The Thing Reboot: Yea or Nay?

There was a fan film created not long ago dealing with the sequel to John Carpenter’s cult classic The Thing, but considering that it wasn’t an official attempt, a lot of fans are waiting to see what might happen with a reboot or another movie that might take off where the original left off. It’s an interesting proposition, to be honest, but right now it doesn’t sound as though Blumhouse or Carpenter is ready to reveal whether it’s going to be a prequel, a sequel, or an entirely remade story. A prequel has been attempted already, and while the effects divided the fanbase, meaning some didn’t mind the CGI and others thought it was horrific and overdone, the movie wasn’t as terrible as many people made it out to be. The mere fact that it went on to explain the scene that was witnessed in the first movie was kind of nice since it gave the impression that the situation was far worse than fans had been led to believe. Bolstering the original story was necessary, and it did offer a bit of insight into what really happened at the station, even if a few things might have been embellished. 

But hopefully, things will be pushed forward rather than taken further back, since bringing this story to the present and finding the bodies of MacReady and Childs along with the ruins of the base camp already sounds a lot more interesting than going further back to the moment that the creature’s ship was discovered. Perhaps explaining how the station was covered over and made nearly invisible on the landscape might be a way that this story could be advanced in a way that would make sense. Plus, the technology available today might make this story even more impressive since CGI has come a long way even since the prequel and it’s possible that the current era might be even more perilous when it comes to introducing the creature. 

The resilience of the creature is well-known at this point, and its ability to hide in plain sight is second to none when it has the time it needs to adapt and evolve. Allowing it to exist in the current era would become one of the best things that might happen to the movie, but it could also become a horror movie that would reach epic proportions if it were allowed to do so. This would require a great deal of care and the skill of more than one talented writer, but that’s why this is a bit tragic since it’s not bound to happen. The reason for this is kind of simple, we all have different expectations and ideas of what we want to see, but what’s bound to be presented will be what the people in charge want to see. The prequel could have been a little better, but it’s fair to think that another movie will end up making several ‘mistakes’ that people will be certain to highlight. The Thing was a well-made, self-contained movie that could have gone in a couple of directions after it was made, but was better off being left as a mystery that many fans would eventually seek to solve.

To be entirely honest, it might be better to leave an air of mystery to the story since figuring out where the alien came from, why it came to earth, and what its real purpose is to feel like matters that could best be left alone, even while being mentioned to keep the fans happy. On one hand, the movie is fairly simple since it’s a horror movie that takes place in a desolate region and plays upon some of the worst fears of the human psyche in a manner that makes it easy to be mistrustful of one’s fellow human being. How one might improve on the overall horror is hard to say given that the prequel already tried this and didn’t really impress people that much. One failing of the prequel is that for one reason or another a lot of people don’t feel that it lived up to the hype, and it didn’t really meet the same kind of expectations that the first movie created. 

Amazingly enough, the practical effects in the first movie have been hard to live up to, as many people still prefer the practical gore-fest that The Thing provided and would love to return to those times. Whether or not that’s ever going to happen is a good question, but as of now, it feels as though a reboot of The Thing is probably going to be heavily laden with CGI and other similar effects. As to the thought of whether or not this movie should be made, well, that’s a matter of opinion and to be certain, a lot of people would agree that it does need to be made, but a lot of folks would no doubt have different ideas of how it should go.