“Man Is The Warmest Place To Hide.”
With those words, Shocktober day #26 celebrates one of the greatest horror films ever: John Carpenter’s classic “The Thing!”
This iconic image reminds me of what a classic, creepy and shocking film this is – Director John Carpenter is allredy on my life for “Shocktober” – his “Halloween” is one of horror’s greatest achievements as well.
Let’s begin with the trailer for this classic film:
Scientists are housed in Antartica. It’s the first week of winter in 1982. An American Research Base is greeted by an alien force, which is able to assimilate by hiding inside anything it touches.
Kurt Russell stars in the film, along with a number of great character Actors. Remember that Russell had just done “Escape From New York” with Carpenter.
As it becomes clear that something is very, very wrong – the crew begin to turn on each other, fearful that at any moment someone could end up doing this!
It’s up to the members to stay alive, and uncover who has become “the Thing.” As the great tagline says:
“Man Is The Warmest Place To Hide.”
There are many types of horror – the slow, creeping dread that settles over a film – and those movies that use big shocks and special effects….”The Thing” is a perfect combination of both – unsetttling dread as dark as the Antartic winter, and shocking special effects unlike any seen before – like this scene, where a man’s head becomes a spider!
According to IMDB, John Carpenter said that Wilford Brimley was the only cast member not initially grossed out by the autopsy scene where they used real animal organs!
Brimley had been a real-life cowboy and hunter, so gutting animals and removing organs was a normal experience for him!
“The Thing” wasn’t a box office success when released in 1982 – it was, perhaps, too dark and unsettling – but its stature over the years has grown, and it is now considered a modern horror classic, and has become part of the culture in Antarctica. It is a long standing tradition in all British Antarctic research stations to watch the movie as part of their Midwinter feast and celebration held every June 21!
As I said, Director John Carpenter is already on my “Shocktober” list for another of the greatest horror films ever made:
What a classic! It also introduced America to the iconic “scream queen”, Jamie Lee Curtis – see more here:
https://johnrieber.com/2016/10/03/shocktober-day-3-screams-halloween-scream-queen-jamie-lee-curtis/
“Halloween” is just one of the many films I have profiled this Halloween season – like this one, a modern horror classic:
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” started off the month of a horrific note – here are the others from he first ten days of Shocktober 2016:
The next ten days also included chainsaws, although these were a big more “naked!”
“Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers” is as over-the-top fun as you can imagine, and you can see the trailer for this movie here:
https://johnrieber.com/2016/10/24/shocktober-2016-ten-more-horror-classics-for-halloween/
Finally, if you haven’t experienced the greatness of Italian Giallo horror, here is a great place to start:
Click here to see what the fuss is all about in the world of Italian sex shockers:
Make sure to enjoy all of these great Halloween horror classics this month!
