10 Small Details That Make John Carpenter's The Thing Perfect
7. The Shadow Of The First Victim
One of the great mysteries of The Thing is trying to figure who is assimilated and at what point. There are the obvious ones that are shown on screen, and then there are those that come out of nowhere.
One of the greatest shocks in the film comes from the revelation that Norris is a creature, yet much earlier on there is that one, highly disturbing scene.
Nothing overt happens. The Alaskan Malamute that had run so far across the snow simply walks calmly down the hallway, taking its time as it goes. Thanks to excellent animal training, there is very little to give away the fact that this is anything more than a creature on the hunt. It decides on one door, containing a single occupant. We see that occupant in shadow as the dog enters. The shadow's head turns. The scene ends.
This marks the true beginning of the horror that the men at the base would come to face, as one of their number has now almost certainly been killed and transformed. The scene is so quiet and so profoundly heavy that it is now a scene that, on second watch onwards, is hard not to start feeling anxious while viewing.
And there isn't a single word of dialogue.