The Thing Nightmares are Made of...

So, I like movies. A lot. They're kind of a big part of my life, and have been since I first saw Dumb and Dumber. It started within the belly (wherein stored the most laughs, you see), and worked its way up into my skull to nest in my brain. Movies play a role in some form or another in my everyday life. In writing, I like to sometimes imagine how my stories would play out on film. Sometimes I reimagine certain events as if they were a motion picture. And I often wonder how my life would be as a biopic (probably really boring, what with the lack of sex, death, and action - but, I digress).

I also have respect for the people who make movies possible. Being a writer, I really respect the writers/directors that came up from nothing and made a name for themselves, like Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith. I admire (and kind of envy) the actors; not just the big A-list celebrities like Brad Pitt (who is both handsome and talented, which kind of makes me want to hate him) and rising stars like Shia Lebeouf (who is fugly and not talented at all, accept for in minor roles), but the stars with both good work ethic and credibility, but still remain (or at least seem to remain) down-to-earth, like Christoph "Hans Landa" Waltz.

(he plays such a charming villain, plus he looks like a Presidential candidate - but maybe I'm just being redundant. too bad he's foreign born, though. I'd vote for him)

Yes, there are many great directors, but I've recently discovered John Carpenter. He's well-known for his horror films, both good (Halloween, The Fog) and bad (Halloween III, Ghosts of Mars). But his (arguably) best is The Thing.

The movie stars Kurt Russell (a frequent John Carpenter collaborator), Wilford Brimley (yes, that Wilford Brimley), and Keith David (sound familiar? no? probably not, but I'm sure you've seen him in something. he's just one of those actors). It's about a group of American researchers in Antarctica who fall prey to an alien being. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Did I mention it's a shape-shifting alien? Still not impressed? Then you haven't seen the movie. This Thing is terrifying!

(insert muffled scream/dryheave sound here)

And if that's not enough for you, to give you some perspective, this movie was made in 1982. The special effects were latex and corn syrup with puppetry and stop-motion effects. That's way more impressive than James Cameron's Avatar! Here's a fun idea, watch it with a date, and enjoy them clinging to you for nearly 2 hours. As a bonus, if one of you poops yourself, and you manage to stay together, you know it's meant to be.

(also, if he or she doesn't poop their pants, it speaks volumes about their colon control, which may also mean that your meant to be)

Seriously, I've read and watched some pretty creepy stuff. H.P. Lovercaft is tells macabre tales that also screw with your mind. Black Sabbath has sung songs about Satan in first person. Shows like Silence of the Lambs or Dexter have you rooting for a serial killer, for crying out loud! But The Thing is the creepiest creep to which standard creepiness is measured... or at least it should be.