The Thing

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The Thing

R

Released Oct 14, 2011

1h 43m

Horror

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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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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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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

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Markus E

it's a good movie, way underrated on RT!!! Great idea to tell the story of what happened before the Carpenter-Movie...with which it should not be compared!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/25

Full Review

Andrew T

Far underrated!! Could have done without some of the CGI & just stuck to practical effects. However, it is a solid, suspenseful, creepy, and fun sci-fi horror movie.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/25

Full Review

Emil P

I haven't seen the earlier versions of this movie but at least this wasn't too bad.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/01/25

Full Review

The M

The story takes place in the events of the Norwegian camp as seen in John Carpenters The Thing. The story is self explained but seemed unnecessary considering the success of the impact occurred in The Thing. Granted it has CGI and some of the effects that can spur some interest but it doesn't match the same success as John Carpenters vision, the prequel doesn't add anything different or as exciting, even the main female role character mentions why is she doing there when the exhibition crew has everything and staff to pursue the discovery. The fact that majority of the characters arnt exactly Norwegian nor native just divers away from the story. Fans of John Carpenters will likely not see this as close of vision in comparison or even stand alone but it has some feel to it but unnecessary as a prequel.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/18/24

Full Review

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

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Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Director

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Dr. Kate Lloyd

Joel Edgerton

Carter

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

Jameson

Trond Espen Seim

Edvard Wolner

Ulrich Thomsen

Dr. Sander Halvorson

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The Thing: Official Clip - The Thing Reveals Itself

2:33

The Thing: Official Clip - Everything's Fine

2:22

The Thing: Official Clip - Juliette Transforms

2:39

The Thing: Official Clip - Alien Autopsy

2:35

The Thing: Official Clip - Let's See Your Teeth

2:58

The Thing: Official Clip - How I Knew You Were Human

2:15

The Thing: Official Clip - Kate Confronts the Thing

2:52

The Thing: Official Clip - They Killed Lars!

1:33

The Thing: Official Clip - Trapped in the Kitchen

2:49

The Thing: Official Clip - We Find It, We Kill It

2:30

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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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