Pop Culture Movies and More: The Thing from Another World (1951)

When scientist Dr. Carrington reports a UFO near his North Pole research base, the Air Force sends in a team under Capt. Patrick Hendry to investigate. What they find is a wrecked spaceship and a humanoid creature frozen in the ice. They bring their discovery back to the remote arctic outpost, but Carrington and Hendry disagree over what to do with it. Meanwhile, the creature is accidentally thawed and begins wreaking havoc. Snowed in by a storm, the crew try to survive and hunt down the mysterious creature as it prowls the base. Producer Howard Hawks' adaptation of John Campbell's story of an arctic expedition that runs afoul of a blood-sucking alien, from his book 'Who Goes There?', is often credited with launching the 'evil monster tries to destroy humanity' films that were so widespread during the 1950s. I love this film and it is personally one of my favourites of the science fiction horrors of the 50s. Once the film begins it instantly has you hooked, never letting you go as it takes us along for the wild ride. The Thing has an exceptional story but what took me by surprise on my first viewing was the phenomenal set pieces which are so grand in scale and truly look believable. All the scenes of the North Pole base were genuinely so well made and felt very real as if we were actually in the Arctic. The scope of this film however really shines during the opening section of the film where we first see the crashed spacecraft. Although it is submerged fully in the ice with only a fin visible, once all the members of the expedition spread out to find out the shape of it, we see just how big the craft is. It is such a large scoped setting that makes for some iconic imagery of the team forming a circle only to realise it is a flying saucer and when they attempt to free it with explosives, the aftermath explosions were enormous. I had never seen anything quite as impressive. I think the choice to not show the creature straight away besides from some very close-up shots was very effective in building tension and allowing our imagination to run wild as to what it could look like or be. At times we only caught glimpses of a shadowy, tall figure roaming in the snow, which displayed its stature being much bigger than any regular person and its strength when battling against the huskies and members of the crew. The final reveal of the creature was a little disappointing, not looking so different to a regular human being but it didn't ruin the story or my enjoyment of the overall film. The biggest highlight of the entire feature had to be the action sequences. They were simply epic with some high stakes and a fantastic display of practical effects. This is especially seen in my favourite sequence (and arguably the most memorable in the whole film) when the monster breaks into the base with the crew waiting. It quickly turns into a battle with the crew throwing gasoline at the creature, and following it up with fire. We actually get to see the monster become completely engulfed in flames whilst continuing to swing at people, setting the surroundings alight, which must have been a dangerous piece to make with no injuries. It was an amazing scene with everyone continuously throwing flames as people are flung all over the place before the creature darts for a window, jumping through and sprinting off in the snow as the flames still flicker. Definitely my favourite part of the whole film. Another aspect I loved about the movie is that everyone gets along well and works together for the greater good in this fight, that is except for Dr. Carrington who believes the creature can teach humanity its secrets. It leads to some dangerous confrontations and many more issues to overcome. Overall, I adore this 50s sci-fi horror. So much excitement is packed in with some superb actors giving some of their finest performances, which brings us an experience like no other that can be enjoyed repeatedly. If you also enjoyed this frosty survival flick then why not check out the exceptionally frightening remake The Thing (1982) directed by John Carpenter, this version is just as brilliant yet even greater in both scope and special effects.