31 DAYS OF HORROR SCENES THAT STICK. DAY 20: JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING
/“A STRANGER AMONGST US”
I'd like to start on a quick tangent that I loved how (for lack of a better word) diverse John Carpenter films were in the 80s. I don't know if they were representationally correct.- Though it is my opinion they were the best by far of the time, and truthfully ahead of their time - but in truth, a lot of John carpenter's characters were just in general stock characters, even the leads. It's not like Roddy Piper in "They live" was some paragon of character construction. He like so many of Carpenter's characters were functions of moving his philosophy forward, and usually two dimensional avatars. But whether in Halloween, or They live, or Big trouble in little China, or Prince of Darkness, Carpenter always involved other cultures, and he gave them characters that weren't steeped in stereotypes from the era. And I am telling you, if you didn't grow up in that era, its just hard to convey to you just how a huge a deal it was watching Asian, and African American characters be not only integral to the story but make it out ALIVE!!! - was in and of itself.
Now to the scene at hand. I mean this is just excellent setup, design, and execution for teasing an outcome, and constructing a surprise. Tension in an incubator, and it burns hot enough to convince you to move your hands. You have all these men trapped in one single room in a sort of “Monsters are due on Maple Street” type story that is The Thing in the first place. And I love Carpenter's decision to get rid of any music. In this scene, you didn't need it at all. In fact it's more effective that all you hear is the bellowing of the wind outside, which is a wonderful, nice additional effect, something I think reminds us of our earliest associations of wind with something wicked this way coming, and the low whisper of the gas emanating from the flame thrower.
Then you have this almost clue like elimination of whodunit. Cut aways from the business end of the flame thrower heating up the small rod -now acting as the jury for these men - to their anxiety ridden facial expressions. We the audience actively trying to convince ourselves of who the monster is now that we know it is in the room. Its fairly simple, yet by playing on what we expect, on our desire to find out before the reveal ( so as to relieve our own tension) Carpenter is able to elicit a genuine shock that I think begins with the line " I thought you'd feel that way Gary, you were the only one who could've got to that blood, we'll do you last" Automatically, I think for a couple of minutes at least...We, the audience think we're safe. It has been teased to us that there is a wait coming, we've been given a misdirection, and then all of a sudden, just like that, it's PALMER!!!.
Just like that I'm as out of my seat as Palmer himself, as the alien life form springs forth from his body. Possession is naturally a primal fear and scary enough on its own but it doesn't even end there, because now we must watch in dread, our cinematic empathy tying us to the rest of these men who are literally stuck on a chair next to this guy as he transforms into this monstrosity helpless to do anything about it, and the actors sell the hell out of the terror. When I tell you it's one of the most terrifying things i've seen on screen, I MEAN IT. I've seen Carpenters version a million times, and I'm never not surprised when the canister hits the ground, and Palmer goes berserk, it's as hard to time as Bryson Tiller's last "Don't" in his hit song Don't. And (especially if i've had enough time between viewings ) I'm never not terrified at the idea of being strapped to the thing as it jirates and convulses out of its host. The acting is outstanding, especially by the triumvirate of Kurt Russell, Keith David, and Donald Moffat, - who has one of my favorite line deliveries in the movie "I know you gentleman have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!!! " It's an amazing combination of a genuine connection with the terror, relief, and exasperation with the whole entire situation, and I just don't know that I can think of any actor who could've delivered it better. As good as maybe, but not better. And I get it, and we get it, it's part of just what makes it one of the most memorable scenes that I can think of when it comes to horror, and every time I think of the thing, I first think of this scene, because of the acting, because it's grotesque, because it is absolutely terrifying, because it builds its tension so well, because its surprising and shocking and all the things that I think culminate to make a great scene in the genre.
