The Thing from Another World (1951)

Director: Christian Nyby
Starring: Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite

Synopsis:
An alien spacecraft is discovered near an Arctic research station. Though the craft itself is destroyed during the attempt to extract it from the ice, they do come across something else, a humanoid form frozen in the ice. They bring it back to the station, where it thaws out and starts to wreak havoc.

Impressions:
John Carpenter's The Thing is an amazing piece of cinema with some of the best practical effects you'll find. Naturally, I was curious to see the earlier version of the story. Though not the same tour de force effects-wise, it is nevertheless a solid movie with good tension established between the military and civilian members and also a very sharp performance by Margaret Sheridan as a woman who doesn't fall into the helpless damsel in distress role (some credit her character to shadow director Howard Hawks). I should also note that the Thing is portrayed by a young James Arness before he found fame as Marshal Matt Dillon.

This is a good movie, plain and simple. Without spoiling too much, I will tell you to look for the part where "kill it with fire", well, backfires. ^_^

Rating:
Watch It