 I don’t remember exactly the first time I saw it … all I know is that I was way too young. I know this because of the sheer terror I felt when the lights went out at bedtime. My dad loved the movie. I remember sometimes lying in bed with the lights out, and through the floor I could hear—even feel—the haunting soundtrack. And here’s the wild part: I just couldn’t quit the movie. The terror faded as I grew older, but it never quite went away. I don’t think it’s just the gore, either. It’s everything about the movie. It’s the soundtrack. It’s the gruesome scenes where the Thing reveals itself. Most of all, though, it’s the actors themselves who managed to portray normal people. They feel like normal people stuck in this horrific situation. They do the types of things normal people would do if an alien creature infiltrated their most private of spaces. The Thing terrifies because it can be anyone, whether they know it or not. Normal people who don’t trust each other. Normal people who don’t trust themselves. Throughout the movie, everyone inside this Antarctic research station is tested (in more ways than one). The only constant is this: none of them is quite sure whether he might be the Thing. No one, that is, except MacReady. “I know I’m human,” he says at one point. This surety keeps him alive when all Hell breaks loose. It’s the only thing keeping the audience from completely losing it. We feel a little safer with Mac on the screen. We’re never quite sure who else might be the Thing, but at least we can trust Mac. I’ve watched The Thing so many times with my dad that we can pretty much quote the entire movie to one another. We do it on the phone and we do it in birthday cards. We’ve watched it late at night. We’ve watched it in the afternoon. Sometimes, when I’m visiting for a holiday, we’ll watch it in the morning while everyone else sleeps in. It’s … well, it’s our comfort movie. The Beyond |
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