History Film / TheThing1982

* NiceHat: Mac's sombrero

* 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."]].

* [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerization]]: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.]]

Unrelated to [[ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark that thing,]] [[TheCatInTheHat those things,]] [[Series/TheAddamsFamily this thing,]] [[TheThingThatGoesDoink this other thing]], [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the ever-lovin' Thing,]] [[BuffySpeak you know, that thingy thing,]] or an alternate English name of {{Mothra}}.

* ImpostorExposingTest: [=MacReady=] figures out a way to test for Thingness by reasoning that the Thing's blood cells are separate organisms with a survival instinct.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In keeping with Mac's strategy against the chess computer, if he can't win against the Thing, he'll blow it to shit.
-->"And FUCK YOU, too!"

* [[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerization]]: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.''

* Bowdlerise: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.''

* [[Bowdlerise Bowdlerization]]: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.''

* [[Bowlderise Bowlderization]]: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.''

* [[Bowlderize Bowlderization]]: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.''

* Bowlderization: ''Brutally'' subverted; a lot of the harsh language was cut out in cable airings, but that made certain scenes relentlessly bleak and nauseating without even a bit of comic relief (see BodyHorror above). The Cable ending involved the most GrimDark ending possible, worse then the original: [[spoiler:The base is wrecked, everyone is dead - and a disguised Dog Thing runs off across the plains.''

* BodyHorror: And '''''how'''''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. Once a Thing is forced to reveal itself, EldritchAbomination is the most charitable way of describing what pops out - a head growing extra eyes on stalks and skittering away on spider legs is perhaps the most ''tame'' example.[[note]]That particular scene had such a level of {{Gorn}} and NauseaFuel that, Carpenter actually had to cut in a PrecisionFStrike to make it watchable by his standards, and is extremely unhappy cable airings cut it out.[[/note]]

* BodyHorror: And '''''how'''''! This film is infamous for its transformation sequences. Once a Thing is forced to reveal itself, EldritchAbomination is the most charitable way of describing what pops out - a head growing extra eyes on stalks and skittering away 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.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Much'' more so than the Howard Hawkes version.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out who sabotaged the blood samples, who's shadow it was on the wall, or what happened to Nauls and Garry.

Thi~ng!!!]]

* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: The Thing crash lands into just about the only place in the world where it wouldn't be easy to completely take over all life on the planet. There is hardly any life around to assimilate, and it freezes before it can get to any. The men who excavate it also have flamethrowers, which is the only reliable way to kill 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 the first people on the scene grab the IdiotBall - shooting it (which does no good at all), running ''into the same room as the Thing'' to try and save the remaining dogs, etc.]]

* FinalBoss: The [[spoiler: Blair]]-Thing. [[spoiler: It basically was the combination of, presumably, all the remaining Things, mashed together to fight as one.]]

[-[---

[[caption-width-right:232:...is back, and far DarkerAndEdgier this time around.]]

* 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" -- who tuned out to be ''human''), this is not impossible.]]