The Thing From Another World (1951)

I've always felt a bit of a stony disconnect with 1951's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. It's not because it's in black and white, me and black and white movies are prone to secret late night rendezvous all the time. Is it because I saw JOHN CARPENTER's remake first? That never stopped me from getting completely entranced with the original CAT PEOPLE or INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. I've said before that I'm not the type to give up on a film just for not putting out on the first date. My love of JOHN CARPENTER's THE THING is enough for me to own the film it's based on and the other night I gave it another go with happy enough results. It ended up being a fine film to help me put old man winter to bed and watching it with the conscious eyes of a CARPENTER fan delivered some rewards previously missed.

I'm thinking my problem has always been that the film steers clear from the emotional and psychological aspect of horror. It's a stiff upper lip, often times jocular man's man flick whose tone seems closer to that of a war film or western. Most of the characters crack wise throughout the running time and the worst terrors seem readily cured by a hot cup of joe. There's never a real sense of chaos as all involved (save for a wigged out watchman whose bullets have zero effect on the creature) approach the problem at hand with steady, rational aplomb. Moments after the monster gets his arm ripped off by a dog we've learned just about everything we would want to know of the being thanks to some scientists and a couple microscopes. Maybe a little too much even, personally I'd advise a "Don't ask don't tell policy" if my film's main threat was conceived as an "intellectual carrot."

As much as I'd like to shake the whole phlegmatic affair up like a snow globe, I have to admit that some of the stark desolate photography is winning and that there's a few good workable jump scares. I know that's faint praise for a renowned classic but I've always found the unflappable a bit dull. It's certainly entertaining; I just feel I should want to squeeze its cheeks a bit more than I do.

Although the listed director is CHRISTIAN NYBY it's widely known that CARPENTER's hero HOWARD HAWKS cracked the whip on this dog sled. Just as AUNT JOHN has taught me to appreciate, if not love, some films I've neglected, knowing that CARPENTER holds this film in such high regard makes it that much more interesting to me. There's a mismatched group facing an unknown foe just like in ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (and THE FOG), There's a dark shadowy giant with a habit of crashing through hallways just like "the shape" in HALLOWEEN and the final sky gazing moment that warns of future possible terror was lifted directly for THE FOG's elegant epilogue. I also think I understand why NANCY LOOMIS was cast in so many of CARPENTER's films, her girl Friday quip-banter is a chip off of TTFAW's MARGARET SHERIDAN's block. In fact, I'd say in some ways this film resembles those early CARPENTER flicks a bit more than it does his official remake.

Oh boy, you know, I started this post thinking I'd keep talk of CARPENTER's remake to a minimum but that's kind of impossible. I admit it, the whole time I was with the 1951 version I was thinking of it's younger sibling (you can take the Unk out of the eighties but you can't take the eighties out of the Unk.) Who am I kidding? I guess the ultimate truth for me is that nothing can really stand up to CARPENTER's take on JOHN W. CAMPBELL JR.'s WHO GOES THERE? Those other remakes I mentioned, CAT PEOPLE and INVASION, add modern nuances to the films they spawned from (to debatable effect, personally I enjoy them all) where CARPENTER's version just blows the previous take absolutely out of the water and renders it nearly obsolete.

Ugh, I said it. I know not everyone will agree with that but I doubt I'm alone. CARPENTER added the paranoia, the distrust, the believable human aspect that's needed as an appropriate flip side to the alien menace. The original takes on a rather surface issue of invasion and can be seen as a "red scare" parable of us vs. them. CARPENTER tackles something a bit deeper, the very real fear (and this should scare you) that we ARE (or are becoming) "them." The threat may still come from outer space but the territory it marks as a landing pad is the human body, it conquers from within. Ultimately traditional heroics have little effect in the remake as we are left wondering if even our star player MacReady (KURT RUSSELL) is corrupted. The ultimate fear is a global dehumanization, a very profound and real social worry that continues. I ask you, in 2010, is man still "the warmest place to hide" or is the alien menace likely to get more mileage hijacking a laptop?

The ‘82 version may have gotten gaff for relying too heavily on special effects but artist ROB BOTTIN did a bit more than throw blood and prosthetics about. He made it seem that anything was possible and that anything could happen at any moment. His conjurer's hand added yet another significant layer of unease and distrust to the happenings. Suddenly, all bets were off and the audience had that rare experience of not having a clue as to what to expect. Cautious critics can cry "leaves nothing to the imagination!" as much as they like, we now know the reverse was true. BOTTIN's beautiful work in fact, lit the fuse of imagination. He had many of us pondering what shape "the thing" might take next and the possibilities were simply endless. Let's hear it for coloring outside the lines.

Can I just say I hate the cliché of "leaves nothing to the imagination" because it assumes to know the perimeters of my mind? I get the slavish love for subtlety, I think it's great to allow the audience to fill in the blanks when it's done well, but the gall of suggesting that audiences can't expand upon what they have seen just seems like lazy rhetoric to me. It's sad that so many critics in 1982 could mistake legitimate, inspirational artistry for sensationalist gore. Mr. BOTTIN, Mr. CARPENTER, you left a hell of a lot to my imagination, thank you very much. You still do.

Honestly, do you know what's a way bigger imagination killer than visceral, in your face special effects? I'd say it's having your monster be a carrot. Heads with spider legs are not the enemy my friends, walking vegetables are!

Oh no, I've jumped the rails again (and perhaps I'm preaching to the choir), please enjoy my mania while it lasts. I don't mean to disrespect a film that made so many of my favorites possible. The earlier version (maybe it's not even fair to compare the two) really does have a snug, affable atmosphere even if its thrills feel limp. I guess THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is never going to satisfy this viewer completely. It's not that it's dated and as dispassionate as a distant patriarch, it's because I have no real need to dance with someone so frigid when I know I can just as easily, for the same quarter, have my mind blown.