Its seems like a billion years since I last saw this having almost worn out my video copy!!
Over Christmas and New year I have been on a bit of a 50's-60's sci-fi horror kick and as a result I have recently enjoyed the original version "The Thing from another world" much to my pure delight!
In the orignal based on the 1930's short story "Who Goes There?" by Don A. Stuart. Scientists at an Arctic research station discover a spacecraft buried in the ice. Upon closer examination, they discover the frozen pilot. All hell breaks loose when they take him back to their station and he is accidentally thawed out with an electric blanket! (of all things! pardon the pun!) and I belive the 1951 version directed by Christian Nyby was the very first film to use a fire suit for a body on fire scene!...anyway, now that I have refreshed myself with the story I stupidy realised I could no longer watch my Capenters 1982 video as we don't have a video recorder anymore. So yesterday while shopping in town for my mums birthday present I popped into HMV and picked up the dvd for £3!!...£3 for what I consider to be a masterpiece of sci-fi horror is almost insultingly cheap I thought!!
Now let me take you back in my very own Tardis to 43 Thelwall lane, Warrington, sometime in the spring of 1985!
At the time I was living at my dads and on my way home from work one evening I picked up "The Thing" video for my local video shop called the Box Office. Like me, my dad enjoyed both sci-fi and horror (he sneaked me into see Jaws when I was only 10 years old and so scared I spent almost the entire movie hiding under my coat, for which he never forgave me!)
"I got this for tonight!" I exclaimed, brandishing the video under my dads nose.
"Lets have a look then?" he said taking it off me and studying the back of the box
"Kurt Russell is in it!" I had grinned, as I had the major hots for Kurt Russell at the time. Dad knew this and rolled his eyes and then said "this sounds like a remake of an old film" but he coulden't remember the name off-hand.
At 8pm dad and I settled down...he with his good sizing of rum and black and me with an equally good sizing of Malibu and coke. He flicked the living room light off and I slid the black cassette into the video....
Now normally my dad was a bit of a film critic and while watching any film with him he would always make critical comments about what ever we happened to be watching. I knew somthing different was going on as the film began as my dad was totally silent...and remianed silent throughout the film! Several times I looked over at him expecting to see him asleep but no...his eyes were fixed on our TV!!
AND with very good reason!!
Very soon I began to realise the film we were watching was a compleatly NEW dimention in terror!! This WAS a MASTERPIECE!!! and in my view even made the awesome "Alien" look like an episode of Play School!! Several times I stupidly realised I was sat open mouthed, un-blinking, with my fingernails digging into the fabric of my chair...when it ended I was actually shaking as I greatfully turned on the living room light.
"Well? did you enjoy that?" I asked
"Uhuh-uh" ....was all my dad could manage untill he had drained his bottle of Lambs Navy!
Lets just say that night I dident sleep too good and became convinced the scarey spider head monster was lurking under my bed, like I was some 5 year old kid when infact I was 18 at the time!!!!
I can honestly say: to date, John Carpenters "The Thing!" is the ONLY horror film to ever give me nightmares.
Several years later I was not surprized to learn that Rob Bottin, just aged 22 when he did the amazing special effects for the Thing had actually worked so hard on the film he suffered severe exhaustion, so bad that "creature creator extraordinaire" Stan Winston had to be drafted in to cover for him. To this day the genius that was Stan Winston was never credited for his work on the Thing. Very sadly he died in 2008 at the age of 62. I am hoping to see a credit for his fine work on my new dvd, tonight.
Tardis zings forward to January 2012....
Last year a new version of the Thing was made and I have not seen this yet...infact I am almost afraid too, incase it has been ruined as sometimes remakes can be, and as most of the shape-shifting monsters in the 1982 version were actual puppets, I find it hard to invision how modern day CGI will replace that kind of mastery...untill then, all I will say is that the latest retelling of this fascinating story has a HELL of a lot to live up to!!

happy nightmares and love Vix x

Some of you may remember Derek and I went to see War of the Worlds ALIVE in Birmingham a while back and I was able to take many photos and video (subsequently posted to youtube) of the awesome Fighting Machine!
Covent Gaden is a very different kettle of fish!!
Absolutly NO photos or video is allowed so I wont be able to post any of this magnificent peformance anywhere, unfortunatly! I will be taking my Blackberry but it will be firmly switched off. So big appologies if anyone was looking forward to seeing any pics or vids of the said event.
I have never been to Covent Garden before so I have been reading up on it rather a lot of late and from this I have gleened that my black and white ballgown is out as it would be too impracticle with all the stairs we are going to negociate. And besides there is no formal dress code anyway which raised my eyebrows a little. So after much mooching about in my wardrobes I have come up with my Miss Sixty purple satin dress trousers with my best "Dark Angel" corset top and a black velvet waistcoat with my Masonic watch fob and chain. Smart, slightly Bohiemian but very me I think!! Oh and not forgetting my bag and opera glasses and the all important page of nicorette to stave off the ciggie cravings. There is only one interval in nearly 4 hours so I will need them!!! hehehe
Anyway must crack on with chores and much study....see you soon! :)