(For an explanation of what these posts in October are, see the parent post.)

Synopsis

Researchers at an isolated arctic outpost slowly come to discover that not everyone in their group is who they say they are.

Opinion

Confession time:  I’d seen The Thing before — I love it, I own it on Blu-ray.  So, this particular entry in my October of Horror experiment is technically cheating, as I wrote earlier I would only watch films I’d never seen.  But, Melissa hadn’t seen it in decades, and Sam loves it, so we decided to watch it together tonight.

Like Halloween, The Thing is a nearly perfect slow burn.  In 90 minutes you’re treated to  confusion, accusations, adrenaline, trying to solve a mystery against time, science-fiction, shock, disgust, dread, and horror.

You may be shocked to learn it didn’t do well at the box office.  Well, E.T. had been released the week before, and Poltergeist the week after… might have had something to do with it (sarcasm).

Recommendation

Required viewing.  And then watch it again with the commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell, as it’s both informative and, at times, hilarious.  And then watch it a third time, because you form new theories about who was an impostor and at what times every time you watch it.  Who was the first to get assimilated? When was Blair taken over?  Was Blair an alien the whole time?  The IMDB Q&A section for The Thing is one of the longest on the entire site.

(For an explanation of what these posts in October are, see the parent post.)

Synopsis

A psychotic killer escapes from a mental health facility and decides to go back home.

Opinion

Believe it or not, I’d never seen the original Halloween — I’d seen bits and pieces of it on TV, or maybe watched the beginning and then got distracted, or what have you.  Melissa and I are going to watch the 2018 sequel next week, so it was a logical choice to watch the original.

Holy crap, it’s good.  It’s better than good.  It was so good that it established just about every modern horror trope still in use today:  Slow reveals of the killer right behind you, the killer there and then not there, killer point-of-view shots, and probably a dozen more I’m forgetting.  Jamie Lee Curtis turns in a natural performance which is exactly what is needed for the film.  The pacing is slow, deliberate, and perfect — I was never bored.

Recommendation

Required viewing.