News : THE THING (2011) Trailer has surfaced.....

 Anyone who reads this site will know I'm no fan of trailers. In fact, I avoid them like the plague. Seems that these days in order to sell a film to an audience, the producers feel its necessary to give away the entire plot, all the twists, and showcase the best scenes, minus the context. After watching INSIDIOUS, I decided to watch the trailer and was shocked by how many revelations were in there. A trailer should hint at whats to come and nothing more. And to be honest I'm at a loss as to think of any recent trailer that's took the subtle route. Not to mention TV spots, Internet 'leaks' and whatever the fuck else they deem we should see. if you think back to the face rape that was Platinum Dunes ELM STREET remake, they released practically every scene with cat face Freddy online. There was nothing left to surprise or titillate the viewer during the show.A bad example I know, seeing as the film made grown men cry and women grow a third boob, but you get my point.


Well, I caught the trailer for the upcoming 'THE THING' prequel on a fellow horror fans site, and I watched half of it tentatively, simply because I had no desire to EVER see the film. A standard Hollywood take on 'Who Goes There?' and/or Carpenters masterpiece wasn't something I relished suffering through, so trailer I did watch...

And surprisingly it looks like this one may turn out okay. I'm no hater of remakes and in fact theres a good number of remakes i feel trump the originals, Aja's THE HILLS HAVE EYES was, to my mind, a far better film than Cravens. and you can read my thoughts on the MOTHERS DAY remake here. I support a remake if the director understands his job, which is NOT to use a well established name to make a quick cash grab and run; a technique associated with the notorious purveyors of mediocre, artless bullshit known as Platinum Dunes. i assumed this prequel to THE THING would fall into the same category, but after viewing the trailers I'm not so sure. Have a look for yourself and I'll see you below the video....

I notice a lot of Carpenter inspired shots and moments in here. Now Ive only watched this once to allow myself a chance to forget anything i may have caught that would lessen the suspense on viewing, but the film really does look like they've made a valid attempt to recapture some of the paranoid dread that made THE THING such a masterful work of art. I'm positive it'll come nowhere near its older brother, but there does seem to be hope for a good film here. The trailer is also pretty well done. We never see any of the aliens forms, and don't appear to witness any characters demise. They may be in there, as I know a lot of fans like to watch each frame, for some unknown reason, ruining the film going experience for themselves in the process. But on first, (and only) watch, this is a well produced trailer. I hope we can see more trailers like this is the future, maybe then I can add them to my fucking reviews!

Something i do find very strange, though,  is the choice of title. Why call a prequel to THE THING, 'THE THING'? Are they trying to promote this as a remake to bring in audiences, because its very clear that this film will tell the story of the doomed crazy Swedes, (they're Norwegians, Mac!), and if its a remake of anything then its a remake of Howard Hawks original THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. Story wise, for any fan of THE THING, there will be few spoilers here, as we all know how this turns out already, the joy will be in seeing events we've witnessed only in our imaginations, come into being. As we all know, this could be a VERY bad thing, but it might just work. i'd have liked to have seen the Norwegians speaking their native tongue, but I understand that the masses are still wary of the WRITTEN WORD!!!, and arent ready for a subtitled, mainstream movie. Damn shame. The addition of a girl is also a note of contention, and is clearly an attempt to market the film to the more graceful of our species. it could work, as long as she and the other characters are as well realised as Macready and the boys in the original.

I'm looking forward to this now, despite myself. the fact that its clearly a prequel makes the whole 'Thing' much easier to swallow. lets just hope they avoid CGI and respect Rob Bottins incredible prosphetics work as much as they seem to be respecting Carpenters direction. If not, the stabbing knife comes out. I know where you live, Universal!!