The Thing From Another World

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Rating 5


Directed by Christian Nyby

Written by Charles Lederer (with Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht - uncredited) from a story by John W Campbell Jr

Starring Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Douglas Spencer and James Arness


There isn’t a great deal that needs to be said about this film. Some of the acting might be doggedly wooden, as is the way of these things, but this is a bona fide classic. Quite frankly, I don’t really care if it was directed by Christian Nyby (the credited director), Howard Hawks or Howard the Duck.

I have the two-disc DVD, featuring the original black and white theatrical version (with an audio commentary by John Carpenter), a colourised version, which I cannot imagine wanting to watch in a hurry, and a digitally remastered black and white copy. Personally, I prefer the original, with all its “authentic” murky graininess, to the remaster.

Is ‘The Thing From Another World’ better than ‘The Thing’? The way I see it, they’re both as good as each other.

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