Back To The Bar.

The bar talk continues in this latest scene.

I didn’t talk much this week about The Thing prequel that I watch a weekend or two ago. It neither disappointed, nor impressed. Firstly it does kind of sync up, more or less, with the 80’s version, even if it does come dangerously close to looking more like a remake at times. I think the biggest hole I could pick in this film is that for a Norwegian research camp… there sure is a lot of Americans running around. I didn’t hate this movie. Like the remake of Dawn Of The Dead, you watch it more to see what modern effects can be done on these old classics, but lose a little of the story along the way. I would recommend it, if only for the nicely done body-horror scenes. I don’t think this film is a write-off. Like the remake of Dawn Of The Dead, it doesn’t beat the original, but I’d happily watch it again. And they did kind of work, watching them back-to-back. I also give the film extra marks for including this song. I’m starting to think of the remakes of Dawn Of The Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Thing as really, really big budget fan films. Something most people would have done in their back-garden with a camcorder and posted on youtube, but done with millions and millions of dollars.

Weirdly, I got to read the short story The Thing is based on this week. It wasn’t planned, I just bought The Mammoth Book Of Body-Horror and it was part of the line-up. I was surprised how much was actually in the original, considering it was written in the early 1930’s. I still think the John Carpenter movie improves on the original, though. I’ve said it before, that film is almost a perfect horror movie. You’ve got Body-horror. Isolated crew (probably the most isolated you can be, and still be on planet earth.) Amazing soundtrack. A lot of people fault it for being an all male cast, but I think it goes well with the basic theme that if you put a small group of man in the middle of nowhere on their own, sooner or later, they will kill each other. It’s got a hint of Lord Of The Flies about it. Nothing scarier than being part of a group, and the group turning on you. I think of The Descent as a female version of this genre, which is probably why a lot of people like it.