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The Thing

Play trailer Poster for The Thing R Released Oct 14, 2011 1h 43m Horror Sci-Fi Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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34% Tomatometer 170 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
After Norwegian researchers discover an alien ship buried in the ice, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) joins the team at the isolated Arctic outpost to investigate. She finds an organism that appears to have perished in the crash eons ago but, in fact, is about to awake. Freed from its icy prison, the insidious life-form goes on the attack. Paranoia spreads like wildfire among the crew as they fight to survive against a creature that assumes the shapes of its victims.
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The Thing

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Critics Consensus

It serves the bare serviceable minimum for a horror flick, but The Thing is all boo-scares and a slave to the far superior John Carpenter version.

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Critics Reviews

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Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com It reduces things to nothing more than a highlight reel of terror, none of it particularly scary even if what is being presented is done so with a fair amount of skill. Rated: 2/4 Jan 27, 2012 Full Review Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard This isn't the real Thing; keep it at bay. Rated: 2/5 Dec 2, 2011 Full Review Phelim O'Neill Guardian Whatever good intentions were behind this prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 classic, the sloppy execution renders them moot. Rated: 2/5 Dec 1, 2011 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy It’s actually a prequel to the 1982 movie, leading one to wonder why they didn’t more accurately name it The Thing: The Beginning, The Thing: The Early Days or even I Was a Teenage Thing. Rated: 2/4 Apr 27, 2023 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Van Heijningen’s new film can’t decide if it wants to elaborate on Carpenter’s version or pay homage to it, and that indecision is where the fault lies. Rated: 2/4 Mar 7, 2023 Full Review Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies This prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 horror classic manages to capture enough of the shocks and paranoia of its predecessor to be successful. Rated: 3/5 Aug 25, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Suzanne M First, I admit that have never seen the 1982 version of this movie, and perhaps that’s a good thing based on how many other reviewers panned this version because it didn’t live up to the first one. However, I enjoyed it and think it’s great as a stand alone film! As a huge fan of “Aliens” (2nd in series), I noticed quite a few parallels between it and this movie which may have had an impact on how much I liked the movie. I’m a bit of a cynic when it comes to “monster” movies, because the monsters usually aren’t really monstrous, but this one was truly horrifying because it was so realistic and believable! Also, it was action packed and filled with enough shocks that I took a little breather about halfway through. All in all, I feel completely comfortable recommending this to anyone who loved “Aliens” and who loves horror movies. But if you’re a big fan of the 1982 movie, you might be too disappointed to see its strength! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/11/24 Full Review Audience Member This is a fantastic prequel to one of my favorite horror movies of all time . We get to see what happens at the Norwegian camp. Seeing iconic scenes that show up later in the John Carpenter The Thing. Marco Belatrami score is great and using John Carpenter score. I love this movie so much because of all the setup and some of the scenes from the thing are crazy. 10/10 EPIC FANTASTIC movie that needs to get more love if you love the original The Thing . Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/01/24 Full Review Emilliano Jr S Outstanding visual effects but still has no match from the 80's classic. I love also the twist at the end Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/30/24 Full Review Marcus E This movie is fine. Some bad cgi but It pretty much just gives you more The Thing. I would say that most of the characters are great. The ending kind of sucks but It is definitely worth the watch if you like the previous movie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/28/24 Full Review Antonio U This is my third watching of the prequel, The Thing, and having not seeing it in a few years, I have to say, THIS WAS A GREAT TIME. I guess everyone has an opinion, but there is way too much unnecessary hate for this movie. Yes, there is CGI, what modern sci-fi movie doesn't use it? I think most people missed the point which is, this alien is able to morph in fantastically morbid ways, and a good way (read: not only way) to do this is with CGI. Sure, I would have enjoyed more practical effects, but this movie does have many, just not as many as the original, which is understood given that the original was filmed in the 1980's. In this prequel they tried to really use their imagination to the fullest to show you the grossest craziest visuals possible, and I believe they delivered. It didn't look bad to me, just looked imaginative and freaky. I immersed myself in the movie and when I did so, fully enjoyed the movie, jumping out of my seat a couple of times, then marveling at the brain that thought of what I just saw. I kept thinking, the critics hated this movie, so I should too right? I guess I have bad taste, cause I really enjoyed this movie and look forward to watching it again in a few years come Halloween. BTW, I have The Thing (1982) on 4K UHD BR and The Thing (2011) on BR. Watched them both back to back. Good times. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/17/24 Full Review David P While this is not nearly as good as The Thing 1982, it does give a great leadup to its phenomenal predecessor. It is all about the Norwegian group and their finding of the Thing and all events leading to the great transition into The Thing (1982). Doing a movie night in October with the 2 running back to back, cant wait! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/22/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

The Thing

The Thing: Official Clip - The Thing Reveals Itself The Thing: Official Clip - The Thing Reveals Itself 2:33 The Thing: Official Clip - Everything's Fine The Thing: Official Clip - Everything's Fine 2:22 The Thing: Official Clip - Juliette Transforms The Thing: Official Clip - Juliette Transforms 2:39 The Thing: Official Clip - Alien Autopsy The Thing: Official Clip - Alien Autopsy 2:35 The Thing: Official Clip - Let's See Your Teeth The Thing: Official Clip - Let's See Your Teeth 2:58 The Thing: Official Clip - How I Knew You Were Human The Thing: Official Clip - How I Knew You Were Human 2:15 The Thing: Official Clip - Kate Confronts the Thing The Thing: Official Clip - Kate Confronts the Thing 2:52 The Thing: Official Clip - They Killed Lars! The Thing: Official Clip - They Killed Lars! 1:33 The Thing: Official Clip - Trapped in the Kitchen The Thing: Official Clip - Trapped in the Kitchen 2:49 The Thing: Official Clip - We Find It, We Kill It The Thing: Official Clip - We Find It, We Kill It 2:30 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis After Norwegian researchers discover an alien ship buried in the ice, paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) joins the team at the isolated Arctic outpost to investigate. She finds an organism that appears to have perished in the crash eons ago but, in fact, is about to awake. Freed from its icy prison, the insidious life-form goes on the attack. Paranoia spreads like wildfire among the crew as they fight to survive against a creature that assumes the shapes of its victims.
Director
Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Producer
Marc Abraham, Eric Newman
Screenwriter
Eric Heisserer
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Production Co
Strike Entertainment
Rating
R (Gore|Disturbing Images|Language|Strong Creature Violence)
Genre
Horror, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 14, 2011, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$16.9M
Runtime
1h 43m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS
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