24 - The Thing from Another World (1951)

You know a movie is good when it gets remade 30 years later, and then gets a prequel another 30 years after that.  I'm talking about The Thing from Another World, made in 1951, based off the short story "Who Goes There?" written by John W. Campbell.  I've never read the story, but I've seen all the movies (The Thing in 1982 and, Thing in 2011) multiple times.  They're all just good entertainment, science fiction horror at its best.

The Thing from Another World (1951) starts out pretty calmly.  A reporter named Ned "Scotty" Scott arrives at the Officer's Club at an arctic military base looking for a story, and it's not long before one gets dropped into his lap.  A nearby research station reports a downed plane, and "Scotty" tags along for the ride.  Turns out the downed plane is actually a UFO, and while efforts to recover the downed spacecraft are hampered by an incoming storm, a body is recovered and brought back to the research station.  The storm hinders all efforts at communication, and getting the story out proves impossible.  The military posts a guard on the frozen alien corpse until such a time as orders about it can be verified, but then...  you know it...  all hell breaks loose.

James Arness plays the titular "Thing," Kenneth Tobey plays Captain Hendry, and Margaret Sheridan plays Nikki Nicholson, the Captain's love interest.  Douglas Spencer is Ned Scott, and Robert Cornthwaite plays Dr. Arthur Carrington, the lead research scientist in charge of the research station.  I love how the tension mounts throughout the entire movie, both between Dr. Carrington and Captain Hendry, Captain Hendry and Nikki Nicholson, and between everyone and the alien.  I love how there's a running commentary on the Captain's love life through the entire movie, popping up at random times throughout the movie.  I also love how the weather, the cold and the storm are almost as threatening to everyone as the alien is, even more than in the remake with Kurt Russell in 1982.  I mean, let's face it, in 1951, there wasn't a lot in the way of special effects.  It's likely all the outdoors scenes and cold and snow effects were real, and people had to be wary of actually freezing to death in between scenes.  I don't like that the movie is in black and white for the most part, but it was made in 1951, so what are you gonna do, right?  I caught this movie on Turner Classic Movies if anyone wants to watch it, assuming they play it again this month at some point.  This movie is very popular on TCM.

In other news, I actually finished my review early tonight!  :-D  Now I can go watch horror movies for fun, in addition to playing obscene amounts of computer games.  One more week to go before Halloween!  I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am.  Until next time, horror movie fans!