John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is one of the peaks of sci-fi horror cinema, comparable only to Alien (1979). Its premise is simple and effective. A group of American scientists working in Antarctica are stalked by a shape-shifting alien, which kills them one by one and then assumes the victim's physical and mental identity. This extraterrestrial creature has lain dormant for centuries, buried in the Arctic ice, until a team of Norwegian scientists defrosts it. The originality of Carpenter's film, otherwise quite conventional as regards character development and plot structure, stems from the shape-shifting abilities of the alien. Suspense is consistently maintained throughout the film because the creature's nature makes it impossible for the audience to predict the shape it will take next. Intense horror is achieved by each new manifestation of the Thing, based on the truly scary designs of special effects wizard Rob Bottin.

The Thing...