The Thing from Another World

There are no enemies in science, only phenomena to be studied.

The Thing from Another World is set at The North Pole and finds a bunch of U.S. airmen, scientists and a journalist getting more than they bargained for when they investigate a space craft frozen in the ice.

What is most striking about the film is the basic human story of team work, the pulling together of mankind during a crisis, this theme is a big shift from the short story by John W Campbell Jr. (Who Goes There?). Where that story and later John Carpenter's wonderful remake focused on paranoia and mistrust, this film is something of the "polar" opposite (literally) as regards the group in peril. It bears all the hallmarks of producer Howard Hawks, who clearly influe...

Stuck at an isolated arctic station with some Thing

Scientists at a base in the frozen North discern the crash-landing of an unknown vessel 50 miles away, which they naturally investigate with the corresponding militarists. They bring a mysterious frozen specimen back to the station. Big mistake.

The Thing From Another World (1951) was the first attempt to film John W. Campbells novella Who Goes There? Being shot in 1950, theres a quaintness to the proceedings compared to the 1982 version with Kurt Russell or the 2011 prequel.

This version lacks the grimness of those two future renditions and the extraterrestrial (played by towering James Arness) is lame by comparison. We know from War of the Worlds and The Blob that flicks f...