Fortunately, this remake of Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World which offers a more faithful interpretation of the suspenseful, paranoia-fueled source material, has since taken on a new life as one of the finest films in the sci-fi/horror crossover genre.
Kurt Russell’s struggle to figure out which of his fellow Antarctic researchers is a shape-shifting alien in disguise, along with the timelessly convincing practical effects, never fails to put a lasting chill down your spine.
Speaking of Steven Spielberg and alien visitors, the filmmaker’s hugely successful E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial has been openly blamed by director John Carpenter for the initial commercial and critical failure of his much darker creature feature, The Thing, which came out just two weeks after Spielberg’s family film.