5 Reasons To Upgrade Your Blu-Ray Of THE THING
October 11, 2016
Talk to any number of die-hard horror fans, and inevitably, when they list off their absolute all-time favorites, John Carpenter’s 1982 remake of the Howard Hawks sci-fi classic THE THING will come up very high on their list. Usually when you narrow down the conversation to just Carpenter films, it’s either THE THING or HALLOWEEN that stands out as most cinefiles’ favorite of his filmography. 3 decades later, there’s no arguing that THE THING is a horror masterpiece that many imitators (and even a prequel that shares the same name), have failed to come even remotely close to.
At this point, you’ve read dozens of stories about how it wasn’t well received upon release and that it lost out at the box office to that other friendly alien movie, E.T., But who cares about that now? Scream Factory has yet again stepped up to the plate and delivered a 2-disc set worthy of our adoration of this film. We’ve all owned it multiple times, either on VHS, laserdisc, DVD or that mostly-bare-bones first Universal release on Blu-Ray. So, do you really need to buy it again?
YES.
This is hands down the definitive version of John Carpenter’s THE THING on Blu-Ray and it totally deserves to be on your shelf. Here’s a few reasons why.
New 2K Scan Supervised By Dean Cundey
Considering the upgrades in televisions over the last several years, and in particular with the introduction of high definition Blu-Ray’s, I always like the latest and best possible looking version of my favorite horror films. There was nothing wrong with Universal’s previous Blu-Ray. It looked quite terrific and there were details I picked up when I first watched that Blu that I’d never noticed before. (Like Copper’s little nose ring!) But, here, Scream Factory has gone back to the drawing board and put together a new 2K scan from interpositive with the supervision of the director of photography Dean Cundey. Much like with his supervision on HALLOWEEN, who better to make sure the picture looks perfect than the guy that freakin’ shot it?! So, THE THING looks and sounds better than it ever has. And speaking of Dean Cundey…
Commentary Tracks Galore!
I love commentary tracks. And when it comes to a movie like THE THING, there are many perspectives and people worth hearing from. Producer Stuart Cohen for example, provides a new track and reveals a lot of the challenges Carpenter faced, primarily with his actors on THE THING. Anytime John is paired up with his old friend Kurt Russell, you know that that’s going to be a great commentary track, and sure enough, that commentary from all previous versions of THE THING has been carted over. Also new is a commentary with cinematographer Dean Cundey! Now, to be fair, it’s moderated by myself, but even so, it’s amazing to hear Dean talk about some of the subtle tricks that he and John put into the film, regardless of my presence there. I wrote a piece about a lighting gag they used for the “blood test” sequence, which came from this commentary chat, and that article took off like mad; having been re-published and widely embellished on other websites! Another fun tid-bit is how he revealed exactly who “the shape” is that the infected dog visits in the first act. There’s so much great behind-the-scenes insights provided throughout the span of these 3 feature length commentaries!
Mick Garris’ Candid Interview With John Carpenter
If you think John Carpenter is finished talking about THE THING, there’s still a bit more to cover! And who better to chat with him about the film now in retrospect than his old friend, colleague and fellow “Master of Horror” Mick Garris. Mick was working publicity at Universal Studios at the time that John had made THE THING and they’ve maintained a friendship ever since, so it’s fun to hear John look back at the film and its place in genre history while shooting the shit with someone he genuinely trusts and likes. Also, because Mick is both a filmmaker himself and a huge genre fan, he’s able to ask great questions that give context to a lot of the main principles involved in the movie, such as working with “that kid” Rob Bottin, working with Kurt and choreographing the shoot with Dean. It’s just a great chat between two buddies that we’re lucky enough to sit in on.
The TERROR TAKES SHAPE Documentary Returns!
This was a big incentive for me. Normally, when I buy a Blu-Ray, I will sell my DVD version back to a used video store. It wasn’t until after my DVD copy of THE THING was long gone that I realized Universal’s Blu-Ray of THE THING did not have the feature length documentary TERROR TAKES SHAPE, an extensive retrospective look at the making of THE THING from 1998. Thankfully, like with all other Scream Factory releases, they’ve carted over the full feature doc and all the older special features. TERROR TAKES SHAPE pretty much talks to everyone involved from the film, including Carpenter, Rob Bottin, the screenwriter, the editors, producers and crew and it perfectly complements the other new featurettes present here.
