John Carpenter hit a bit of a home run with The Thing back in 1982, though contemporary critics didn't give him or his movie any shine. In fact, his film's reception was so bleak that it kinda-sorta destroyed Carpenter's career... at least for a while. But hindsight is 20/20, as they say, and with nearly four decades to marinate on it, many people have come around to The Thing's seminal place in horror and sci-fi history. Its hopeless tale of a stranded Antarctic research base grappling with something from quite literally out-of-this-world is only bested by its amazing practical effects, which are considered some of the goriest ever seen in a major motion picture into the '80s. So gas-up your chopper, strap-in, and get ready. Those wily Norwegians really screwed up, and now we're all gonna pay the price.

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