History YMMV / TheThing1982

* CommonKnowledge: The idea that a single cell of the Thing can infect people is thought by many to be canon, but this is merely one character's hypothesis. Evidence from the film itself makes it fairly clear that the Thing doesn't infect you at all, it ''consumes and replaces'' you. It cannot replace you until it has completely consumed you.

* UncannyValley:

** The movie is ripe with this after watching, as you know who has been assimilated, but not always when they were. For example, [[spoiler:did Blair destroy all that equipment in a desperate attempt to keep the Thing contained, or had he already been assimilated and was out to prevent the others calling for help? His research into the nature of the Thing would seem to indicate the former, but perhaps the Thing was taking the opportunity to learn for the first time about its own nature.]] Also, [[spoiler:Norris turning down taking a leadership role. Was it because of his heart condition as initially implied, or was he already a Thing at this point and knew being leader would inevitably focus a lot of unwanted attention/suspicion on himself? The actor stated he played it as if character thought he ''might'' be the Thing, but didn't know for sure, so turned it down because he wasn't sure he was trustworthy.]]

** Did [[spoiler:Fuchs try to burn the thing after discovering [=MacReady=]’s shredded clothes but fail in the process? Did he burn himself before the thing could assimilate him? Or did the thing burn him before he could tell anybody the truth?]]

* CreepyAwesome: With emphasis on the creepy, The Thing is a remarkable creature with nightmarish transformations and surprising intelligence that makes it quite memorable.

** The HeroOfAnotherStory Norwegians chasing the thing at the beginning.

** There are some who wonder if [[spoiler:Fuchs]] might have been FakingTheDead with one of the previously killed bodies in order to hide from The Thing, given how nothing was recognizable of his corpse but his (oddly unmelted) glasses.

** Creator/KurtRussell would later be in [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 a film]] [[spoiler: with an alien desiring to assimilate others. The kicker? He is said alien in question.]]

* JerkassWoobie: Most of the characters, as while they may be arguing and trying to kill each other, considering they are trapped with [[EldritchAbomination the Thing]] taking them over, one can't blame them. Clarke in particular warrants mention, as while he comes across as rather creepy, one can't help but sympathize with his grief over his dogs being killed by The Thing and Blair.
* MagnificentBastard: [[BadassNormal R.J. MacReady]], the team's gruff, alcoholic helicopter pilot, proves to be the one person on the research capable of matching wits with the monstrous Thing. When the Thing begins assimilating the team one after another, [=MacReady=] [[AwesomenessByAnalysis deduces]] not only the alien's nature but that it poses a threat to all life, leading to him taking command of a paranoid, mutinous crew to stop the alien no matter what. So ruthlessly pragmatic he'd sooner [[TakingYouWithMe burn the entire board and all of its players than risk a loss of his own]], [=MacReady=] ends the film doing exactly that: surviving a one-on-one fight with the Thing and annihilating the research camp so it can't go dormant. Accepting his impending demise from Antarctic cold with a bottle of Scotch and cool stoicism, [=MacReady=] is the most levelheaded character in the movie and one of the most badass [[ActionSurvivor action survivors]] put to film.

* NarmCharm: The cartoon-standard sound effects utilized a few times (such as the *goop* sound when [[spoiler: Copper gets his arms torn off]]) really don't detract from the horror at all, and often work exactly as intended even when contemporary films could never hope to get away with half of them.

* ParanoiaFuel: The antagonist is an alien who can flawlessly mimic any living being and seeks to assimilate other victims. It could be anywhere, taking the form of even your most trusted friend, just waiting for the right moment to infect you.

** When Macready subdues Blair, he lands two punches, the sound effects of which are obviously dubbed-in.

** Garry, who is a ReasonableAuthorityFigure shaken by the deaths that happen around him during the film. He suffers the above situation with Copper, [[spoiler:and while he turns out to be human, [[YankTheDogsChain he ends up killed by Blair in a painful death when he shoves his hand into his mouth and absorbs him.]]]]
** Windows can't catch a break through the whole movie: [[spoiler:harangued by the others for his handling of radio transmissions, witnesses Bennings' absorption by the thing, physically attacked by Blair and then Palmer-Thing before finally being mercy-killed by MacReady's flame-thrower.]]

** A group of people is stuck somewhere with an alien impersonating as one of them. Everyone needs to work on their various roles, while trying to figure out who's the alien is. Sounds just like [[VideoGame/AmongUs one familiar game]]. It gets even better with the new update of the imposters getting the ability to shape-shift into other cremates.

** A group of people is stuck somewhere with an alien impersonating as one of them. Everyone needs to work on their various roles, while trying to figure out who's the alien is. Sounds just like [[Film/AmongUs one familiar game]]. It gets even better with the new update of the imposters getting the ability to shape-shift into other cremates.

