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Before The Thing, There Was... the Other Thing!

by Tippi Blevins September 16, 2008 3:24 PM

Remember John Carpenter's The Thing? That's right, the movie that for a time made people just a little bit suspicious of their own dogs, blood tests, and Wilford Brimley. Earlier this year, seeming confirmation of a long-rumored remake caused something of a stir among devoted fans of the original. Well, rest easy, lovers of the decapitated-head-spider! Director Marc Abraham recently told Latino Review that it's not a remake, after all. He also says that it's "'more of a prequel than a sequel'" and that it will be about "'the events leading up to the 1982 film.'"

If you've seen the original, then you know basically what those events were. Norwegians find a gross alien shapeshifter thing, it takes over a bunch of people, it escapes destruction by disguising itself as a cute sled dog. Presumably, a prequel would have the Norwegian research team uncovering the monster and going through all sorts of chilly, claustrophobic terror leading to their predetermined demise. [You can see one version of it played out in this music video with an all-G.I. Joe cast. - Zach]

Now, I call the 1982 film the "original", although there was a 1951 movie called The Thing From Another World that was, like the '80s version, based on a John W. Campbell, Jr. story. Carpenter stayed much closer to the source material than the previous movie, which was very much a product of its anti-Communist time. What cultural stamp -- if any -- will the "prequel" bear? Most importantly, what seemingly innocuous household pet or character actor will scare the crap out of us this time?

TAGS: John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Marc Abraham, prequel, remake, sci-fi, The Thing, Wilford Brimley

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Before The Thing, There Was... the Other Thing!

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