"The Thing" could be seen as the natural evolution of the formula that began with Ridley Scott's "Alien". The two movies have an entirely different setting and atmosphere, but share the same simple structure: a group of humans ends up being stuck in a confined space as they are chased by an unknown alien entity. However, the "Thing" manages to become something more than a beautifully designed hungry monster: it's a threat with no discernible appearance, as it has the ability to imitate the organisms it consumes and blend in with its prey. This allows Carpenter to convey his trademark cynical, nihilistic view of humanity, focusing on how easily a team of highly unlikeable characters can fall apart as they slowly get consumed by their distrust and paranoia. The "Thing" has no evil intentions and is just trying to survive, but it won't take much for the humans to end up turning against each other.

It must be said that the film takes a damn long time to get to the point, but Carpenter's "chilly" cinematography and slow camerawork manage to build the story's tension and keep us craving for more flamethrower bursts to warm up the atmosphere. As mentioned, the "Thing" never shows its true self, but in return offers a lot of grotesque "transformation" sequences that managed to turn a mild psychological horror into a true cult film. The practical effects surely aged a bit, but the art direction and design are so over the top and visionary that the final result still holds incredibly well.

On a side note, the film is supposed to be a remake of Christian Nyby's "The Thing from Another World", but is actually based on the science fiction short story "Who Goes There?" (which also inspired Nyby's film). Other than the title font, the two movies are very little in common. Just think that "The Thing from Another World" cannot change appearance, is always recognizable, and gets its ass kicked by a cohesive team of heroes.