SPLATTERdrome

Release Date: April 27th, 1951

Director: Christian Nyby

Screenwriter: Charles Lederer, Howard Hawks (uncredited), & Ben Hecht (uncredited)

Genre: Science fiction/Horror

 

 

“When I die I hope I go to Akron”

 

Can you tell this film is getting on in years?

 

The Thing from Another World was produced at a time when horror cinema was undergoing a considerable transition. The classic, gothic horror villains from the 1930s had become overexposed and mistreated in a series of campy sequel efforts during the 1940s and had fallen out of favor with audiences. Additionally, World War II had modernized horror and suspense films, pushing them towards being topical and politically aware and moving them away from grand castles and misty villages. The Thing is an early example of the modernized science fiction thriller which would soon gain popularity among teens and genre fans of that time and works hard to reflect Cold War fears in the same way that Forbidden Planet and Invasion of the Body Snatchers would go on to do.

 

The result is a solid studio effort during an era when horror films were given B-movie treatment in respect to acting talent and production budget. Despite this, the performances and attention to character detail far surpass anything that higher budget productions give us today. The characters are logical and cool under pressure, making plans and executing them in order to survive during a crisis. This is a breath of fresh air.

 

This film has the same basic plot of the two “sequels” which many are more familiar with: scientists and military officials deep in the Arctic discover a UFO buried in ice near their post. They extract an alien life form from the wreckage and bring it back to their camp where it wakes up and begins to kill everything in sight. This creature aims to reproduce itself as a means to invade and dominate the planet unless the few men and women of the outpost can find a way to stop it.

 

A major failing of the film is the lack of screen time the creature gets. Hard to say if it was a focus on suspense or just budgetary issues but the film moves along with too much exposition and very little action. The first 30 minutes move at a good pace but from there to the climax it’s a lot of personal politics and excessive dialogue. The alien bursts into the scene a few times but is largely absent throughout the film. Also, as much as I like the resourcefulness of the cast, their exposition-laden planning tells you what’s about to happen just before it does. Hard to be suspenseful under those circumstances.

 

I don’t have much affection for this era of horror but it isn’t without merit. The Thing is much better with establishing its characters than current genre films but doesn't generate enough excitement to keep things interesting throughout the film. I advise you to skip this and go straight to Carpenter’s version.