History Film / TheThing1982

* JerkassHasAPoint: By smashing up all the equipment, Blair essentially trapped everyone there, but he had recognized the danger of allowing the Thing access to the outside world, a concept which the others would soon pick up on. [[spoiler: Of course, he might have been taken over by this point anyway. One of the major points still debated by fans is exactly when Blair was assimilated, in which case the Blair-Thing intentionally destroyed the radio and vehicles so they'd be trapped with it for months. Given that it's he who plants the seed of mistrust among them ("I don't know who to trust. Watch Clark."), this is not impossible.]]

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, most of the rest of the dog team is being digested alive where they stand, and mangled heads are already starting to appear within the Dog-Thing itself. Little wonder the first people on the scene grab the IdiotBall - shooting it (which does no good at all), running ''into the same room as the monster'' to try and save the remaining dogs, etc.]]

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, most of the rest of the dog team is being digested alive where they stand, and mangled heads are already starting to appear within the Dog-Thing itself. Little wonder the first people on the scene grab the IdiotBall and go completely crazy when they happen upon it.]]

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, most of the rest of the dog team is being digested alive where they stand, and mangled heads are already starting to appear within the Dog-Thing itself. Little wonder people start shooting it and yelling for help when they happen upon this horror.]]

* BodyHorror: And '''''how'''''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences, and once a Thing is forced to reveal itself, EldritchAbomination is the most charitable way of describing what pops out. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. For that particular scene, Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make it watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out.

* BodyHorror: And '''''how'''''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make that scene watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out. Once the Thing is forced to reveal itself, EldritchAbomination is the most charitable way of describing what pops out.

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, most of the rest of the dog team is being digested alive where they stand, and mangled heads are already starting to appear within the Dog-Thing itself. Little wonder people starts screaming for a flamethrower when they happen upon this horror.]]

** Special notice should go to Nauls at the end of the film, who walks towards a moving form ([[spoiler: The Blair-Thing pulling Garry's body]]) without telling MacCready, who's literally 3 or so feet away from him at the time. [[spoiler: We never see Nauls again]]

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, the rest of the dog team is being digested alive where they stand. Little wonder people starts screaming for a flamethrower when they happens upon this horror.]]

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, the rest of the dog team is being digested alive where they stand. Little wonder [=MacReady=] starts screaming for a flamethrower when he happens upon this horror.]]

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Assimilation by a Thing counts as this by default. In addition to that, [[spoiler: Windows]] is ''brutally'' mauled by one of the Things (and then set on fire for good measure), [[spoiler: Copper]] bleeds to death after having his forearms bitten off, [[spoiler: Garry]] gets a Thing arm down the throat and is dragged around by the [[spoiler: Blair]]-Thing as additional biomass for a OneWingedAngel transformation, and[[spoiler: Fuchs]] is impied to have set himself on fire to avoid assimilation.

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe!:Said by Palmer [[spoiler:when he sees the Norris-spider head walking away
--> "You have got to bi fucking kidding..."

* YouHaveGottoBeKiddingMe!:Said by Palmer [[spoiler:when he sees the Norris-spider head walking away

----

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out who sabotaged the blood samples.

* OneWingedAngel: Whenever the Thing is exposed, it assumes very dangerous, monstrous forms to attack the protagonists with. Particularely noteworthy when it confronts [[spoiler:[=MacReady=]]] at the end, and the Thing turns into a huge monster shapeshifter mash-up. Also an example of ClippedWingAngel.
* {{Pants Free}}: During the disorder of the Kennel scene were some of the guys rush put of their rooms half-dressed, you can see Dr.Copper only wearing a shirt and some underwear.

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, the rest of the dog team is literally being digested alive where they stand. Little wonder [=MacReady=] starts screaming for a flamethrower when he happens upon this horror.]]

** By far one of the most difficult to watch is [[spoiler:the emergence of the Dog-Thing. The "dog's" face literally peels open like a banana, and when the team finds it, the rest of the dog team is literally being digestive alive where they stand. Little wonder [=MacReady=] starts screaming for a flamethrower when he happens upon this horror.]]

[[caption-width-right:232:...from another world; back and far more GrimDark this time around.]]

* FinalBoss: The [[spoiler: Blair]]-Thing.

* BodyHorror: And '''''how'''''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make that scene watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out. Once the Thing is forced to reveal itself, EldrichAbomination is the most charitable way of describing what pops out.

* BodyHorror: And ''how''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. A head skittering about on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example. Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make that scene watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out.

* [[DeathByPragmatism Assimilation By Pragmatism]]:[[spoiler: Blair is the first character to realize how incredibly dangerous the Thing is, and flips out, destroying the radio, the vehicles, and killing the surviving dogs. Admittedly, destroying everything the team could have used to warn the surrounding station about the Thing isn't a particularly pragmatic solution, but considering [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt what will happen if the Thing escapes the Antarctic,]] it's at least partially justified. This gets him locked in a storage shed, alone, with multiple Things seeking organisms to infect roving the base. [[YouWillBeAssimilated Guess what happens]].]]

[[caption-width-right:232:...From another world; back and far more GrimDark.]]

[[caption-width-right:232:...From another world, Baby!]]

* TomatoInTheMirror: Discussed. The survivors wonder, if the Thing perfectly mimics who it copies, does ''it'' even know it's a fake? The novel claims it does, absorbing the memories and personality of the thing, and Carpenter in the commentary agrees that if it did, it wouldn't matter - it'd use their personality to react accordingly. Given that the Thing-imitations take several actions to frame unassimilated humans, and one of them is [[spoiler: secretly building a hovercraft]], it seems probable that they know what they are.
** That said, the actor playing [[spoiler: Norris]] mentions in the commentary that he played his character as being worried that he might be the Thing without knowing it. ([[spoiler: He's very much correct.]]) Note his reaction when offered [[spoiler: Gerry's gun - "I'm not up to it."]].