don't want to see john waters' pecker than check out john carpenter's thing . that must be the ultimate control issue for directors , making others ask to see your joystick . if i ever make a film i'm sure i'll title it jason overbeck's third leg . keeping with this train of thought did you know roger ebert said of john carpenter's thing , that " teenagers can dare one another to watch . " i'll leave that one alone . the thing is a very effective movie , with scenes of shear suspense and moments of terror and disgust . it opened in 1982 with mixed reviews and now seems to be a minor classic . people will always remember the dogs and the open-up chest and that blood-test scene . they are perfectly set-up and delivered , you can smile at the nifty special effects and remember the good ole days before computer effects made lazy imaginations . would any studio get away with a film like the thing now ? hell no ! not with that ending , those violent scenes with animals and the general yuck feeling . the story has a group of scientists in isolated antarctica being attacked by an alien that kills and replaces with a perfect clone . who is and isn't infected ? who can tell , the isolation has drawn strange emotional states for all of these characters . leading the pack is pilot ( and antihero ) macready ( kurt russell ) in a wacky-cool hat and a full beard . he is not unaffected by the isolation , he drinks too much and plays long games of chess on his computer , but when duty calls he takes command of the questionable group . guessing who is and isn't the thing is almost impossible , everyone seems to separate from each other and then look spooky . the result leaves you on the edge of your seat as they try to unmask the alien . the final answer leads you to feel that the screenwriter could have just picked a name from a hat . that doesn't matter much because this film is all execution and the execution is slick , sick and a little gross . it recalls john carpenter's much better classic halloween . 
