The Thing

Anne Billson (writer, photographer, and film critic, Belgium)

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English

BFI Publishing
02 December 2021

Films, movies & cinema; Film theory & criticism; Film movie guides & reviews; Science fiction

Series: BFI Film Classics

An extra-terrestrial alien, capable of replicating any living form it touches, infiltrates an isolated research base in the Antarctic, and sows suspicion and terror among the men trapped there. Which of them is still human, and which a perfect alien facsimile? John Carpenter’s The Thing, the second adaptation of

John W. Campbell’s 1938 novella Who Goes There?, received overwhelmingly negative reviews on its release in 1982, but has since been acknowledged as a classic fusion of the science fiction and horror genres. Now a regular fixture in lists of the greatest movies of all time, it is acclaimed for its inspired and still shocking practical special effects, its deftly sketched characters brought to life by a superb cast, elegant widescreen cinematography, ominous score, and a uniquely tense narrative packed with appropriately ever-changing metaphors about the human condition.

Anne Billson’s elegant and trenchant study, first published in 1997, was one of the first publications to give the film its due as a modern classic, hailing it as a landmark movie that brilliantly redefined horror and science fiction conventions, and combined them with sly humour, Lewis Carroll logic and disturbingly prescient metaphors for many of the sociopolitical, scientific and medical upheavals of the past three decades.

In her foreword to this new edition, Anne Billson reflects upon The Thing's changing fortunes in the years since its release, its influence on film-makers including Tarantino and del Toro, and its topicality in an era of melting ice caps and with humanity besieged by a deadly organism.

By: Anne Billson (writer photographer and film critic Belgium)
Imprint: BFI Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 2nd edition
Dimensions: Height: 190mm, Width: 135mm,
Weight: 176g
ISBN: 9781839023590
ISBN 10: 1839023597
Series: BFI Film Classics
Pages: 112
Publication Date: 02 December 2021
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Anne Billson is a film critic, photographer, screenwriter, and the author of horror novels Suckers, Stiff Lips, The Ex and The Coming Thing, as well as several works of non-fiction including Billson Film Database and Cats on Film. She lives in Antwerp, Belgium.