13 - The Thing (2011)

"The Thing," John Carpenter's 1982 remake of "The Thing From Another World" (1951) still stands up as one of the finest horror movies ever made.  So does the original 1951 movie, for that matter, but let's stick with the 1982 version for now.  Kurt Russell led a fantastic cast of supporting actors, the special effects were superb, the atmosphere filled with such terror that you could cut the fear with a knife.  If you noticed at the end of the movie that you had pissed yourself, you probably weren't alone.  Or, maybe that was just me.  :-/

The Thing (2011) tries to recreate that horror by telling the tale of the norwegian research base that discovered the alien body in the first place.  In the 1982 version, what happened at the Norwegian base is never really discussed.  All we knew was that something horrible happened there, and a dog escaped, was chased by a couple guys in a helicopter, and that's how the 1982 version opened.  Which leaves a whole hell of a lot of wiggle-room to tell a prequel story.  The 2011 version attempts to fill in the details that led up to the 1982 movie.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the lead actress, accompanied by a host of other actors whom I mostly didn't recognize.  Special effects were CGI here, where they were not in the 1982 version, but they at least had a similar style.  Definitely creepy-looking, to say the least.  Acting was moderately okay, but the movie didn't seem to have the same gritty, life-or-death feel of the 1982 version.  I caught this movie on HBO zone, i think it was, if you want to watch it yourself.  This is the second time I've seen it and the second time I've reviewed it.  It's not a bad watch, but I think I was a bit hard on it the first time around.  Don't compare it to the 1982 version.  Let's face it, there was a reason that the 1982 movie wasn't about what happened at the norwegian base, because it just wasn't as exciting.  Look at it as a reasonable approximation of what might have happened at the norwegian base, and keep in mind that there was only one way the movie could end, with those two guys in the chopper going after that dog.  Everything in the movie had to flow up to that point, so it couldn't have been easy to make.  I did like the scenes of the spaceship, which was kind of cool.  I wonder if there's ever going to be a sequel about that?  Hmm.

In other news, almost half-way through the month!  Wooot!  Still plenty of movies to watch and review and still enjoying all of them!  I expect to be all horror movie'd out come november, but for now I am still loving every minute of it!  Bring on the next horror flick!  :-D  See you guys tomorrow!