La Chose d'un autre monde

Classic, wonderful sci-fi / horror feature, a none too faithful adaptation of the John W. Campbell, Jr. short story "Who Goes There?". In this instance, the idea of the alien entity being a monstrosity that can imitate other life forms is jettisoned, in favour of making the creature basically like the Frankenstein monster. It's a super vegetable that requires blood for sustenance, and it makes life very tense for the scientists and military personnel at an isolated Arctic outpost when it's thawed from an icy imprisonment.

With an intrepid hero in the form of 1950s icon Kenneth Tobey on hand, it's a guarantee that "The Thing from Another World" is going to be a good time. It was a fairly odd choice of material for the producer Howard Hawks, who fills the story with overlapping dialogue and a sense of camaraderie among the various protagonists. Unlike the 1982 version, where the characters had the means to destroy the creature but first had to *identify* who the creature was, our cast here have to improvise their survival.

While any genre fan such as this viewer, who'd been brought up on the 1982 John Carpenter film, may be more inclined to favour that brand of horror, this is still very stylish fun. Hawks's editor Christian Nyby gets the directing credit, but it's generally believed that Hawks was pretty much in control of things. The score by Dimitri Tiomkin, utilizing the theremin, is suitably eerie. There are solid shocks, moments of suspense, and atmosphere along the way, as well as a lively finish.

This is a film very much of its time, with our military characters very much a dependable bunch of heroes, and the scientists (most of them) treated as highly suspect, especially the misguided Dr. Carrington, played delightfully by Robert Cornthwaite.

A little too much time is devoted to the romantic subplot with Captain Hendry and his love interest (Margaret Sheridan), but the actors couldn't be more engaging. Tobey, Sheridan, and Cornthwaite are extremely well supported by a strong ensemble: Douglas Spencer as annoying newspaperman Scotty (who has the honour of uttering the memorable closing monologue), James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Eduard Franz, Nicholas Byron, John Dierkes, George Fenneman, Paul Frees, David McMahon, and Norbert Schiller. A young James Arness, in his pre-'Gunsmoke' days, has great presence as The Thing.

There are images here so striking that Carpenter was wise to pay homage to them in his film: the line of men encircling the buried UFO, and the sight of the burning creature crashing through the building into the snow.

It's definitely a different beast, in more ways than one, than what we would see 31 years later, but it's solid entertainment for its own very good reasons.

Eight out of 10.

The movie starts out very promisingly, creating a great spooky atmosphere and avoiding possible cheap looking special effects of the spaceship crash. It knows where its true driving force lies; it's not in the silly looking "carrot" creature(that thankfully also doesn't get much screen time), it's in the dialogues and the relationships between characters. This reminds me of Rydley Scott's "Alien". Same concept, same result. Great atmosphere and a good sense for story telling make "The Thing From Another World" well worth the watch. 7/10

The Thing, released in 1951, is the original hostile alien movie, a must-see for fans of sci-fi and horror.

Major director Howard Hawks (Sergeant York, The Big Sleep, Red River, Rio Bravo) produced it but some sources (Leonard Maltin) credit him as co-director. Christian Nyby, a film editor for Hawks, is officially credited as the director. Whoever directed it, The Thing is an impeccably crafted movie. It's considered as a Grade B movie, probably because of its subject matter, but it's one of the best Grade B's along with Them and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

A group of scientists at the North Pole discover something buried in the ice. Unknowingly they bring back part of it to the camp for study.

The acting is solid and the characters are given great dialog. Kenneth Tobey is the take charge Captain Patrick Hendry. Robert Cornthwaite is great as the slightly nutty Dr. Carrington. Douglas Spencer as Scotty is fun as the wisecracking reporter always looking for a photo. Margaret Sheridan is Nikki the shapely love interest. James Arness plays The Thing monster. With an ensemble cast of supporting actors. Be sure to rent the DVD version because it has a few scenes between Tobey and Sheridan that were always cut for TV and VHS probably because they were considered a little too racy for the time although now they are just cute.

The film has held up well for over fifty years. The film's contributors were seasoned professionals who had worked on major films. The screenplay by Charles Lederer (Mutiny on the Bounty, Ocean's Eleven, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, His Girl Friday) is full of crisp dialog. The black and white cinematography by Russell Harlan (Red River, Witness for the Prosecution, To Kill A Mockingbird, Run Silent Run Deep) makes everything look right. The prolific film composer Dmitri Tiompkin provides a very eerie, theremin-based score.

After 50 years this movie rightly earns the label of classic.

Exactly that´s the stuff classics are made from: good acting (James Arness from TV-show "Smoking Guns" plays the monster!), a creepy atmosphere and an intelligent plot! The suspense will make you bite down your fingernails for 90 minutes, there is neither violence nor gore, because the true horror comes from the unknown and the unexpected! In 1982 John Carpenter filmed a remake with more action, better F/X and Kurt Russell, but it has not much to do with Howard Hawks original! And also the spirit of the post WW2-era is totally missing, because this film shows very urgently the fear of nuclear armament or the things from outer space! In some moments Christian Nyby´s film even reminded me on Ridley Scott´s "Alien", the parallels to both stories are more than immense! But as Scott´s movie is nothing but good Sci-Fi/horror, "The Thing from another World" is social criticsm and suspense-packed entertainment in one! It influenced many other classics of the genre like "Tarantula", "Them!" or "It came from outer Space", so it´s a very enjoyable and important film, which is a must for lovers of 1950s terror cinema!

The Thing From Another World is one of the top ten science fiction movies of all time. The original version feeds on our paranoia of the times as well as the fears of the atomic age and invasion from outerspace. Remember Mr. Arnold first saw what was called flying saucers only a few short years earlier. The acting and storyline are tight and first rate. The claustraphobia from being confined inside the North Pole with an alien running amoke is done very well. The cast rounds out the movie quite well with great performances of all of the characters. Granted to soem the movie may seem dated and lack special effects of the remake, but the remake does not capture the times and the fear of the so called Reds that this does. The Thing From Another World has to rank in the top ten. As a kid I thought it was one of the better, not to mention more frightening science fiction movies, up there with War of the Worlds and The Day The World Stood Still. This stands up story wise. Not all science fiction needs to have effects on the order of Star Wars. Sometimes, like horror, it's what you don't see that can get to you. This is a timeless classic. IT has to be in the top ten sci-fi films of all time. If you don't rent it, buy it. You will love it!