THE THING (1951) vs. THE THING (1982) - Cold War Classic to Cosmic Horror Masterpiece

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951) d. Christian Nyby (USA)
THE THING (1982) d. John Carpenter (USA)
THE THING (2011) d. Matthijs van Heijningen (USA)

**CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL YOUTUBE EPISODE**

This week, we’re discussing Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World (1951) and John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), two science-fiction horror films that, despite sharing a source in John W. Campbell Jr.’s novella Who Goes There?, reflect very different eras in filmmaking and cultural anxiety and both represent landmark moments in genre cinema.

MY DEAR KILLER (1972) Blu-ray Review

My Dear Killer (1972) d. Tonino Valerii (Italy/Spain) (100 min)

While investigating an unsolved kidnapping, an insurance agent is killed in most dramatic fashion, lifted up and then decapitated by a small steam shovel engaged to dredge a small pond. When the lethal heavy machinery operator is found hanging dead in a country barn, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide… until the clever and handsome Inspector Luca Peretti (George Hilton) demonstrates that the driver could not have killed himself. Thus begins Peretti’s descent into the infamous and newly-reopened “Maroni case,” complete with a tangled and ever-increasing web of suspects and victims, with the hopes that he can eventually get home in time to make love to his sexy doctor girlfriend (Marilù Tolo).

A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (1971) Blu-ray Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 23
Total First Time Views: 13
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $1,755.36

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971) d. Lucio Fulci (Italy/Spain) (104 min) (2nd viewing)

Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan), daughter of affluent London lawyer Edmond Brighton (Leo Genn), seeks out therapy to deal with both her insomnia and increasingly vivid, sexually tinged nightmares, the latter of which have begun to prominently feature her hedonistic next-door neighbor Julie Durer (Anita Strindberg). When Julie turns up demised in very much the manner that one of Carol’s dreams depicted, everyone – including Carol – is inclined to believe she is the guilty party. But when blackmail phone calls and stoned-out flower people start showing up on the fringes of Carol’s life, the local lawman assigned to the case, Inspector Corvin (Stanley Baker), begins to doubt that things are as simple as they seem.

THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) Blu-ray review

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) d. Argento, Dario (Italy) (2nd viewing) 98 min

Having served his time in the cinematic trenches both as a film critic and a screenwriter (notably collaborating with Bernardo Bertolucci on Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West), the man who would become known as “The Italian Hitchcock” made his directorial debut with this snappy little giallo, the success of which cemented his path within the genre. Admittedly, there are only a few moments of outright horror and/or gore, but the newcomer’s sharp grasp of tension, atmosphere, camerawork, and pacing are beyond reproach in this telling of a vacationing American (Tony Musante) who on his last day abroad witnesses an attempted murder in an art gallery and is detained to help solve the mystery.