Frequently cited as one of the best horror movies ever made, John Carpenter’s The Thing, like many other classic movies, was poorly received upon its initial release. While critics were put off by its excessive body horror and creature effects, the movie is hailed for those exact same reasons today.
Ignoring its ground-breaking practical effects for a second, The Thing also features one of the most intricately laid out horror scripts ever conceived. It's ingeniously drip-feeding just the right amount of information regarding the Thing’s possible hosts to keep the audience on its toes. A masterclass in tension and paranoia, these are the ten scariest moments in the entire movie, ranked.
The Shootout
Arguably the only scene in the movie that gets even more frightening on subsequent watches, the opening of The Thing sees a Norwegian helicopter frantically attempt to chase down a fleeing sled dog. The dog makes its way into an American research station, as one of the Norwegians attempts to put it down with a rifle.
This results in a shootout in which the Norwegian is killed. Sure, it’s far from the scariest scene in the movie, but revisiting the scene with the context of exactly why the Norwegians are so desperate to stop the dog makes it all the more chilling.
MacReady Fights Blair-Thing
While an assimilated Blair serves as the ‘final form’ of The Thing, its hulking presence in the movie’s third act isn’t quite as terrifying as some of the more subtle scenes preceding it. Nevertheless, Blair-Thing is quite the grotesque sight, with MacReady’s attempts to take it down feeling completely futile.
As you’d probably expect, the special effects work here is fantastic, with the subtle inclusion of the Thing’s other assimilated victims bringing the design together in horrifying fashion.
MacReady And Childs Share A Drink
With one of the most ambiguous and nihilistic endings in cinema history, The Thing’s final scene brilliantly capitalizes on the dread and paranoia painstakingly ratcheted up throughout the movie – making it a fittingly grim coda to the twisted story.
The scene sees MacReady and Childs share a drink in the snow after escaping the creature, unsure of its current whereabouts – or even whether or not the other has been assimilated. With no means of escape, and the Thing likely lurking somewhere close by, things don’t look good for MacReady and Childs.
The Crew Explores The Norwegian Base
After their shootout with Norwegian scientists in The Thing’s opening scene, MacReady and Copper hope to get some answers by investigating their nearby base. What they find isn’t pretty.
While much of the base has been destroyed, the pair find a gruesomely disfigured corpse that barely resembles a human, having been assimilated by the movie’s eponymous monster. Upon performing an autopsy, it’s revealed that the creature contains human organs, sparking the concern of the remaining crew, and setting the movie’s terrifying events into motion.
The Thing Attacks The Sled Dogs
After the Norwegians’ failed attempt to stop an assimilated husky from infiltrating the American research station, Clark locks it up with the rest of the crew’s sled dogs.
Of course, this proves to be a terrible idea, and the Thing immediately attempts to assimilate his fellow kennel mates, revealing its hideous true form. The resulting transformation is amongst the most disturbing in the entire movie, with the dogs’ panicked yelps making the scene even more unsettling.
Bennings Is Assimilated
Renowned for its expertly crafted sense of paranoia and tension, The Thing smartly plays with the audience by having most of the crew’s assimilations take place off-screen, leaving both the viewer and the movie’s characters unsure of who exactly has fallen victim to the Thing.
We do, however, see Bennings get absorbed by the creature – and it’s one of the movie’s most harrowing moments. With Windows first encountering a pile of torn, bloody clothing, the camera then cuts to a quick shot of a petrified Bennings being assimilated by the creature in an isolated corner – its slimy tendrils slithering throughout his body before he flees into the snow.
Blair Destroys The Station
While The Thing’s gruesome body horror serves as the crux of the movie’s biggest scares, many of its most chilling scenes come during its quieter moments, in which the crew of the research station are left to stew in their own fear and paranoia.
Perhaps the smartest person at the base, Blair begins to lose his mind when he realizes the full extent of the creature’s capabilities – and resolves to destroy the station and all of its connections to the outside world to stop it from spreading to the mainland as MacReady, and his crew are held at gunpoint. Watching the crew’s mental deterioration and panic is deeply unsettling, making the movie’s ensuing body horror all the more frightening.
Head Spider
Immediately following the infamous scene in which Cooper examines Norris’ body, the man’s head detaches completely, taking on a grotesque life of its own before retreating. Nothing short of a nightmare for those who can’t stand the sight of creepy crawlies, Norris’ head subsequently sprouts a set of spindly, spider-like legs in one of the movie’s most wince-inducing moments.
This allows the creature to quietly skulk through the lab, before mounting a follow-up attack on the remaining members of the research crew.
Defibrillating Norris
Perhaps the biggest shock moment of the entire movie, the scene in which Dr. Copper attempts to defibrillate a lifeless Norris is infamous amongst horror aficionados for its sickening, out-of-this-world practical effects.
For those unaware of how the scene plays out, Copper’s attempts to defibrillate Norris are scuppered when Norris’ torso suddenly transforms into a giant, gaping maw, biting Copper’s arms clean off. Norris’ body then begins to violently shake, as the Thing emerges from Norris, taking on a horrifying new form.
The Blood Test
Arguably one of the most iconic scenes in all of horror, The Thing’s brilliantly executed blood test scene is one of director John Carpenter’s crowning achievements. Discovering that the blood of those assimilated by the movie’s shapeshifting creature will react to heat, MacReady places a piece of heated wire into a sample of each crew member’s blood.
The tension is genuinely palpable as each crew member is tested one by one before it’s revealed that Palmer has been playing host to the creature all along – instantly transforming into a repulsive monster when he’s found out.