Verbal Diorama

When it came to thinking of a horror movie I'd love to feature, The Thing (1982) was top of my list. It's not a movie most would associate with someone who admits to not liking horror, but the combination of science fiction and horror remains one of my favourite genre mixes (see also Alien!)It's also a movie that continues to delight and terrify me. The practical effects, created by Rob Bottin (only 21 years of age at the time) still hold up as visually inventive, repulsive and unforgettable, almost 40 years later. It's an accolade that the recent 2011 prequel could never have lived up to (and yes, I saw it recently, so I will talk about it a little, if only to serve as a highlight to how excellent the 1982 movie really is!)On the surface a graphic, gory body horror, but it's not the gore that makes it scary, it's the emotional and mental horror, as it depicts the descent into fear, madness and paranoia that this group of twelve men encounter and the toxic masculinity which prevents them from actually working