The Thing Homages

John Carpenter's The Thing is an undisputed horror classic.  Being a classic the movie has had it's share of imitators.  They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so here are two of my favorite imitators of The Thing.


The X-Files- Ice 
Season One/Episode Eight

Mulder and Scully are sent to an arctic research facility to investigate some bizarre deaths.  

The Ice episode written by Glen Morgan and James Wong is probably of the most famous imitators of The Thing. 

If the sets and general look of the episode remind you of The Thing it could be because production designer Graeme Murray worked on both.

The armed stand off! 

"Ice" does a great job of capturing the paranoia and isolation from The Thing.  This episode is one of the breakout episodes from the first season of the X-Files. 

Star Trek Deep Space Nine- The Adversary 
Season Three/Episode 26

The third season finale of DS9 finds the crew confined on-board the Defiant with a shapeshifting alien called a Changeling.  The Changeling sews confusion and paranoia among the crew. 

This episode borrows liberally from The Thing in several scenes.

The crew scanning each other to try and determine who the Changeling is just the first.

When they do discover his identity he reverts to his natural shape and escapes.

The Changeling also has a fondness for using tentacles to murder crew members.

No Thing homage would be complete without an armed stand off.

This episode even features a blood test scene.

The Thing has influenced multiple generations of filmmakers and will probably continue to for years to come.

IT (2017)

Hurricane Irma slowed this down a bit, but I wanted to share my thoughts on IT.

First, everything you've heard is true, the movie is phenomenal.

Where the movie really succeeds is in the relationships between the kids.

All of the "Losers Club" deliver great performances.  They all feel like real kids, they're probably the best ensemble of kids since The Monster Squad.  Watching them takes you back to the 80's and really lets the nostalgia well up in you.

I can't say that I'm 100% on board with the new look of Pennywise, but I certainly can't find fault with Bill Skarsgård's performance.  His Pennywise is every bit as creepy and disturbing as you would imagine.  

The only complaint I have about the movie is that I want the second half now.  The movie is great but having read the book, it feels a tad incomplete without the adult half of the story.  

That said, it's still a milestone horror movie.  I can only it's amazing box office will give us more top notch horror movies.  

Jackals (2017)

I saw this at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival and I went in knowing nothing about it.  This was case where not having any info ahead of time made the movie more exciting.

Written by Jared Rivet and directed by Kevin Greutert Jackals is a tense thriller that doesn't overstay it's welcome.  

I won't spoil the plot because I think going into this film blind really enhances the tension.  I will say that I loved the Halloween homage at the beginning and that the "cat joke" was one of my favorite parts of the movie.  

The cast includes genre vets Stephen Dorff, Johnathon Schaech, and Deborah Kara Unger.  All the cast do a great job of conveying fear and tension.  Schaech does a commendable  job of showing just how far a father will go to protect his family.  

Do yourself a favor and go see Jackals before someone spoils it for you!