9 Horror Movies That Reward You For Paying Attention

7. The Opening Of The Thing Told Us What Was To Come

The Conjuring 2 Valak
Universal Pictures

If you pay attention to the opening few minutes of John Carpenter's The Thing, you'll know all you need to know about the shape-shifting alien parasite that's at the centre of the film and about to cause all kinds of paranoid havoc.

Admittedly, the slight caveat here is that you would need to be able to understand Norwegian to be gifted this pivotal information, but still, Carpenter wasn't shy about revealing the truth about the torment that was lying ahead in this picture.

Setting the tone for Carpenter's iconic Antarctica-set 1982 offering, the film opens with a Norwegian helicopter in desperate pursuit of a sled dog that's heading to the US research station that serves as the central location of the movie.

That helicopter ends up exploding, but it's pilot screams at the US crew while attempting to shoot this problematic pooch. That poor pilot would end up being shot and killed for his troubles, but those who can speak Norwegian were all too aware that he was merely trying to warn his American peers.

To be precise, the Norwegian pilot pleads:

"Get the hell out of there! That's not a dog, it's some sort of thing! It's imitating a dog, it isn't real! Get away, you idiots!"

Another moment to pay attention to upon your next watch of The Thing, is the closing conversation between MacReady and Childs.

For those looking for the answer to the age-old question of whether it was MacReady or Childs who was the Thing at that point in time, the answer is there for all to see - as MacReady is the only one exhaling breath when he speaks.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.