As horror fans start looking for classics for the Halloween season, many will surely be revisiting John Carpenter's The Thing. The sci-fi horror masterpiece has gone from a critical and financial flop to one of the most beloved movies in the genre, and it's not hard to see why.
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Along with amazing monster effects, The Thing is a well-written movie with many memorable quotes. Some show the movie's sense of humor amid the terror, others highlight the paranoia of the story, and some send a chill down the audience's spine. Each of these quotes further cements The Thing as a horror classic.
Nauls: "Maybe We At War With Norway."
The movie doesn't waste any time getting into the intrigue as the members of the American outpost have a run-in with members of the Norwegian crew trying to kill a runaway dog.
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After one of the Norwegians is shot dead, the others try to piece together what happened. Nauls suggests they might be at war. It is a funny line that establishes the looser atmosphere of the earlier scenes but also reminds audiences how cut off the characters are and sets up The Thing's creepy isolated setting.
Blair: "How Long Were You Alone With That Dog?"
One of the most memorable scenes of the movie is the alien's first transformation, morphing from the adorable dog into a hideous monster. It is a moment that really raises the stakes and hints to the characters what they are dealing with.
Blair is the first character to really contemplate what this creature could be. After questioning Clark about the dog, Blair asks him how long he was alone with the animal. This begins the movie's theme of distrust as Blair realizes the enemy could be among them, mixing the monster movie with a paranoid thriller story.
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MacReady: "If It Takes Us Over, Then It Has No More Enemies, Nobody Left To Kill It. And Then It's Won."
Kurt Russell's MacReady makes for an excellent and relatable hero at the center of the movie. He is a man who is out of his element yet is also practical in his thinking. When it becomes clear what the team is up against, MacReady gives a very no-nonsense speech to the survivors.
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MacReady lays out the threat and in doing so, the audience gets a very understandable motivation for the monster. It is surrounded by enemies and the more it is able to take over, the safer it is. The movie wisely understands that is all the explanation needed.
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Childs: "Well, Then We're Wrong!"
Carpenter does a great job of making the threat in the movie not just about the monster in their midst but also the humans themselves. Knowing that any one of them could be an enemy, the group stops trusting each other and starts turning on each other.
Carpenter doesn't try to make these characters overly heroic. The team suspects MacReady might be the monster and they decide to lock him out in the frigid weather. When someone suggests they could be wrong, Childs simply accepts that possibility, willing to take the risk.
Palmer: "Oh You've Got To Be F***Ing Kidding!"
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The creature designs in this movie are surely the most iconic aspect of The Thing. Along with being impressive practical and gruesome effects, they keep changing, each form more terrifying than the last. It becomes another way the movie keeps audiences on their toes.
After the alien morphs from Norris's body, the head detaches, sprouts legs, and begins walking off like a nightmarish spider. Palmer's darky comedic reaction seems to speak for the audience at this moment just as they think they'd seen everything.
MacReady: "Nobody Trusts Anybody Now, And We're All Very Tired."
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Even though Carpenter sprinkles in moments of levity to break the tension, The Thing has a unique hopeless feeling that is very effective. Each time the team torches one of these monsters, it becomes clear it has already spread elsewhere. It begins to feel that the heroes are fighting a losing battle.
MacReady sums this feeling up nicely as he makes a voice recording for the records. He seems to see the situation for what it is as they are overcome with distrust and exhaustion with the threat still very much among them.
Garry: "And When You Find The Time I'd Rather Not Spend The Rest Of This Winter Tied To This F***ing Couch!"
The infamous blood test scene is perhaps the best and most intense moment in the movie. As several suspects are tied up, MacReady tests their blood to see if they are the monster. The moment is also funny in the reactions of the men who are proven to be human.
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While Childs has a big reaction once he is in the clear, screaming to be untied, Garry seems to be more measured about it all. He calmly and politely acknowledges everyone is a bit stressed before losing his cool as well.
MacReady: "We're Not Gettin' Out Of Here Alive. But Neither Is That Thing."
MacReady might be a bit of a reluctant hero, but he proves himself heroic nonetheless. As the hopeless feeling of the movie begins to set in even more, MacReady is the first of the remaining survivors to recognize the situation for what it is.
Realizing the alien wants to hibernate and freeze out the remaining humans, MacReady sees himself and the others as the only thing keeping it from reaching the outside world. He knows they will not survive, but figures they can die taking the alien down with them.
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MacReady: "Yeah F*** You Too!"
Whether Kurt Russell is in his Western roles or battling aliens like this, he really is a cinematic hero like no other. And MacReady might be his most likable hero. It is fun to cheer for someone who will do whatever it takes to save the day but also hates that it has to be him.
His frustrated hero schtick reaches its climax as he is seemingly the only one left standing. As he faces off with the alien, the creature lets out an angry roar and MacReady responds perfectly with "Yeah, f*** you too!"
MacReady: "Why Don't We Just Wait Here For A Little While, See What Happens?"
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After the compound is destroyed, MacReady is left alone in the cold outdoors as Childs emerges. Though Childs explains he was separated from the others earlier, it is clear MacReady isn't really in a trusting mood.
However, the movie maintains its hopeless theme as MacReady concludes that if one of them is the alien, there's nothing the other can do at this point. Childs asks what they should do and MacReady suggests they just wait to see what happens, leaving a chilling ambiguous ending.
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