Gullermo Del Toro joins John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, and more for an exhaustive deep dive into the sci-fi/horror classic, The Thing.
The Thing is finally getting its flowers! And the petals are probably rimmed with dog’s teeth, but you take what you can get.
First released in 1982, John Carpenter‘s most ambitious film was originally absolutely slammed by the press and died a gory death at the box office, only to be reappraised thanks to the long tail of VHS and the fact that it’s a stone cold classic – easily one of the best horror films of all time.
So, it’s only right that it’s getting an absolutely exhaustive documentary. Well, a second exhaustive documentary – 1998’s The Thing: Terror Takes Shape is pretty great, and if you’ve got the film on disc, it’s definitely nestled somewhere in the bonus features – or here, as the case may be.
But The Thing Expanded is five freakin’ hours long, so it might have the edge there. For the sake of convenience, the trailer is only six-and-a-half minutes long. Let’s take a look:
The Thing Expanded Trailer
What’s the plot?
As the official synopsis tells us:
The ultimate exploration of a cinematic classic, The Thing Expanded centers on an in-depth analysis of The Thing led by none other than John Carpenter himself. The documentary features a wealth of memories, stories, facts, rabbit-hole tangents and theories about the 1982 film and its origins and influences that Carpenter fans demand—including discussion of the 2011 prequel, comic book sequels, the original John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There? and much more.
Now, this is by the guys who gave us the impressive Aliens Expanded, the In Search of Darkness ’80s trilogy, the two-part In Search of Darkness ’90s, In Search of Tomorrow, In Search of the Last Action Heroes, FPS: First Person Shooter, and TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming. If you’ve caught any of their prior work, you know they go deep, and they interview everyone they can lay their hands on, so fans of The Thing are in for a real treat here.
Who’s in it?
Director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell are on deck, plus cast members Keith David, Richard Masur, Thomas G. Waites, David Clennan, Joel Polis, and Peter Maloney, director of photography Dean Cundey, and producer Larry Franco. Plus we’re getting a veritable horde of filmmakers and critics, including Guillermo Del Toro, Frank Darabont, Stephen Colbert, Eli Roth, Greg Nicotero, Mick Garris, Issa Lopez, and Phil Nobile Jr.
When’s it out?
The Thing Expanded is available for pre-order until March 24 – check it out here.
What’s the vibe?
Look, I pre-ordered my copy already, so that speaks volumes.
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