John Carpenter details filming The Thing on an actual glacier. Known for his genre-defining slasher film, Halloween, Carpenter directed the sci-fi horror film The Thing in 1982. Based on John W. Campbell Jr.'s novella Who Goes There?, The Thing follows a research team in Antarctica whose base is infiltrated by a shape-shifting alien life-form, which causes paranoia and conflict among the group. To bring the film's cold setting to life, Carpenter shot parts of The Thing on refrigerated sets and on actual glaciers from around the world.
For his upcoming 75th birthday, John Carpenter recently spoke to Variety for a career retrospective. The legendary director looked back on his life's work, including what it was like filming The Thing on actual glaciers. This included a field above the Mendenhall Glacier and a set in British Columbia, which was built on a glacier. Carpenter then details what the dangerous experience was like for the cast and crew. Read what Carpenter said below:
"Oh lordy, that was pretty hard too. But that was my first studio film and it was pretty great. You get a lot of stuff that you didn’t have as an independent. It was just incredible that way, and the studio was very nice to me throughout shooting. We had a second unit that went up to the glacier field above the Mendenhall Glacier. We shot for a couple of weeks up there and got some great footage, and we came back to the sound stages and worked there. Then we went to our set in British Columbia, which was built on a glacier, and built a set so we could blow it up and burn it down. And that was extremely cold and tough.
It was an active mine, so we’d drive up in the mornings on a bus and the word would come down: “Get over.” We’d have to pull over the bus because here came the trucks and they didn’t stop, roaring down the hill. The crew stayed in a barge that had pulled into the harbor there. And me and the actors and producers were staying at this hotel in town. And wow: Actors on a location with nothing to do on a Saturday night, it’s a dangerous situation. But this was in Stuart, British Columbia, and it was right near Hyder, Alaska. It was right there on the border. This was a town where they had thrown out the sheriff and burned down the police station, so it was completely wild there. It was a quite a location, but lots of things went on that I cannot discuss with you here."
Will The Thing Ever Get A Sequel?
Contrary to its standing today, The Thing debuted to negative reviews in 1982 and failed to impress during its initial box-office run going up against E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Public opinion of The Thing changed significantly when it reached a larger audience through its home video release. In the following years, The Thing was reappraised by critics and garnered a significant cult following. Today, it is widely regarded as one of the best sci-fi horror films ever made, especially for its masterful use of practical effects.
With this newfound success, The Thing spawned a quasi-franchise that included various other media, such as board games, comic books, and video games. The Thing even received a prequel of the same name in 2011 from director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., which followed a similar premise as the original movie involving a Norwegian team of scientists instead. The prequel film was also a box-office bomb that received mixed reviews from critics, though it never quite caught on like the original. Blumhouse is also reportedly developing a remake of The Thing.
Unlike other films in Carpenter's filmography like Halloween and Escape from New York, The Thing has yet to receive a proper movie sequel. It has received numerous comic-book sequels, such as Chuck Pfarrer's The Thing from Another World, which Carpenter has expressed interest in adapting to the screen, calling Pfarrer's story, which is set 24 hours the original film, a worthy sequel. However, there has been no sign of any serious discussions about a sequel taking place over the years. Carpenter still wants a sequel to The Thing to happen, and perhaps if he remains persistent, he could wheel it into existence.
Source: Variety