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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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C S This one gets far too much hate and it might have played it a little too safe. However, the cast did great and it still has some excellent body horror moments. It's not the original and it would be hard to beat that film. It is one of the all time greats but this still deserves a little appreciation. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/22/25 Full Review Zombii J. I think I liked this more than most, but I went into it with low expectations. I like the way it tied into the original, I think it did a decent job of feeling like it came from the same era as the original, but I wish they had used practical effects instead of CGI. It also lacked the same level of paranoia that made John Carpenter’s so awesome. Ultimately felt a little flat and not too scary. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/14/25 Full Review Audience Member This movie is scary and a great prequel for John Carpenters the thing. Although some continuity problems do exist. The actors are amazing. Mary Elizabeth Winsted is amazing as a leading lady. Joel Egerton is believable as a masculine helicopter pilot that is pragmatic. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/13/25 Full Review Nico S. I know I’m quite alone in my thoughts on this movie but I genuinely like it. I know the pacing is very up and down but I like the monsters look a lot more then the original. Personally I feel this film is quite underrated. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Audience Member Should have been rad. All they had to do was tell another isolation survival story against a gnarly alien foe. Instead it tried to out do the original with over the top and way too much wonky cgi. It pales greatly to the classic and that sucks. They could have made more. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/06/25 Full Review Joseph M Underrated prequel to a true sci fi horror classic. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/06/25 Full Review Read all reviews
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The Thing

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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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