Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
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The Thing from Another World (1951)
Directed by Christian Nyby
influenced The Thing (2011)
Visuals Plot
Whenever director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. isn't blurring the line between referencing and replicating John Carpenter's 1982 version of The Thing (itself a remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 film The Thing from Another World), he's borrowing liberally from Ridley Scott's claustrophobic Alien.
I seriously doubt it was on screenwriter Bill Lancaster’s mind, but he wrote the perfect set-up for a prequel-cum-remake when he penned the script for John Carpenter’s The Thing, a chilly, fantastically grotesque, and nerve-rattling adaptation of John W. Campbell’s 1938 novella “Who Goes There?” (which had previously served as the source material for Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks’s 1951 classic The Thing From Another World).
There was Hawks’ production “The Thing from Another World” (1951), a Cold War-era science-fiction-horror hybrid, and Carpenter’s 1982 “The Thing,” which hewed more closely to the source material, the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. short story “Who Goes There?”
That's not to say it can hold a candle to the superb 1951 "The Thing From Another World," directed by Christian Nyby with contributions from producer Howard Hawks , featuring James Arness as the clawed, hulking, carrot-headed enemy from out there.
That’s right, van Heijningen’s “The Thing” is not a tired reimagining or reboot, but rather a pleasing prelude to the events that took place in Carpenter’s horrifying classic, which is a loose remake of 1951’s “The Thing from Another World.”
Whenever director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. isn't blurring the line between referencing and replicating John Carpenter's 1982 version of The Thing (itself a remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 film The Thing from Another World), he's borrowing liberally from Ridley Scott's claustrophobic Alien.
Almost thirty years since the release of John Carpenter's superb 1982 sci-fi thriller "The Thing," it remains one of the great so-called "monster movies" in cinema history, comparable in sheer mastery and creepiness to Ridley Scott's 1979 classic "Alien" with one key location change (Antarctica rather than outer space).
All three "Things," along with everything from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" to "Alien," owe their central ideas to the Depression-era story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell Jr. There's a rock-solid notion in that tale, that of an alien being able to take over a human body and cause pure paranoia in the populace.
…shocker a la "Alien."
It's Alien meets 30 Days of Night when a crew of Americans and Norwegians dig up something otherworldly in the Antarctic ice.
The problem with this weekend's take on The Thing, though, is that it sprinkles in the requisite nods to the 1982 original but never figures out how to build a compelling narrative around it.
Whenever director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. isn't blurring the line between referencing and replicating John Carpenter's 1982 version of The Thing (itself a remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 film The Thing from Another World), he's borrowing liberally from Ridley Scott's claustrophobic Alien.
Almost thirty years since the release of John Carpenter's superb 1982 sci-fi thriller "The Thing," it remains one of the great so-called "monster movies" in cinema history, comparable in sheer mastery and creepiness to Ridley Scott's 1979 classic "Alien" with one key location change (Antarctica rather than outer space).
I seriously doubt it was on screenwriter Bill Lancaster’s mind, but he wrote the perfect set-up for a prequel-cum-remake when he penned the script for John Carpenter’s The Thing, a chilly, fantastically grotesque, and nerve-rattling adaptation of John W. Campbell’s 1938 novella “Who Goes There?” (which had previously served as the source material for Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks’s 1951 classic The Thing From Another World).
There’s also a decent making-of featurette (“The Thing Evolves”) that briefly touches on the filmmakers' incredible attention to detail in maintaining the continuity between the prequel and the 1982 original, a short stunt featurette about using flamethrowers on the set (“Fire and Ice”), and a DVD and digital copy of the film.
If anything, those looking for hidden messages should see the most obvious one -- the filmmakers clearly found Ridley Scott's claustrophobic "Alien" and James Cameron's superlative "Aliens" as inspiration for their flick.
From Aliens to Independence Day, there isn’t a way to make the alien genre fresh and the 2011 The Thing is proof of that.
While the basic narrative structure, mood and atmosphere closely resemble the 1982 film, its production design and claustrophobic action sequences suggest Aliens was also a significant influence.
They recently announced plans for a return to the world of "Blade Runner," another movie that just didn't work at the box-office, and now we've got this weekend's release of a prequel to John Carpenter 's " The Thing ," another choice that makes no logical business sense.
Screenwriter Eric Heisserer (the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake) attempts to forge a connection between Kate and the hunky helicopter pilot but all it does is anoint the two as the film’s eventual survivors rather than giving them depth.
The script, by Eric Heisserer (" Final Destination 5 ", " A Nightmare on Elm Street "), follows the familiar patterns of the first film (replacing the infamous blood-test sequence with a clever new technique) and it also clones other classics of the genre.
Heisserer is also responsible for Final Destination 5 and the 2010 iteration of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and thus appears to epitomize the career of a Hollywood screenwriter: success comes by steadfastly refusing to have an original idea.
The director, in case you were wondering, is a newcomer named Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., and the screenplay was written by Eric Heisserer, whose other credits are Final Destination 5 (a sequel) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (a remake).
Although it's being touted as a prequel, 2011's edition, adapted from John W. Campbell Jr.'s short story "Who Goes There?" by Eric Heisserer (2010's "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Final Destination 5"), melds and hits most of the same beats as 1954's "The Thing from Another World" and John Carpenter's 1982 remake.
