Based on the 1938 novella WHO GOES THERE? by John W Campbell, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD tells the story of a U.S Air Force crew, plus some scientists, who discover an alien being in the ice near a crashed flying saucer in the Artic. The block of ice that encases the extraterrestrial melts (after an electric blanket is thrown over it) and everyone is forced to defend themselves against the single-mindedly vicious killer alien.

This is an extremely good 50s sci-fi horror movie that will always remain one of my all-time favourite flicks.

I love this movie’s overlapping dialogue, the way characters don’t finish what they’re saying as someone else cuts in. The cast acts naturalistically, are likeable, and Kenneth Tobey, playing Captain Patrick Hendry, is such a cool bastard!

The Thing itself is a memorable creation: it is a hairless, sentient vegetable-being that can regrow its limbs, has thorn-like spikes on its hands and can reproduce asexually via seeds that germinate when fed on blood. This otherworldly killer (played by James Arness) regards humans (and Huskies) simply as food and has a raw intellect that is without passion or empathy.

One of the standout sequences involves the characters fighting off the Thing by hurling kerosene at the creature and setting it alight. It’s very thrilling stuff!

Our level-headed heroes finally defeat the Thing, but will more be coming?

“Keep watching the skies!”