10 Practical Film Effects You Probably Thought Were CGI
2. The Thing From The Thing
Although the significantly worse 2011 remake failed to follow in its footsteps (instead opting for CGI techniques), John Carpenters original The Thing from 1982 went to painstaking lengths in its pursuit of realistic, gory and practical special effects.
Yes, to put it simply, The Thing from The Thing was a real thing. Rob Bottin, who had previously worked on An American Werewolf In London and The Fog was brought on board to make the films manifold creature scenes a reality.
This didn't entirely go to plan, with Bottin's idea to melt plastic on set to create a neck-stretching effect resulting in an entire prosthetic exploding. But, niggles like that aside, Bottin's effects came together brilliantly. His designs are so good that plenty of casual viewers probably think The Thing utilises some form of computer trickery.
But no, with a budget of just $1.5 million Bottin brought Carpenters vision of The Things eponymous gruesome monster to life. This took sculpting, painting, mechanical engineering, puppeteering, and even some strawberry jam. If you named it, we used it! Bottin later admitted.
He worked pretty much non-stop on The Thing for 57 weeks, sleeping at Universal studios and surviving on candy bars and cola. He had to spend two weeks in hospital recuperating afterwards, but Bottin also had the best work of his career to show for it.