10 Best Horror Movie Prequels

9. The Thing

Ouija Origin of Evil
Universal Pictures

Did we ever need a prequel to John Carpenter's iconic The Thing? No, we clearly did not.

Still, when Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. brought just such a film to the silver screen in 2011, the movie was pretty darn good. Sure, it wasn't Carpenter's The Thing, but this prequel - annoyingly also titled The Thing - was quite the impressive beast.

Headed up by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Egerton, this '11 movie rolls right into the opening minutes of its 1982 predecessor. The focus here is on the Norwegian research station that first encountered the alien spacecraft - and the parasitic alien it brought to Earth - way before MacReady and company.

The setting and visuals of The Thing (2011) are impressively atmospheric, with Winstead on particularly fine form as she looks to tackle an assimilating beast from another world. Where this picture does let itself down, mind, is by opting to go the CGI route with so many of its more gruesome scenes.

Using CGI wouldn't necessarily always be a bad move, but it's a tough ask to replicate the quality and sheer terrifying uniqueness of the practical effects work carried out by Rob Bottin and crew on Carpenter's 1982 movie.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.