Shush until you give me my Conspiracy review!
but seriously, I realised how far
The Thing had come in my eyes from being a film I dreaded seeing again because the effects were so gruesome to standing alongside
Alien (and now
The Losers
) as having the best ensemble casts. Wilford Brimley (who nearly got on this list for ten seconds in
Absence of Malice), Dysart, Keith David, David Clennon and on make this a crackling paranoia thriller whilst this eyeballs out horror nightmare is happening all around. However when I thought about it, it is Russell who brings it all together, not because he becomes the leader type- they suspect him for half the film, but because he fights harder than anybody else, no room for any of that humour you get in other Carpenter roles (I also rate him for
Tequila Sunrise as well).
I don't know what you think of the film, but if I think of it in terms being in
Alien's class then it can't go much higher for me.
