The Thing From Another World
The Thing from Another World is the very first alien invader film (unless one counts the odd serial entry of the 1940s). As is often the case, the first is one of the best.1
Universal Pictures Video has announced the release of The Thing from Another World for the 5th of March, priced at around ?19.99. The only confirmed extra at this time is a commentary track by horror maestro John Carpenter.2
Although it hasn’t aged quite as robustly as the nostalgia surrounding it, The Thing from Another World remains on many Top Ten favorites lists and still stands tall as one of the seminal influences in genre cinema. It’s the prototype for most subsequent SF-horror hybrids, from It!3
Cheaply made, with rickety, dated special effects, The Thing From Another World is nonetheless spooky and tense. It straddles the horror/sci-fi genres with confidence, largely eschewing heavy-handed social commentary (although the idea of men neglecting to attempt to communicate with the alien is typically Hawksian and very much in line with 50s American sci-fi attitudes).4
The Thing is a 1982 science fiction film directed by John Carpenter, written by Bill Lancaster and stars Kurt Russell. Ostensibly a remake of the 1951 Christian Nyby film The Thing from Another World, Carpenter?s film is more faithful to the original novella ?Who Goes There??5
One of the greatest science-fiction films ever made, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD was produced by Howard Hawks and supposedly directed by his editor on RED RIVER, Christian Nyby. Anyone familiar with Hawks’s films will immediately recognize that the director’s style, themes, and handling of actors dominate THE THING and that Nyby’s participation was that of an apprentice observing the master.6