Questions tagged [the-thing-1982]

For questions about "The Thing", a sci-fi horror film directed by John Carpenter based on the novella *Who Goes There?* by John W. Campbell, about a team of scientists in the Antarctic who discover a shape-shifting alien

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What accounts for the behavior of the Benning/Thing when he moans just before they incinerate him?

Benning is the bearded, bald guy who is outside and someone says, It isn't Benning and we see that his hands have transformed. Then the Benning/Thing turns towards the group and moans/howls in clearly ...
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4 votes
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In The Thing, does the creature ever communicate with humans?

I note that in the first screen version of The Thing, the monster is both intelligent and uncommunicative — the professor at the base does want to communicate with the alien but it, even to its ...
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1 answer
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Who is the first character that succumbs to the paranoia in John Carpenter's The Thing?

In "The Thing" (1982), John Carpenter's film adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr's novel "Who Goes There?" (1938), the threat created by the spreading paranoia of the characters is ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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Can the Thing infect non-living biomatter?

The scene from the 1982 movie, The Thing, where Palmer burns Child's weed farm didn't make it into the original movie. According to this question, Palmer sprays the plants with a flamethrower, fearing ...
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2 votes
0 answers
175 views

How did Norris get infected with the alien in the movie "The Thing"? [duplicate]

How did Norris get infected, or is the movie "not clear"? Also could it be a plot device to ratchet up the tension between the characters in an already volatile situation that blows up? What I am ...
6 votes
3 answers
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Did Macready pull the trigger on Childs?

In the movie Macready threatens Childs with a pistol if he doesn't comply with the blood test. We hear Macready say "I mean it" and then appears to either pull the trigger or cock the hammer of the ...
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6 votes
1 answer
823 views

Can The Thing infect plants? If so, how would The Thing go about doing it?

I was really wondering this because in the script, Palmer burns Child's weed farm fearing that the plants were assimilated. If it can assimilate plants, how would the organism go about doing it? ...
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1 answer
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In the Thing, why don't humans talk with the thing while in human form? [closed]

The Thing is intelligent and can talk with the humans and the other way around. Communication should be really easy - when the Thing absorbs a human it gets all the knowledge it has - it could talk ...
4 votes
1 answer
257 views

In The Thing, who investigates the crash site?

In the Thing (1982), three characters get in a chopper and examine the crash site. MacReady and Norris talk and are identifiable. Who is the third man? Is it Palmer? And continuity fans, both hoods ...
6 votes
2 answers
742 views

The Thing and its mimicry

Possible spoilers all around. From "The Things", the short story written from John Carpenter's Thing's perspective, by Peter Watts: "...I remember Norris, betrayed by his own perfectly-copied, ...
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7 votes
1 answer
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Would two assimilated humans in the Thing know each other is a Thing?

This question is inspired by another question about the movies, The Thing. An assimilated person knows he is a Thing, but would that person recognize who else is a Thing? Please provide quotes from ...
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8 votes
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How did the dog-Thing know where to run when it fled the Norwegian base?

The final scene of The Thing (2011) and the opening scene of The Thing (1982) both show a dog-Thing running from the Norwegian base to the American base in Antarctica. The dog-Thing is fleeing the ...
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2 answers
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Why do people engage in risky behaviors in the 1982 movie The Thing?

Several characters do very risky behaviors in the movie. Windows puts his hands into Norris' mouth right before the chest defibrillator scene. MacReady holds a dish ...
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4 answers
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Did the Chess Wizard from The Thing actually cheat?

Near the beginning of the film, there's the following scene of Macready playing against a Chess Wizard. At the end of the exchange, there are some moves shown off-...
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1 answer
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Does The Thing learn from its victims?

In either of the 1982 or 2011 versions of The Thing, is The Thing able to learn skills from its victims? Could it learn, for example, to fly a helicopter from eating the pilot? It can do a perfect ...
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2 answers
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Was The Thing the pilot or a passenger on the space ship?

I just watched John Carpenter's The Thing, and also the 2011 version. One thing I can't work out is if The Thing was the pilot of the space ship, or a passenger. It's possible there is no in-universe ...
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Has John Carpenter commented on The Thing (2011)?

