10 Scariest Uses Of Make-Up In Horror Movies
8. Palmer Transforms – The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter’s adaption of John W. Campbell’s 1938 novella Who Goes There? still houses some of the greatest characters, suspense, and practical effects in modern horror.
The tale of a research crew marooned in Antarctica with a creature that replicates other organisms, its acting and direction are tough to beat. Obviously, just as much credit is owed to special effects supervisor Rob Bottin, whose myriad inventions—like a dog splitting apart and a detached head sprouting spider-like legs—even led the late film critic Roger Ebert to declare The Thing “a great barf-bag movie”.
In terms of sheer terror, however, no other moment can rival the transformation of Palmer during the infamous blood test scene. Tied to a chair alongside teammates Childs and Garry, Palmer watches calmly as self-appointed leader MacReady holds a hot piece of copper to samples of each man’s red life-force. Once he tests Palmer’s contribution, it shrieks in pain, causing MacReady to drop it. Then, Palmer begins flailing as the other men scramble to get away from him; before long, his body melts into a mesh of tentacles and teeth, resulting in one of the most petrifying body horror conversions of the decade.