The Thing
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- Create Date：2021-10-10 09:51:11
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Anne Billson
- ISBN：1839023597
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Summary
An extra-terrestrial alien， capable of replicating any living form it touches， infiltrates an isolated research base in the Antarctic， and sows suspicion and terror among the men trapped there。 Which of them is still human， and which a perfect alien facsimile？ John Carpenter's The Thing， the second adaptation of John W。 Campbell's 1938 novella Who Goes There？， received overwhelmingly negative reviews on its release in 1982， but has since been acknowledged as a classic fusion of the science fiction and horror genres。 Now a regular fixture in lists of the greatest movies of all time， it is acclaimed for its inspired and still shocking practical special effects， its deftly sketched characters brought to life by a superb cast， elegant widescreen cinematography， ominous score， and a uniquely tense narrative packed with appropriately ever-changing metaphors about the human condition。
Anne Billson's elegant and trenchant study， first published in 1997， was one of the first publications to give the film its due as a modern classic， hailing it as a landmark movie that brilliantly redefined horror and science fiction conventions， and combined them with sly humour， Lewis Carroll logic and disturbingly prescient metaphors for many of the sociopolitical， scientific and medical upheavals of the past three decades。
In her foreword to this new edition， Anne Billson reflects upon The Thing's changing fortunes in the years since its release， its influence on film-makers including Tarantino and del Toro， and its topicality in an era of melting ice caps and with humanity besieged by a deadly organism。
Anne Billson's elegant and trenchant study， first published in 1997， was one of the first publications to give the film its due as a modern classic， hailing it as a landmark movie that brilliantly redefined horror and science fiction conventions， and combined them with sly humour， Lewis Carroll logic and disturbingly prescient metaphors for many of the sociopolitical， scientific and medical upheavals of the past three decades。
In her foreword to this new edition， Anne Billson reflects upon The Thing's changing fortunes in the years since its release， its influence on film-makers including Tarantino and del Toro， and its topicality in an era of melting ice caps and with humanity besieged by a deadly organism。
Reviews
Book collector
，
I love the movie by John carpenter， it was a cinema classic but this look at the film was a lacklustre effort。
Chris
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Not as insightful as other books in this BFI series。 Felt like it gave me little more than a slightly enhanced plot summary。
Josh
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I share author Anne Billson's opinion that John Carpenter's 1982 movie THE THING is great。 Unfortunately， that's about all I got from this disappointing installment in the BFI Modern Classics series。 Billson's book is weirdly an excruciatingly detailed plot synopsis with minimal analysis， lots of gushing superlatives， and too many strange assertions。 I don't know who the audience is for this approach。 If you've seen the movie， you don't need the rehash， and if you haven't seen it， you probably d I share author Anne Billson's opinion that John Carpenter's 1982 movie THE THING is great。 Unfortunately， that's about all I got from this disappointing installment in the BFI Modern Classics series。 Billson's book is weirdly an excruciatingly detailed plot synopsis with minimal analysis， lots of gushing superlatives， and too many strange assertions。 I don't know who the audience is for this approach。 If you've seen the movie， you don't need the rehash， and if you haven't seen it， you probably don't want someone telling you everything that happens。 The book amounts to little more than， "This happened， and then this happened， and wasn't it cool？ And then this thing happened， and that was pretty cool。 It reminded me of this one STAR TREK episode。" Occasionally， Billson will say something incoherent about phallic symbols as a cursory nod to deeper analysis， but this mostly reads like a teenager's blog post stretched to 91 pages。 I do admit to being amused by some of Billson's ridiculous prose， particularly her attempts to create new trends in film terminology。 Here are a few examples among many: "What we are about to have here is the classic sealed environment situation， otherwise known as the Old Dark House formula。 An American scientific research station in the Antarctic is every bit as effective as the old dark house in THE OLD DARK HOUSE 。。。" and "The idea of something about to recur gives the story a cyclical， almost mythic quality。 。。。 you might call it the Chinatown Syndrome， since one of the most memorable examples of it is CHINATOWN。。。" Billson later lays out the seven rules of horror （which she made up） and talks about how THE THING breaks these rules， then tells the reader to ignore rules three， four， and five because they only apply to slasher films， not horror movies like THE THING。 What a mess。 。。。more
S。 Wilson
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As part of the BFI Modern Classics series， film reviewer and novelist Anne Billson dissects （an apt description considering the source material） John Carpenter's The Thing。 As Billson points out early on， The Thing is one of those films that was a financial and critical failure when released， but is now considered a landmark in horror/sci-fi cinema and an unrivaled masterpiece。 It's only fitting that it receives the film historian treatment。 In a departure from some of the more academic entries As part of the BFI Modern Classics series， film reviewer and novelist Anne Billson dissects （an apt description considering the source material） John Carpenter's The Thing。 As Billson points out early on， The Thing is one of those films that was a financial and critical failure when released， but is now considered a landmark in horror/sci-fi cinema and an unrivaled masterpiece。 It's only fitting that it receives the film historian treatment。 In a departure from some of the more academic entries into the BFI series， Billson essentially walks the reader through the film from beginning to end， describing what is happening on the screen as it occurs， and pausing to introduce historical context or critical analysis where appropriate along the way。 