10 Horror Movie Questions That Will Never Be Answered

3. What Does The Creature Look Like? - John Carpenter's The Thing

the lighthouse willem dafoe
Universal Pictures

There has been a ton of debate behind The Thing's ending, revolving around whether MacReady or Childs has been absorbed by the alien.

However, there's another lingering mystery that has yet to be resolved. Since the titular monster takes on the likeness of anything it comes into contact with, its true form is never revealed. Which begs the question - what does The Thing look like?

In the original novel, Who Goes There?, the extra-terrestrial is described as a tentacled creature with three red eyes and worm-like blue hair. However, the 1982 adaptation kept its appearance more ambiguous. Not giving The Thing a consistent look was a smart move, since it amplified the unknown factor, making it scarier and fittingly more alien.

Nevertheless, it hasn't stopped viewers obsessing over the metamorphosing critter's original form. Its background is so vague, it's impossible to guess. The creature could be a conventional looking alien, a humanoid, or some form that mankind can't fathom. 

Its size is also highly debatable. For all we know, it could be the size of bacteria and can only be observed under a microscope. Not only is it impossible to know The Thing's true form, it's not known whether it has one.

 
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James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows