#26 - The Thing (1982)

I decided to go with a couple of old favorites because it's the weekend before Halloween, and I just can't seem to find a good horror movie on TV to save my life.  I even looked for The Fog, but I can't seem to to find anyplace I can watch it online for free.  Which totally sucks, because it's an awesome Halloween movie.  Maybe I can find it on TV before the 31st.  I guess we'll see!

The Thing (1982) is one of my all-time favorite horror movies.  It begins with a helicopter chasing a dog across the open snow, in what can only be Antacrtica, because you quickly see a sign that tells you that it's Antarctica.  You don't know why the men in the helicopter are chasing the dog out over the open snow, but you know it's serious business.  They're shooting at it and tossing grenades, and in addition to that, there's some ominous music playing in the background.  And then, you cut to the US Antarctic Research Station, where a bunch of clowns are hanging out, goofing off.  Well, they're not actual clowns.  Actual clowns in Antarctica would be an even weirder horror movie than we have time for.

Kurt Russell stars as MacReady, and I'd like to say that this was the movie that made him a star, but he was a star long before this movie.  Wilford Brimley is Doc Blair, Keith David is Childs, and TK Carter is Nauls.  There's more awesome cast, but I'm running short on time to list them all.  I caught this movie on one of the Starz premium cable channels, but I'm sure you can find it elsewhere.  Always a fun watch, so many good parts.  One of my personal favorites is (minor spoilers) is when Norris' head separates from the burning body, grows 6 crab legs, and scuttles off towards a utility closet.  Palmer (the backup chopper pilot besides Macready) catches sight of it and says "You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me!"  Yeah, I pretty much said the same thing when I saw it happen the first time, too.  And I was probably around 13 at the time, so...  Yes, I was a foul-mouthed little hooligan!  :-D At least that one time, anyways.

Love this movie!  I highly recommend it.  Other horror movies to watch, and computer games to play whilst I do it!  Doesn't get any better than this, at least not for me on a Saturday night.  :-D  Have fun out there, horror movie fans!