In a way， this format results in an unintentionally dismissive presentation that feels as if we are watching the movie while someone （Billson） talks over it。 Then again， it is a welcome change of pace from some of the more overly clinical BFI books crammed full of frame-by-frame screenshots and charts tallying camera angles。 One could argue that treating The Thing in this fashion implies that genre films shouldn't be taken seriously， but one could also argue that this is how genre fans take their films seriously。 The important thing is that it works。Billson is obviously a fan of both the film and the genre， and her insights are both genuine and intriguing。 One of her more interesting approaches is the idea of the titular Thing as the sole female character of the films otherwise sausage-fest cast， and while some in the men's rights movement might take offense to Billson's allusions to fragile male egos and castration metaphors， but those secure in their manhood will have no problem with her Freudian analysis。 The Thing is a film intentionally designed to invite interpretations， and Billson provides the reader with much to think about。The Thing is a film with multiple origins， including the original sci-fi film The Thing From Another World and the novella it was based on， Who Goes There？， and Billson discusses not only those influences， but the influences that The Thing has had since it's release， including comic book spin-offs thematic overlaps in future films。 I was personally gratified that this resulted in her referencing the British sci-fi series Red Dwarf， not once， but twice。 Overall， this is a great entry into the BFI series， and a worthy tribute to Carpenter's legend that fans of the film （and genre films） will appreciate and enjoy。 。。。more
Jared Tipton
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A great blow by blow on the greatest sci-fi/horror film of all time。 If you love the film you'll love this thoughtful analysis。 A great blow by blow on the greatest sci-fi/horror film of all time。 If you love the film you'll love this thoughtful analysis。 。。。more
Karen
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Oh， The Thing。 I love it so much。 And am so happy to see that other people do too。 Billson's appreciation is energetic and endearingly dorky at times， and she spends much of the book offering a blow-by-blow recap of the movie。。。but I don't even mind。 I've seen the movie so many times I know every scene she's talking about。 And while I don't feel like there are too many real mind-blowers here （with an all-male cast， the Thing represents the amorphous， gelatinous， absorptive， threatening Female et Oh， The Thing。 I love it so much。 And am so happy to see that other people do too。 Billson's appreciation is energetic and endearingly dorky at times， and she spends much of the book offering a blow-by-blow recap of the movie。。。but I don't even mind。 I've seen the movie so many times I know every scene she's talking about。 And while I don't feel like there are too many real mind-blowers here （with an all-male cast， the Thing represents the amorphous， gelatinous， absorptive， threatening Female etc。） there's enough genuine fondness to make this a good read for me。 Billson also interviewed Carpenter himself--the kind of interview that always seems to result in the director laughing and saying， yeah， I guess you can see that in that scene。。。we were just trying to make the movie， though。 Critics and creators: the twain shall ne'er really meet。There's some good movie trivia in here for anyone who really loves this one。。。if you're not already a fan of The Thing this probably won't be for you。 But there are plenty of other BFI Modern Classics out there to pick from， so that's okay。Side note: Not a single female character。 Bechdel Test emphatically NOT passed。 But I still love it。 。。。more
Matt Lohr
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Man， this series just gets better and better。 Billson digs beautifully into a modern sci-fi / horror classic。 Rob Bottin's makeup effects STILL might be the all-time best。 Man， this series just gets better and better。 Billson digs beautifully into a modern sci-fi / horror classic。 Rob Bottin's makeup effects STILL might be the all-time best。 。。。more
Matt
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Too much explication and not enough analysis， essentially。 Shame， because what analysis there is is intriguing。 Has made me want to go back and watch the film， though。
Ryan Splenda
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A very thorough criticism of John Carpenter's horror/sci-fi masterpiece。 I love the way Billson dissects this film and explains some of the symbolism and thematic elements。 The idea of the Thing/alien in the movie representing female intrusion on a man's world is very intriguing。 A very thorough criticism of John Carpenter's horror/sci-fi masterpiece。 I love the way Billson dissects this film and explains some of the symbolism and thematic elements。 The idea of the Thing/alien in the movie representing female intrusion on a man's world is very intriguing。 。。。more
Dominick
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Well-written and engaging reading of John Carpenter's Classic film; unforutnately， it offers an inordinate amount of summary in relation to the amount of analysis。 Well-written and engaging reading of John Carpenter's Classic film; unforutnately， it offers an inordinate amount of summary in relation to the amount of analysis。 。。。more
Paul
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Anne Billson’s BFI take on Carpenter’s THE THING is solid （particularly compared to BFI's JAWS entry）。 She does a good job placing the film in its historical context （why it flopped， why most critics originally panned it）， and then goes through a plot synopsis and scene by scene breakdown。 I found her defense of Carpenter’s miminalist approach to the characters especially effective， as well as the comparison to the original novella， Who Goes There？ Anne Billson’s BFI take on Carpenter’s THE THING is solid （particularly compared to BFI's JAWS entry）。 She does a good job placing the film in its historical context （why it flopped， why most critics originally panned it）， and then goes through a plot synopsis and scene by scene breakdown。 I found her defense of Carpenter’s miminalist approach to the characters especially effective， as well as the comparison to the original novella， Who Goes There？ 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Thing
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Thing&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Thing&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0