TV Broadcast Version & Other New Special Features
The other thing I love is when multiple versions of a movie are available. I never realized that the TV broadcast version was different from the theatrical cut, but it is and it’s presented here, even if the quality isn’t as pristine as the main film. It’s still cool to have it here, along with a ton of vintage mini-docs made around the time of the shoot. There’s also a vintage product reel that condenses the film into a 19 minute version with alternate footage. All the brand new interviews also provide different aspects from the production you wouldn’t expect, like the “sound design” featurette interview with Alan Howarth on how they re-worked Ennio Morricone’s score, and a chat with supervising sound editor David Lewis Yewdall. One of my favorite things on here is a chat with Alan Dean Foster, a well known author of novelizations who adapted the script for the 1982 THING movie into the novelization book, even though it was originally based on a short story. Very rarely do we get insight into how novelizations come to be, but as a kid, I collected a lot of them!
Believe it or not, despite all the things (pun intended) I mentioned above, I still haven’t scratched the surface on the content provided over the span of these 2 discs. It’s going to take a while! But I can easily say this is probably going to stand out as Scream Factory’s best release of 2016.
Blumhouse Archive
2017
- Exclusive Interview With SCREAM FACTORY Straight From SDCC 2017 On Their 10 Recently Announced Titles!
- The Strange Short Film From The Star Of FRANKENHOOKER, SWIRLEE!
- Check Out This Vintage Interview With EVIL DEAD Director Sam Raimi!
- Vintage Video: Check Out This Rare Doc On A NIGHTMARE ELM STREET 4!
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- How Does One Build The “Perfect” Horror Anthology? One Segment At A Time!
- From BATES MOTEL To PSYCHO: The Sad Existence Of Norman Bates
2016
- Rob G.’s 6 Favorite Horror Shows Of 2016!
- Is This New MUMMY A “Horror” Movie… Or What?
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- We Chat With SiREN Director Gregg Bishop!
- Unseen Horrors: The Story Behind The Unmade LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT PART 2!
- 6 MORE Horror Gems From The 2000’s You May Have Missed!
- Bill Lustig On His Love Of Movie Soundtracks!
- 6 Animated Movies Perfect For The Halloween Season – In 3-D!
- You Know Who Deserves Our #RESPECT? Andy From DAWN OF THE DEAD 2004
- Where The Hell Do YOU Buy Blu-Rays From These Days?
- 5 Reasons To Upgrade Your Blu-Ray Of THE THING
- Why Remaking SUSPIRIA Isn’t As Bad As You Think It Is
- SALEM’S LOT, PHONE BOOTH, CAFFEINE! The Unmade Projects Of Larry Cohen!
- 5 Essential Larry Cohen Movies You Need To Check Out
- The Shocking Suicide That Inspired PEARL JAM’s “Jeremy”
- We Talk The SLAYER “Repentless” Music Video Trilogy With Director BJ McDonnell!
- Four Color PSYCHO! The One And Only Time Norman Bates Appeared In A Comic Book
- Art Is Subjective, So STOP Nitpicking Cover Art
- Did Dean Cundey Just Reveal The Biggest Secret Of THE THING?
- Here’s What We Hope To See In ASH VS EVIL DEAD Season 2!
- When Jason Fought Leatherface… In The Comics!
- The SPIDER-MAN / HULK TV Movie That Almost Was!
- The Stuart Gordon / Arnold Schwarzenegger Horror Movie That Almost Was!
- 5 Reasons To Pick Up JUST DESSERTS: THE MAKING OF CREEPSHOW
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- We #RESPECT And Bow Down To Nada, The One And Only Roddy Piper!
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- How Legendary Composer Ennio Morricone Ended Up Scoring John Carpenter’s THE THING
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- We Chat With PHANTASM Writer/Director Don Coscarelli!
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- Got To Give Our #RESPECT To The One & Only Morgan Stewart
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- DOUBLE TAKE: Revisiting SPECIES And SPECIES II!
- 6 More Horror Movies We Hope Come To Blu-Ray Soon
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- We Talk THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR With Director Johannes Roberts
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2015
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- DOUBLE TAKE – SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984) / SILENT NIGHT (2012)
- Rob G’s TOP 10 Horror Films Of 2015!
- This & Every Holiday Season, #RESPECT Goes To Murray Futterman
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- One’s A Classic, One’s Sleazy Fun! This Week’s Double Take Is BLACK CHRISTMAS!
- The Shocking True Crime Case That Derailed FRIGHT NIGHT 3!
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- Showing Our #RESPECT To Peter Vincent, the Great Vampire Killer
- Welcome To FRIGHT NIGHT… The Double Feature… For Real!
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- #RESPECT – Rudy, THE MONSTER SQUAD’s Most Valuable Player
- DOUBLE TAKE – MANHUNTER (1986) / RED DRAGON (2002)
- #RESPECT – Patricia Tallman’s Barbara From NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 90
- DOUBLE TAKE – NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 1968 / 1990
- The Pre-Slasher Lunacy Of Scream Factory’s BLOOD & LACE!
- We Talk With APPLESAUCE Writer/Director/Star Onur Tukel
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