By Lee Pfeiffer
Last Saturday, the Loew's Jersey City movie theater presented Thing-Fest. Contrary to what you may think, this wasn't a tribute to the famed disembodied hand from The Addams Family. Rather, it was a double feature consisting of Howard Hawks' original 1956 science fiction classic The Thing From Another World along with John Carpenter's 1982 remake, The Thing. Hundreds of fans descended on the legendary movie palace that has been restored to its former glory thanks to many years of work by dedicated volunteers. I only attended the evening screening of the Carpenter movie, having never seen it before on the big screen. Suffice it to say, it was worth the effort. Universal provided a very good print of the movie and its widescreen attributes were accentuated by the excellent sound system in the Loew's, which made every sound effect resonate through the cavernous theater. The impact was made all the more impressive by Ennnio Morricone's heart-pounding score. Carpenter's reinterpretation of the Hawks film is a work of brilliance, but much credit must go to the special effects team for their amazing creations of the monster alien that morphs into the physical form of its victims. There is literally nothing that comes close to these achievements in today's CGI-packed sci-fi films. Although the audience was reverent and well-behaved, it was clear that the theater was packed with Thing fanatics, some of whom could not help but shout out key lines of dialogue at the precise moment the actors spoke the words.
A nice surprise was the appearance of actor Thomas Waites, who played "Windows", one of the ill-fated members of the Antarctic research team who meets a gruesome fate, courtesy of The Thing. Waites introduced the film, then appeared after the screening to engage in a Q&A with audience members. One interesting anecdote he told related to an almost disastrous bus ride the key cast members took to the remote Alaskan filming location. The bus became engulfed in white-out conditions due to a fast moving blizzard, causing the vehicle to hang precariously off an embankment. Keeping in spirit to his role as the film's heroic leading man, Kurt Russell took the lead and gingerly instructed his fellow actors as to how to slowly crawl off the bus without causing it to tumble over. (Shades of the original Italian Job!) Waites also graciously sat behind a "Thingfest" table in the theater's magnificent lobby and signed photos for a seemingly endless stream of fans. Adding to the unexpected pleasures was an impressive display of Thing memorabilia set up by collector Joe Hart, who traveled all the way from Canada to attend. Hart, who runs the excellent web site Outpost31.com, which is devoted to the Carpenter film, proved to have an impressive collection that boasted many toys, prop replicas and rare international movie posters.
Despite being almost 30 years old, John Carpenter's film remains a many splendored Thing.
(All photos copyright Cinema Retro. All rights reserved)
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