Which brings me to the scientific aspect of the prequel – The Thing, in this case, goes into a bit more about the genetic mapping and absorption process of the alien organism as compared to Carpenter’s film (which did a respectable job in that regard, not giving too much away and leaving the scientists and men feeling like they didn’t know what they were up against exactly). The prequel attempts to tell the story of how a Norwegian science expedition team camped out in Antarctica stumble upon a gigantic alien spaceship buried deep under the ice, as the opening sequence portrays a team of them riding over the surface of the ice with a snow tractor of some kind, tracing the source of a distress signal being sent out by the alien ship. Obviously, this suggests the alien/human absorption began when the Thing “called out” for help and the Norwegians arrived, only to fall through the ice and upon the massive craft. Eventually, the men at the outpost pull the organism out of a block of ice and drag it back to their camp, where it begins to thaw out, and unbeknownst to them, its cells are still active and alive.
When Winstead’s character arrives at the camp, things go from strange to terrifying, as the creature ends up escaping from its icy confine (also seen in Carpenter’s film, when Russell and Doc Copper find the empty ice block at the Norwegian camp – another good example of how this prequel flowed correctly with a lot of the narrative) and explodes through the roof to the horror of the African-American American helicopter pilot that witnesses it (the African actor that portrayed “Adebesi” in HBO’s OZ). From there, we get a smattering of special effects mimicking from Carpenter’s film, as the filmmakers here render their own take on the slimy alien as it tears through people and absorbs them, turning them into bizarre, twisted, grotesque creatures. For the most part, the special effects work, if not as shocking, even all these years later, as Rob Bottin’s makeup and puppetry work in the 1982 film – some of the basic elements seen in Carpenter’s film with regard to the alien’s characteristics are seen in nearly all incarnations of the creature in this prequel, including long tentacles that grab and throw people around, horrific sharp jaws jutting out of human body parts and grotesque digestive tract-like shapes and textures designed to completely gross us out. As I said, for the most part, it works – still, it wasn’t as effective nor downright shocking and creepy as the body transformation scenes witnessed in Carpenter’s The Thing.
A sequence involving a Norwegian team member that was “absorbed” by the alien and eventually “stuck” in its “digestive system” as the creature was burned and couldn’t complete replicating him was particularly effective, as we see the guy still in this weird embryotic sac of some kind, in the midst of being imitated by the alien creature – creepy. But it allowed an opportunity to explain more of the science behind the alien’s functions and its intentions with humans, as Winstead’s character explains to the men that this guy was being replicated by the creature, cell for cell, and bit-for-bit as they look on in absolute shock and horror. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many body transformation sequences in the prequel depicting humans turning into the Thing, but I suppose that can be an asset rather than a negative as how much of the gross stuff can we, for lack of a better term, absorb?
There were a couple of copycat sequences paralleled with Carpenter’s film which I didn’t care for as it suggested to me a lack of originality, such as the “blood serum test” as seen in Carpenter’s film, in which the theory is the alien will attack any blood it feels is being “threatened” therefore helping them figure out who is human and who is alien; of course, like in Carpenter’s film, the first attempt at this goes wrong, and Winstead is forced to use another method to test the Norwegian camp members. She discovers that this alien organism cannot copy or absorb any non-organic matter – so she finds people’s teeth fillings and metal rods from within their bodies around the camp, hinting at the fact that anything non-biological within the human host can’t be replicated. Using this, she examines the mouth of each of the men, looking for fillings in their teeth, the premise being if they have fillings present and intact, they couldn’t be a Thing. This of course mimics Carpenter’s version in which Russell dips the hot needle into each blood sample, hoping to create a reaction with any of the men in his team who were Things.
The end sequence, refreshingly wasn’t wildly disappointing – although it ends abruptly before going into the effective connection during the end credits sequence between this prequel and the very beginning of Carpenter’s The Thing. The whole Winstead character aspect at the end didn’t wrap anything up, as she’s seen just sitting watching the camp burn up from behind a snow tractor’s wheel as the screen fades out – but as the end credits roll, we see “Hans” and another Norwegian survivor jump into a helicopter and take off after the Alaskan Husky that escapes from the camp, obviously infected with the alien organism, thus accurately setting up the beginning of Carpenter’s film. But we still have questions here: What happened to Winstead’s character? Was she rescued? Why is there no mention of her when Russell and the U.S. team make it up to their camp? Where is she at that point? The time table suggests the events taking place at the Norwegian camp flow right into the time the U.S team from Carpenter’s film are infiltrated by the infected dog – so this isn’t months or years later…what happened to Winstead’s character then?
Additionally, there are other interesting connections to Carpenter’s film here, including the Norwegian radio operator (I believe) who is found frozen in his chair with the razor in his hand, apparently attempting to slash himself with it as his blood is frozen along with him (seen in Carpenter’s film when they visit the Norwegian camp) – as well as the shocking transformation of one of the Norwegians as the Thing attempts to copy him, stretching his face into the melted wax-like creature seen frozen in Carpenter’s film. These were commendable attempts by the prequel to connect the events of the two films together.
Outside of that, really, the ending was a complete success, tying up the events of this prequel and those that occur at the very beginning of Carpenter’s 1982 film. The question though, essentially, about this 2011 prequel of The Thing becomes…was this ultimately necessary? I realize this can be asked about any prequel project, but in this case, I am torn about the merits this brings to the Thing story…on one hand, I applaud the efforts for creating a narrative that describes the alien organism a bit more thoroughly and what exactly went on at that Norwegian camp. On the other, I wonder if, at the end of the day, it was ultimately necessary to budget for this type of project, and if they should have instead stuck to the mystique inspired by Carpenter’s 1982 shock fest. The questions unanswered by that film – was MacReady or Childs a Thing at the very end? Who was the first to be absorbed by the organism inside the dog? – kind of gives it a mystery of its own, and there are even fan sites dedicated to the plot twists of The Thing, where all these elements are discussed.
At any rate, this was an entertaining rental, and I was totally expecting a flop, given how quickly this prequel went from theaters to home video – to say nothing of the horrendous reviews it received. If you’re a fan of Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing, you will definitely appreciate all the connections this prequel story made to a lot of the images and plotlines in that film. The look and feel of the sets were awkward and it didn’t seem like 1982 to me, what with the characters’ dialogue and clothing, not to mention Winstead’s kind of out-of-place role and performance as a lead scientist investigating the alien infestation, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting going into it.
I can definitely recommend a rental spin; as for a purchase, the jury’s still out on that one for me at least.
VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:
I wasn’t able to obtain, unfortunately, a Blu-ray copy of 2011’s The Thing to review, as my editor already gave those copies to other reviewers on the staff prior to me being assigned the title on DVD, but for what it was worth, the DVD looked clean enough given the subject material. There was a purposeful softness and haze to the image that coincided with the stark, cold conditions in the Antarctic, and there was no pop to speak of anywhere throughout. Even if your display is set to a “warm” color temperature, the transfer of this film will appear cool, cold, steely and bluish.
AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:
The standard English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix was usual fare from Universal, meaning it was effective where it needed to be and included the prerequisite stinger cues and enveloping soundstage. I did note a distinct lack of bass – actually, LFE was virtually non-existent on my system – and there were no real standout moments on the track; when humans suddenly transformed into alien beings , the sequences were accompanied by startling, explosive audio cues and creepy support in the surround channels where you could easily make out the scurrying of alien claws or crab-like legs. However, nothing was really “reference grade” here, even for legacy DVD. Perhaps the lossless track on the Blu-ray version fared better; I am uncertain as of now.
Let’s discuss the 2011 prequel of The Thing!
