John Carpenters ’s 1982 horror film, The Thing was made as a premise for social commentary on the deterioration of humanity, warning society of the devastating potential of thinking as individuals in isolation rather than a collective. These themes are accentuated through the use of an alien specimen that enters the world of American male scientists based in Antarctica. The alien (or “Thing”) infects living organisms and attempts to take over the human race by ‘imitating’ them, leaving the men in a fight for their own survival as they try to differentiate between “human” and an alien imitation of a human. The term humanity itself is redefined in this film and is stripped to its bare minimum: the mere biological relationship between humans.
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Addison describes this theme by stating, “the film presents a (…) story world of cold isolation in which humans do not form strong relationships with one another” (162). The horror conventions used to portray this include: body horror, excess, lack of closure, ‘the monster’, and disgust reaction shots. These horror conventions are developed through the specific use cinematography and mise en scène as a means of projecting the films themes. *This can be explored through the examination of a climactic scene towards the middle of the movie, where Macready (the film’s protagonist) undergoes blood tests for each of the men in order to differentiate between human and alien, leading to the revelation that Palmer is an imitation, who then transforms into the creature …show more content…
The constant isolation, paranoia and distrust between the characters was not only representative of the political unrest of the 1970s, including the terror experienced in the Cold war, but it also served to highlight the distrust and isolation of humans on a personal level. Isolation is therefore represented as a significant catalyst to the deterioration of humanity itself. Even though Carpenter understood that his contextual audience did not desire this criticism in a time of social and political recovery, The Thing is now praised as a revolutionary film specifically in the science fiction horror genre, carving the way for many other successful modern films that now use similar conventions (Addison,
Addison describes this theme by stating, “the film presents a (…) story world of cold isolation in which humans do not form strong relationships with one another” (162). The horror conventions used to portray this include: body horror, excess, lack of closure, ‘the monster’, and disgust reaction shots. These horror conventions are developed through the specific use cinematography and mise en scène as a means of projecting the films themes. *This can be explored through the examination of a climactic scene towards the middle of the movie, where Macready (the film’s protagonist) undergoes blood tests for each of the men in order to differentiate between human and alien, leading to the revelation that Palmer is an imitation, who then transforms into the creature …show more content…
The constant isolation, paranoia and distrust between the characters was not only representative of the political unrest of the 1970s, including the terror experienced in the Cold war, but it also served to highlight the distrust and isolation of humans on a personal level. Isolation is therefore represented as a significant catalyst to the deterioration of humanity itself. Even though Carpenter understood that his contextual audience did not desire this criticism in a time of social and political recovery, The Thing is now praised as a revolutionary film specifically in the science fiction horror genre, carving the way for many other successful modern films that now use similar conventions (Addison,