THE THING Trailer Is Conventional Contemporary Horror With None Of The John Carpenter Class
It's standard studio monster horror stuff with loud noises, screams, jump scares, quick cutting, fast snappy dialogue, ominous hallway shots, shaky-cam, The Mist-style creature pulling a character to some abyss.
The trailer for the prequel to The Thing has arrived, though before I get onto the footage let's talk about the use of the word 'prequel' here. I don't know if it's journalists who have called the movie that but the more you think about it, the more the correct term would be 'reboot' or even 'remake'. Think about it this way - if this 2011 version of The Thing takes off and does big numbers, then there will be a sequel - which would most likely bring in the MacReady character played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's 1982 movie and would be played by a whole new actor, or if not MacReady - there would be a new crew sent to antartica to see what had happened to the Norwegians and that in itself would have to be considered a remake of the 82 picture. So prequel just doesn't really cover it. It's a reboot. Plus it has the exact same bloody title! Rant aside.... the trailer makes the film look wholly conventional. It's standard studio monster horror stuff with loud noises, screams, jump scares, quick cutting, fast snappy dialogue, ominous hallway shots, shaky-cam, the Mist-style creature pulling a character to some abyss. There's none of the patience, the skill of craft or the tension here (as much as you can tell from a trailer anyway) that made the John Carpenter movie so special. But I will say this. Strip out what we know of The Thing and call this movie "The Monster" (or something) and it would look pretty good, wouldn't it? Not spectacular but probably worth seeing. And that's my verdict here...
Video: 'The Thing' Movie TrailerStarring a noticeably older Mary Elizabeth Winstead, clearly now Scott Pilgrim is out of the way consciously moving to more adult roles, alongside Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Eric Christian Olsen... the movie is the story of the unfortunate Norwegian team who first stumbled across the thousands year old thing. Directed by Matthis van Heijningen Jr. after monumental delays the film is due this Halloween weekend on October 30th. Will you see it?