The Firelight Shocks DVD Review Section

The Thing Distributor: Columbia Tristar Region: 2 Ratio: 2:35:1 Sound: Dolby Digital

Why the hell has it taken so long for someone to letterbox this movie and throw it out into the public domain? Thankfully, a laserdisc version of The Thing arrived in the US about five years ago and now we have the UK DVD release, culled from the same source as the laserdisc and featuring all of the laser extras. The film itself is definitely Carpenter's second best movie (need I mention the 'H' word?) and a far cry from the tedium of such dreck as Prince of Darkness, Memoirs of an Invisible Man and the truly pisspoor Village of the Damned. In fact, this disc is the one (above all else) that most encouraged me to get a DVD player. The film itself is, in my humble opinion, far superior to Howard Hawk's overrated original and a visceral power punch to the gob with unsurpassed special effects. Kurt Russell plays MacReadie, the bold and rugged man who takes control of a bizarre situation in the icy landscapes of the Antarctic. Basically, Russell and his research team find themselves infiltrated by a couple of Norwegians (initially seen in a helicopter) who are trying desperately to shoot a dog dead. The Norwegians meet an untimely death for this apparent bout of animal cruelty although it soon becomes evident that the dog is in fact 'The Thing' of the title and able to take the shape of any other living creature... including humans! It's not long before Russell and his men (including Pitch Black's Keith David) are fighting for survival as The Thing begins to possess many of the research team. This allows for Rob Bottin to demonstrate many awesome set pieces; including a head springing spider legs, a carnivorous stomach and a truly gruesome scene where a man's head splits in two and becomes a huge mouth before attempting to swallow someone whole! If this film proves anything it's that CGI doesn't look half as good as good old latex and prosthetics. The ending is wonderfully understated and one of the creepiest finales you'll ever see. This is a great film and although the disc shows sign of some grain, the picture showcases this marvellous film in all its widescreen glory and that's good enough for me (even without any enhancement for widescreen televisions). As with the first three Halloween films, Dean Cundey's use of panavision simply cannot be faulted and the steadicam shot through the bunkers near the end is as evocative of an unseen menace as any scene in the original Halloween. High praise indeed! The Thing is one of the best films of the eighties and anticipates the AIDS scare fantastically. It can also be read as a scathing comment on the breakdown of the human race in light of Regan's America and the threat of a cold war. Indeed, at the time, this film must have acted as the perfect deterrent to such xenophobic, obnoxious, gung-ho American shit as Red Dawn and Rambo.

EXTRAS: Wow! This package could be the best horror disc on sale in the UK and (ironically on the other end of the budget and merit scale) only the American release of that crappy Cannibal Ferox comes close to matching this in terms of outstanding extra features. First we have a ninety (yes ninety) minute documentary on the film featuring behind the scenes footage and even snippets of an alternative ending! This documentary also includes interviews with Kurt Russell, John Carpenter and all the other lead players as well as makeup legend Rob Bottin (who admits to checking himself into hospital after the film finished shooting). Compulsive viewing and (at times) quite humorous. Equally engrossing is a feature length commentary track with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Neither star reveals any bitterness towards the fact that the film floundered upon its original theatrical release before becoming popular on home video and, ultimately, being hailed as a classic (much like Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape From New York in this sense). In fact, both Carpenter and Russell appear genuinely thankful that there are so many fans of the film now - expressing a real 'cheers' to anyone watching the film and making the commentary track both insightful and strangely personal. Also on this disc is the creepy cinema trailer and whole host of storyboard art, production notes, sketches, poster art and more. There are also some deleted scenes (sadly shown in a cropped full screen image). This is a brilliant disc and I one that I will have watched more than once since purchasing it (I even got my girlfriend to sit through it!). It's one film that I'll still be watching years from now and if that isn't a high recommendation then I don't know what is. Top marks for Ennio Morricone's score too.