10 Movie Scenes With Hidden Tricks You Totally Missed
9. The Thing - Blood Test
1982’s sci-fi body-horror classic The Thing stars Kurt Russell and the crew of Outpost 31 dealing with an alien terror that can assume the shape of any living creature. The film is praised for its usage of practical effects and its paranoid and tense tone.
Perhaps the most pivotal scene of the film, Russell’s MacReady pokes a heated piece of metal into blood samples of each of the remaining crew to determine if they’re human or not. The theory being that if they’re The Thing then their blood will react and try to defend itself. The scene slowly builds tension before the truth is revealed and the alien creature bursts out of the petri dish in Kurt Russell’s hand.
In order to achieve the practical effect of the blood animating, a puppet springs forth from a prosthetic hand that is extended from MacReady’s sleeve and body horror nonsense ensues. However, if Russell’s hand had suddenly changed mid-scene then the illusion would be broken. Audiences would've noticed the discrepancy between real flesh and prosthetic.
Thus, for the entire blood test sequence Russell uses a fake hand, whether he needs it or not, and it's all carefully shot. This way audiences wouldn’t notice the switcheroo.