the Thing [[Main/EatenAlive swarms it with fleshy tendrils]].

* And right after the blood test, Palmer's transformation begins, with two other guys flailing and screaming bloody murder ''because they've been tied together with him.''

** If the charred remains of the merged-heads Thing didn't clue you in, the Dog-Thing really hammers home just how ''alien'' the Thing is. This is not only due to the appearance of the monster itself, but the sound effects as well (see below). The Norwegians had the right idea, but bad execution: slow it down with bullets and use thermite grenades to finish the job. KillItWithFire is the only way.

** What really made the kennel scene stand out was that when the dog started to transform, the dogs in the kennel went from aggressive to ''frantic'' attempts to escape. Seeing one of them desperately trying to claw and bite through at the metal fence to escape the other dogs' fate just added to the horror.

* Hell, even before the Dog-Thing outed itself, the dog it was disguised as was off-the-scale creepy. It's no spoiler to point out that something's ''Just Not Right'' about that dog from the first time you see it. [[UncannyValley It stands perfectly still, and stares, and never wags its tail.]] You can see it coolly calculating and planning, waiting for the right moment. And that music...
** According to the commentary track featuring Creator/JohnCarpenter, the animal actor (his name was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_(wolfdog) Jed]]) didn't need special training to perform the creepy deliberateness and intensity because he was half-wolf. Jed was highly trained, but he's still a wolfdog; he doesn't act like other dogs do. The stillness and staring all come from the wolf in him. On set, the actors were genuinely spooked by him, despite his good behavior.
** What really made the kennel scene stand out was that when the dog started to transform, the dogs in the kennel went from aggressive to ''frantic'' attempts to escape. Seeing one of them desperately trying to claw and bite through at the metal fence to escape the other dogs' fate just added to the horror.

** And nobody is going to even check in them for several months.