* CriticalResearchFailure: [=MacReady=] proclaims that winter has just begun in the opening scene. Yet the sun is shining brightly.[[note]]For those not in the know, Antarctica (and the Arctic, for that matter) is shrouded in darkness in winter. Mind you, it would depend on exactly where they were how long the darkness would last, but that close to the solstice, it's pretty much a given that it would be AlwaysNight.[[/note]]

* WhatAnIdiot: The Norwegian pilot at the beginning drops an active grenade and ends up obliterating himself along with his helicopter just because he decided to try digging through the deep snow for an explosive device that would detonate in mere ''seconds'' instead of running like Hell away from it. Either it was the wrong time to panic, or it's a classic case of TooDumbToLive.

** A group of people is stuck somewhere with an alien impersonating as one of them. Everyone needs to work on their various roles, while trying to figure out who's the alien is. Sounds just like one familiar game (Among Us). It gets even better with the new update of the imposters getting the ability to shape-shift into other cremates.

* {{Narm}}: When trying to figure out why some dudes from a Norwegian camp flew a helicopter to their base and started shooting and throwing grenades, Nauls comes up with one laughably implausible hypothesis: "Maybe we at war with Norway."

** Fuchs, TheSmartGuy.

** The movie is ripe with this after watching, as you know who has been assimilated, but not always when they were. For example, [[spoiler:did Blair destroy all that equipment in a desperate attempt to keep the Thing contained, or had he already been assimilated and was out to prevent the others calling for help? His research into the nature of the Thing would seem to indicate the former, but perhaps the Thing was taking the opportunity to learn for the first time about it's own nature.]] Also, [[spoiler:Norris turning down taking a leadership role. Was it because of his heart condition as initially implied, or was he already a Thing at this point and knew being leader would inevitably focus a lot of unwanted attention/suspicion on himself? The actor stated he played it as if character thought he ''might'' be the Thing, but didn't know for sure, so turned it down because he wasn't sure he was trustworthy.]]

** Closely followed by Palmer's reaction to the spider-head Thing:

%%
%% Some more context to the below, please
%%* {{Narm}}: "Maybe we at war with Norway."
%%

** The movie is ripe with this after watching, as you know who has been assimilated, but not always when they were. For example, [[spoiler:did Blair destroy all that equipment in a desperate attempt to keep the Thing contained, or had he already been assimilated and was out to prevent the others calling for help]]? Also, [[spoiler:Norris turning down taking a leadership role. Was it because of his heart condition as initially implied, or was he already a Thing at this point and knew being leader would inevitably focus a lot of unwanted attention/suspicion on himself]]?

** While the majority of the effects have held up magnificently, it's quite obvious during the blood-testing scene that when [[spoiler:Windows]] is being ragdolled by the [[spoiler:Palmer]]-Thing he is obviously, well... a ragdoll.

** While the majority of the effects have held up magnificently, it's a little sad that during the otherwise flawless blood-testing scene that when [[spoiler:Windows]] is being ragdolled by the [[spoiler:Palmer]]-Thing he is obviously, well... a ragdoll.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Though not commonly known at the time, it's since become a serious concern in the scientific community that thawing polar icecaps could unleash hellish diseases.
** Norris suffering a heart attack [[spoiler: before turning out to be the Thing]] is this considering Charles Hallahan would end up dying of a heart attack.

* A group of people is stuck somewhere with an alien impersonating as one of them. Everyone needs to work on their various roles, while trying to figure out who's the alien is. Sounds just like one familiar game (Among Us). It gets even better with the new update of the imposters getting the ability to shape-shift into other cremates.

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** The Dog-Thing was played by Jed, an animal actor who would later go on to play the title character in the ''Film/WhiteFang'' movies.
** Keith David's BadassBaritone is more famous these days as the voice of ''{{VideoGame/Halo}}'''s the Arbiter.

** [[spoiler:Creator/WilfordBrimley]] [[WebAnimation/TheFrolloShow turns into a shapeshifting]] EldritchAbomination.

** A man nicknamed Mac has trouble with his computer and destroys it, while a man nicknamed Windows has trouble sending messages to the outside world. Neither the Macintosh nor the Windows operating system existed at the time this film came out. To add another layer to the analogy, when he's most needed, [[spoiler:Windows freezes and gets [[{{Squick}} his head eaten]] in the process.]]

** A big one overall: do the people who've been infected actually ''know'' they've been infected until the monster reveals itself?

** The Thing itself is heavily subjected to this since we aren't told anything about where it came from or what its motivation is. See the WMG page for more, but put simply, one could interpret it as being malevolent, or simply acting in self-preservation, or it's a life form seeking to spread its species.
** Forms the basis for [[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/ this short story]], wherein the Thing is more a result of BlueAndOrangeMorality than malice. Among other things it's at first unable to comprehend intelligent life that ''isn't'' an assimilating, shape-shifting organism, initially thinking of humans as soulless husks because they aren't a HiveMind of independently functioning cells.
** The giant [[spoiler:Blair-Thing]] at the end. Was it attacking [=MacReady=] out of desperation, to keep him from finishing the destruction of the base? Or was it ''just a distraction'', keeping [=MacReady=] busy long enough that some small piece, somewhere, was allowed to scuttle off and freeze down?