The Thing from Another World (1951)

Directed by: Christian Nyby | 84 minutes | science fiction, horror | Actors: Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, Douglas Spencer, James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, William Self, Margaret Sheridan, Eduard Franz, Sally Creighton, James Arness

In ‘The Thing from Another World’, as in many horror films from the 1950s (‘Invaders from Mars’ (1953), ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (1956)), the then American fear of the communism clearly. In this film, the communist danger is portrayed by the Thing, an alien plant life form. The Thing appears to have nefarious plans for humanity and so the viewer’s sympathy should preferably not lie with such a threat for a second.

In order to achieve this, the contradictions between the human characters and the Thing are clearly set out. The human characters are of the almost painfully exaggerated All American hero type, whose characters and behavior are next to nothing to criticize in a negative sense. The exception is Dr. Carrington, obsessed with the Thing in his madness of science (“superiority of its brain – superior in every way”). Even after the first accidental confrontations with the Thing, Carrington protects the Thing (“the only crimes involved were those committed against him – attacked by dogs – shot by a frightened man”). His words are initially recognizable and acceptable too. Subsequently, however, the necessary unsympathetic properties of the Thing come to light, after which it is suggested – and for convenience directly assumed as a fact – that the Thing has no emotions and has evil intentions (“start some kind of horrible army – turn the human race into food”). After this there can be no more doubt: the well-being of mankind is in danger and the Thing must therefore be fought.

However, Carrington perseveres in his efforts to protect the Thing and ultimately endangers the team by his actions. But many excuses are made to excuse his behavior (“he’s tired-he is not thinking right-he doesn’t think the way we do anyway”), and yes, it is a more or less socially accepted phenomenon that obsessed scientists have other-worldly traits and occasionally display irrational behaviour. In addition, thanks in large part to Carrington’s scientific research, the nature and threat of the Thing have come to light…and thus he is graciously reinstated and the ranks closed in exemplary fashion. The message is clear: against the threat of other things that may still be expected (the communist danger), mutual division cannot be used and a common front is desirable, if not constantly necessary, which is also reflected in the and rather convulsive call to “tell this to everybody watch the skies – everywhere – keep looking – keep watching”).

The Thing itself turns out to be a vegetal creature whose anatomy bears striking resemblance to that of humans. But yeah – with the link to communism in the background, it’s not so much his physical features that should take care of the creep. And thus, in addition to some physically disturbing and already telling features (“amazingly strong – unconnected cellular growth – reproduces itself, amazing speed – lives on blood.”), with particular emphasis on the absence of emotions in the Thing (“not handicapped by emotional or sexual factors – no pain or pleasure no emotions, no heart”). The lack of emotion in the Thing is a fitting contrast to the emotional nature of the human characters, but the absence of emotion and the nefarious schemes of the Thing are based primarily on suggestions and without actual evidence as a presenting the fact seems very artificial. What also repeatedly appears unnatural with the human characters is the manner of communication: extremely fast conversations in which one sentence immediately follows the other and/or in which people frequently talk at the same time. Perhaps this way of quickly providing information to the viewer is intended to keep up the momentum or to show how cooperation against the common danger increases mutual solidarity and togetherness, but this does not come across very naturally either.

Despite the striking artificiality of the thing, the threat of the Thing does show itself well. What aids the atmosphere-building is the gradual introduction of the Thing, first in the form of only vague glimpses and verbal descriptions and then through the steadily evolving scientific revelations regarding the nature of the Thing and its evil intentions. The unexpected appearance of the Thing in various places creates a constant threat and the necessary shock effects. In addition, the Thing attacks several times in a targeted manner, resulting in confrontations that literally explode into flames and sparks. A claustrophobic atmosphere is well expressed because the story takes place in a remote research station under harsh weather conditions, where one must, according to a classic recipe, have to fight it alone against the danger. Furthermore, the actions of Dr. Carrington for an extra dose of excitement as he tries to protect the Thing, eventually even by force.

A film with clear influences from American political thinking in the 1950s. As a result, the human characters, the Thing and various other aspects appear unnatural and overly artificial. A successful atmosphere building, on the other hand, does take place in which a constant threat is constantly present in a well-evoked claustrophobic atmosphere. The confrontations with the Thing can be called successful and provide the necessary effective horror. All in all, a reasonably successful horror film in which the unmistakable and exaggerated artificiality of things has to be taken for granted.