Some movies almost demand a sequel, but at the same time should never, ever get one under any circumstances. The 1982 Antarctic-set sci-fi horror The Thing is one of those. John Carpenter’s iconic horror, itself a remake of an earlier film, is widely considered one of the greatest horror movies ever made. What makes it one of the greatest is part of what makes it so hard to repeat. A prequel was tried in 2011, and that didn’t go well. The detailed practical effects, including lashings of unsettling gore, underpin fine work from a strong cast of serious actors.
It may have bombed at the box office upon release, but it found a loving audience on home video, and its reputation grew from there. The ending stays with you, as Keith David and Kurt Russell leave the paranoid plot thread dangling.
Blumhouse was said to be developing Frozen Hell, which was an adaptation of the expanded novel-length version of the original Who Goes There? novella by John W. Campbell Jr. upon which the Howard Hawks original movie was based, but news on this has been thin. So maybe the world of The Thing was dormant once more, until last weekend. Carpenter appeared at a Q&A at last weekend’s Texas Frightmare Weekend. There he left little room for doubt that something is planned. He was asked about the status of Keith David’s character at the finale of the movie. Had he been infected? Carpenter responded:
“I have been sworn to secrecy, okay, because there may be, I don’t know if there will be, there may be a ‘Thing 2.’”
Wait… what? So is this alongside, or instead of Frozen Hell? Is Blumhouse involved? Sequel? Prequel? Sidequel? Reboot? What the hell is going on here? Enquiring minds want to know.