“The Thing” starring bad-ass Kurt Russell and directed by John Carpenter, rides high in the pantheon of great Sci-Fi horror classics. It’s kind of like Alien but in Antarctica. In fact, The Thing adds a delicious extra flavour of paranoia to the recipe that, trust me, really makes for fine late night viewing.
So, a sequel is being considered and the usual machinations are taking place. Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar) wrote a script that wasn’t sufficiently Thingish I guess and now it’s being rewritten by Eric Heisserer, the fella that rewrote the upcoming Nightmare on Elm Street. The idea being considered and previously fleshed out by Ronald Moore is a return to the Norwegian camp where our nasty friend from the deep dark of space came and obliterated everyone before having it’s way with the American camp. Bloody Disgusting got an interview with Eric and he had the following to say.
“It’s a really fascinating way to construct a story because were doing it by autopsy, by examining very, very closely everything we know about the Norwegian camp and about the events that happened there from photos and video footage that’s recovered,” he continues, “from a visit to the base, the director, producer and I have gone through it countless times marking, you know, there’s a fire axe in the door, we have to account for that…were having to reverse engineer it, so those details all matter to us ‘cause it all has to make sense.”
“We explain how it got there,” he continues referring to the axe, adding that he found a way to bring suspense back to the film. “We’re finding so much from Carpenter’s movie that you think you’ve seen, but in actually it allows us to come up with certain twists on what we have that will allow people to be on the edge of their seat, and not know who’s going to make it and who’s not.”
Please oh please, for me, don’t bother even giving a sequel to The Thing a try unless there is respect for the original. If you haven’t seen The Thing, which was released in 1982, go out and get it. Don’t worry about it being an 80′s movie. Snow doesn’t age. Other than a few less wrinkles in Kurt you would think it was made last week.