And/or did he in any way collaborate with the 2011 movie? Did he endorse it/the script or anything about it in any way? Has he publicly commented on it in any way?
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1 answer
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Why was Colin's suicide scene deleted?

In The Thing (2011), we last see Colin hiding in the communications room. It transpires that Colin snaps and takes his own life (I don't blame him). The next time we see him is in The Thing (1982), ...
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12 votes
6 answers
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Who broke into Outpost 31's blood plasma storage?

We're told that Garry's key to the blood safe is the only one, and he gave it to Copper immediately after Copper suggested the blood serum test, and when the cast discovers all the blood plasma has ...
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3 answers
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In what order should I watch The Thing movies?

I understand that the 2011 version of The Thing is a prequel to the 1982, and would come before the original in the movie universe chronology. However, I was wondering if it's necessary to watch the ...
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3 votes
2 answers
764 views

In the 1982 movie does the Thing have a gender or sex?

Can we draw from any information to deduce the Thing's sex or gender? I believe it is not explicitly stated.
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3 answers
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Do we ever see The Thing's original form?

In The Thing and the other The Thing, we see it in a variety of shapes and sizes, but do we have any idea of its natural or original form? Maybe it doesn't have one, maybe its form is based on ...
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Why didn't The Thing (1982) fare better at the box office?

The horror sci-fi movie The Thing, directed by John Carpenter and released in 1982, is generally regarded as a very good movie in its genre, having been named the scariest movie of all time by the ...
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1 answer
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Infection by dead Things

Based on John Carpenter's 1982 film The Thing and its 2011 prequel (also titled The Thing), is it possible for someone to get infected by a dead Thing?
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2 answers
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Was the Thing trapped in its current form until assimilating another, or could it retake the form of previous assimilations?

In the 1982 film The Thing, was the creature trapped in its current form until it could assimilate another, or could it retake the form of previous assimilations?
3 votes
2 answers
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Is The Thing biologically compelled to infect other worlds?

In John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), is it a biological imperative of The Thing to eventually travel to another world? The Thing that was unearthed in Antarctica had travelled to Earth on a ...
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6 votes
2 answers
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What happened to Fuchs in John Carpenter's The Thing?

In John Carpenter's The Thing, Fuchs ventures outside with a flare. Later, MacReady finds some burnt remains and surmises that they belong to Fuchs. What exactly happened to him?
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24 votes
11 answers
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Who gets infected first in John Carpenter's The Thing?

Amongst the Americans in John Carpenter's The Thing, who was the first to get infected?
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1 answer
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Radio operator's throat in The Thing (1982) and The Thing (2011)

When MacReady discovers the body of radio operator Colin in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), the throat is severely wounded — large amounts of skin, cartilage, and tissue are missing. In ...
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31 votes
8 answers
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Ending of John Carpenter's The Thing

In the ending of John Carpenter's classic 1982 sci-fi horror film The Thing, is Of course, it is not said or confirmed explicitly within the film. Is there evidence outside the film that ...
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38 votes
6 answers
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In the 1982 movie, "The Thing", why do they have flame-throwers?

In the 1982 movie "The Thing", is there ever any explanation why this polar base has several flame-throwers? They're clearly not home-made, like the ones in the first Alien movie. Why would a polar ...
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6 votes
2 answers
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How is The Thing's memory stored, transferred and integrated?

In John Carpenter's "The Thing", the creature assimilates Blair and tries to build a UFO from scrap. I understand that the DNA of the creature takes over that of the host, but how is complex ...
19 votes
3 answers
10k views

How did the Thing build a spaceship?

In the beginning of the 80's The Thing, we see a spaceship crash land on earth 100,000 years ago, and it freezes in Antarctica. The creature within can assume the forms of its victims. The ability ...
22 votes
8 answers
26k views

In The Thing, do assimilated victims know that they are Things?

When people are assimilated, do they know they are Things, or are they completely duplicated?
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3 answers
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The Thing movie, the assimilation simulator

Where can I find this software? Maybe this is not a full-finished software; if it is then do you know any references?
16 votes
5 answers
20k views

Is John Carpenter's The Thing influenced by At the Mountains of Madness?

The plot of both stories, a group of scientists uncover an alien being which ends up wreaking havoc on their encampment. In At the Mountains of Madness, we don't see the devastation caused by the ...
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