31 Days of Halloween: The Thing (2011)
In the pantheon of horror films, it is very rare that a remake of a classic gets a positive review, let alone surpassing the original. One of the few exceptions was John Carpenter’s The Thing, the 1982 remake 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing from Another World. Carpenter masterfully took a dated science fiction film and turned it into one of the most iconic horror films of the last century. The Thing is the gold standard when it comes to horror. One of the things that really sold this movie and makes it such an iconic film were the downright horrific practical special effects created by Rob Bottin for the film. The stark body horrors he created still stand up to this day. There hasn’t been a film to this date that could compete next to Bottin’s work on The Thing.
When a prequel was released in 2011, which was also (bafflingly) titled The Thing, came it, it was savaged by fans and critics alike. At fist glance, you can’t really blame them. It was seen as an unnecessary addition to an already perfect film in an era where people were growing tired of horror origin stories. You have to remember at the time every other horror franchise was either being rebooted or having a movie made that specifically focused on the origins of the title character. Utter flops like Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006), as well as the remakes of Halloween (2007), Friday the 13th (2009) and Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) already set the tone. Fans already hated all of these films for a plethora of reasons because they were hollow echos of the source material that had terrorized audiences for decades. Nothing could stand up to the original films in which they are based and fans of The Thing treated its 2011 prequel as anything less than an abomination.
I decided to re-watch both films back-to-back to see if the 2011 prequel really deserves the level of criticism it deserves.
I will admit, upfront, that the movie is far from perfect. However, a lot of that has to do with the fact that the film suffered from studio interference. According to a number of making-of featurettes and interviews, the movie was going to employ practical special effects but cost-cutting from the studio forced them to switch to CGI animation so it could be fast-tracked to theaters. The production suffers from it because, no matter how impressive the CGI effects are in this movie, they don’t hold a candle to the practical effects of its source material. I think the reason why John Carpenter’s film stands the test of time is not just because of the practical effects, but also about how these animatronic monstrosities were staged in each shot. The effects themselves are not what make the original film work, but a combination of proper lighting, camera angles, and editing being used in tandem to make the effects really pop. In the original film, it is also what you don’t see as much as what is shown. While the CGI in the 2011 prequel is quite impressive for the era they don’t stand up because there’s not as much effort to create them. In the original film each shot, every lighting choice, each edit in the cutting room were intentional decisions that add to a scene. While the CGI artists were good at creating believable creatures, there is a disconnect between dealing with a physical object and adding a computer-generated creature in post-production. At least, that was the case back in 2011. In the decade that has followed, where blockbuster superhero movies heavily utilize CGI, I think that if The Thing prequel were made today, the digital effects would have been executed to a level of quality that could match the original film.
That said if you look past this obvious blemish and enjoy the story for what it is, 2011’s The Thing is a near-perfect love letter to the original film. The film was produced by Marc Abraham and Eric Heissner who had previously produced that 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, which was better received than this film. These guys have been involved in their share of movies both good and bad. Prior to The Thing, they were producers on James Gunn’s horror classic Slither, an excellent film. On the other hand, they were also involved with the remake of Robocop which, although not a bad movie on its own, didn’t really understand what made the original a classic. That said, when it comes to their horror offerings, both Abraham and Heissner have a level of respect of the horror movie. In fact, they were against doing a remake of John Carpenter’s classic film, equating it to painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.
The writer on this prequel was Eric Heisser, who admittedly did a terrible job remaking Nightmare on Elm Street the year before. Where Heisser sucked at re-imagining a film, he excelled at building onto a pre-existing story.
One of the strongest arguments I can make for this film is the attention to detail. They recreated the Thule set down to the very last detail. CGI monsters aside, comparing the two movies together and they are aesthetically indistinguishable. When we see the Thule station in Thing ‘82 it’s a wreck and the ‘11 prequel recreates the mayhem that put it in that state. Every prop is specific to the 80s era in which this film is set. The attention to detail goes a step further by staging scenes that appear in the 1982 film. When Kurt Russell finds an ax embedded in the wall of the Thule station in Thing ‘82 there is a scene in Thing ‘11 that shows how that ax ended up there. They made the herculean effort to make this film visually consistent with the original film. The cast of characters were some of the best and brightest actors out of Norway and then you have Mary Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane, Black Christmas (2006), Death Proof) in the lead role. The movie draws heavy inspiration from Alien by casting a strong female protagonist and Winstead does a great job with this movie.
All-in-all, if you can look past the special effects this is a very faithful prequel to the original movie and you can watch both films back-to-back seamlessly, they fit together that well. I say it is worth watching because it has a great cast, a great story, and great attention to detail. Yes, the CGI effects do not stand up to the 1982 film, which is unfortunate, but anyone who treats that as a deal-breaker for this movie is really missing out on a fun film.
The Blu-ray release of this film is loaded with a ton of making-of featurettes that go into the level of detail they put into making this film and are very interesting to watch. It’s also impressive to see the practical special effects that were otherwise scrubbed out of the film, giving you an idea of what this film might have looked like had the studio not interfered with the production.
Tomorrow….
It’s Saturday night, it’s time to get a little silly. We’ve got a cursed television, lumbering zombies, and a dorky hero with a stupid haircut. Be there won’t you?
