Movie Flashback: The Thing

Another of my guilty pleasures of the 1980′s….

The Thing was released in 1982.

The movie was a remake of a 1951 film, “The Thing from Another World“.

The film was directed by John Carpenter whose previous directing credits included Halloween, Escape from New York, and The Fog.

The Thing starred Kurt Russell.

He and John Carpenter had worked together on Escape from New York and would later go on to do 3 more films together after The Thing.

The Thing co-starred Wilford Brimley in one of his rare appearances in which he does NOT try to sell you diabetes testing supplies from Liberty Medical, even if they CAN help you live a better life….

Though the film takes place in Antarctica, the exteriors were actually filmed in British Columbia.

Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges both turned down the role that was ultimately played by Kurt Russell.

The film was critically panned and did not do well at the Box Office when it was originally released but has since become a cult Science Fiction/Horror classic.

John Carpenter’s next film was the 1983 film “Christine“.

Kurt Russell went on to 1983′s “Silkwood” opposite Meryl Streep.

Wilford Brimley went home and waited for his next box from Liberty Medical.

A remake of the film is being released in late 2011 starring a cast of relative unknown actors.