John Carpenter’s 1982 film Thing, about a group of scientists battling a shape-shifting alien, is a classic of the sci-fi horror genre. Humorous writer Tom Gerencer is one of the characters that many fans of the movie.
“This series weaves my life in so many ways,” Gerencer said in Episode 506 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy audio file. “I watch it every five years — maybe every three years — and I like it every time. I like the feel, the mood, the aesthetic, the chemistry between the actors. I like the dull parts of it. I love paranoia. I just think that’s amazing.”
TV writer Andrea Kail agree that Thing is one of Carpenter’s best films. “It was a great movie,” she said. “It’s scary, it’s creepy, it’s all about paranoia. Monster stuff is great, but I just think of it as a movie, it’s a really great example of how to build tension. So if you’re a fan of good filmmaking, I’ll watch it, that’s for sure.”
Thing Based on a story from 1938 “Who went there?” written by legendary magazine editor John W. Campbell Jr. Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy host David Barr Kirtley initially liked the sophisticated paranoia of “Who goes there?” but did appreciate the bloody violence of Thing also. “There’s been a lot of paranoid stories like ‘Who’s the alien?’,” he said. “It’s even a party game—” Which of us are aliens? “- so just the creation of special effects captured my imagination even more”.
ONE prequel movie, released in 2011, largely failed to connect with fans. Hollywood is expected to try again with an upcoming film adaptation of Ice Hell, an expanded version of “Who Goes There?” discovered in 2018. But sci-fi author Matthew Kressel thinks it might be better to give the franchise a break. “If they do it right, if they handle it properly, who knows?” he says. “But it will be difficult to beat the Carpenter version.”
Listen to the full interview with Tom Gerencer, Andrea Kail, and Matthew Kressel in Episode 506 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). And check out some highlights from the discussion below.
Matthew Kressel on tempo:
We’ve seen a lot of ’80s movies on this podcast, and one of the things I’ve noticed is the patience of the ’80s audience, which I think is larger. There are so many movies that you watch them right now and you’re like, “Wow, that’s so slow”. I’ve never felt it with Thing. I think that’s the biggest difference I feel with the prequel. With the 1982 movie, I was in my chair the whole time – I was bummed, I never looked away, I don’t think I got up once to go to the bathroom or have a snack. I’m glued to the TV, and it’s hard to do.
Andrea Kail on Thing (2011):
I think it’s a great idea – a great idea – but the execution is [lacking]. All you do is a monster movie. Nothing special. It has no fear, claustrophobic fear like the movie The Carpenter. Everything in The Carpenter is dark, stuffy, and scary. But the 2011 version is a lot brighter, and it took away a lot of the fear I felt from the movie ’82. It also uses a lot of the same spans: [characters] escaped through a hole in the floor, shot their assailant in the head, the flamethrower malfunctioned. [They’re in] both movies. ”
David Barr Kirtley on “Who Goes There?”:
[“Who Goes There?”] are more serious sci-fi and intellectual because they have all these interesting conversations. First there was a conversation about “Can an alien disease infect humans and what is its biology?” They then have a conversation about “Can a creature come back to life after being frozen?” – and how simple creatures can but complex creatures can’t. Then there was the interesting conversation about “This thing looks like it has an evil expression on its face, but maybe it’s just your human chauvinism, and maybe this is a smiling alien. How do you know? It’s an alien. ” And so there’s only the fun stuff that makes you think, and I missed that in the movie adaptations.
Tom Gerencer on special effects:
They sent the director of photography home and they said, “You have to do the opening title.” So he’s in his trailer, and he’s thinking and thinking about what he’s going to do. He took an aquarium, and painted the inside of the aquarium black, then he took a razor blade, and he scraped the letters “The Thing” out of the black paint with the blade. And then he hung a black trash bag over the inside of that inscription, in the aquarium, and he flashed the spotlight across the aquarium from the other side, into the camera, and he lit a fire. burn garbage bags. So the trash bag will burn away and you actually get the light shining through you with the letters “Things”. It’s great for me. It was just some creative guy, and they gave him a camera and said, “Let’s have a great opening.”
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