He gives us the giant block of ice, the axe stuck in the wall and how the two-headed Thing monster came to be, but ultimately this is trivia filmmaking made all the more trivial in that the director and screenwriter/ remake killer Eric Heisserer (A Nightmare On Elm Street) have forgotten that the devil wasn�t in the details of the mystery behind the scenario but how it affected those chest deep in it.
For someone familiar with The Thing 1982, you spend a lot of the time watching the new one waiting for something new to happen, and when it does, it totally whiffs it (the climax in the UFO is unforgiveably sloppy, with special effects that reminded me of 1997’s Lost In Space, not Rob Bottin).
A perfect way to describe The Thing is to reflect back on George Lucas' new Star Wars trilogy, which actually looks more dated than the original from 30+ years ago.
Like the 2018 Halloween or 2011’s The Thing , it’s a follow-up branded like a reboot.
Special effects wizards Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis notably contributed their talents behind the scenes, yet, sometimes a maskless Predator reveals animated features despite a rather impressive practical model underneath (we all shudder remembering 2011’s The Thing).
Did director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. think he was remaking Jurassic Park?
The result is a piece of studio-produced fan fiction that indulges in an intensely close, even fetishistic extension of all the hints and details given in the original film, but misses the forest for the trees to an incredible extent: in attempting to foreground the narrative of The Thing '82 as accurately as possible, the filmmakers have accidentally forgotten not to make The Thing '11 a massively disposable retread of Alien peppered with some Jurassic Park just for the fun of it.
A lot of the new movie works more on the level of those chase sequences in Jurassic Park involving in-door velociraptors.
Basically, "The Cloverfield Paradox" plays like an elaborate mash-up of science fiction past, trying to concoct a cerebral thriller from random pieces of "Alien," "The Thing" and (perhaps most fundamentally) "2010," Peter Hyams' 1984 sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Extinction emerged from an early script by Spenser Cohen and Brad Kane, which was then reworked by A-list screenwriter Eric Heisserer, whose extremely spotty track record ( Lights Out and the A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Thing reboots) includes Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning Arrival .
Movies featuring a lot of people trapped in a remote location with a destructive force tend to all end the same way, and what makes them fun, whether they're The Evil Dead or Titanic, is how you get there.
From Aliens to Independence Day, there isn’t a way to make the alien genre fresh and the 2011 The Thing is proof of that.
Based on a short story by Ted Chiang that was adapted by Eric Heisserer (whose credits include the remakes of The Thing and A Nightmare on Elm Street ), Arrival also marks another masterclass from French Canadian filmmaker Denis Villenueve, who with every film impresses with his deft touch on tone, character, performance, and especially theme.
Credit Eric Heisserer (Lights Out, the 2011 The Thing) for the smart screenplay, which helps Arrival to play out like a more cerebral The Abyss or a more accessible Interstellar.
Screenwriter Eric Heisserer, whose previous work has been mostly shoddy horror remakes like A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and The Thing (2011), shows a gift for both patience and empathy, trusting that the viewer will become immersed in the psychological depth of his characters and forgo expectations of constant spectacular display and frivolous excitement.
Not only is this narrative high wire act timely and exciting, it’s a major step forward for screenwriter Eric Heisserer, whose previous works consisted of not one but two icily received remakes of horror classics: “The Thing” and “A Nightmare On Elm Street.”
Based on author Ted Chiang’s short story “Story of Your Life,” Arrival is directed by Denis Villeneuve ( Prisoners , Sicario ) with a screenplay by Eric Heisserer ( The Thing prequel, Lights Out ).
Director David F. Sandberg, adapting his 2-minute short (viewable on YouTube), and screenwriter Eric Heisserer (who wrote the reboots of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Thing") mine some solidly spooky scenes out of the simple premise of a baddie that only appears in darkness, and the casting of Bello and Palmer as mother and daughter is inspired.
Reboot screenwriter Eric Heisserer (Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing) has continued to display a mastery of classic horror elements, often opting for tropes that once made the genre a nightmare-fueling, psyche-scarring experience.
While the original short didn't win first prize, it went viral and caught the eye of producer Lawrence Grey who recommended it to James Wan, who then helped Sandberg direct a feature written with Eric Heisserer (who penned the remakes of The Thing and A Nightmare on Elm Street).
It wasn’t long before Hollywood producers and agents started calling, including producer Lawrence Grey (Last Vegas, Hidden), who signed a deal to turn Lights Out into a feature and brought Saw and The Conjuring auteur James Wan on-board as a co-producer and hired screenwriter Eric Heisserer (who penned the recent remakes of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Thing) to expand the film’s premise into a feature.
And as written by Eric Heisserer, a horror churner specializing in mediocre remakes (of The Thing and Nightmare on Elm Street) and middling sequels (to Final Destination), the dialogue contributes its share of graceless chain-rattling.
Written by Eric Heisserer (Final Destination 5, The Thing remake), Lights Out follows Martin (Gabriel Bateman), a young boy whose mother Sophie ( Maria Bello ) talks to herself when she’s off her anti-depressants.