John Carpenter's

-Premiered on June 11th, 1982 at the Alfred Hitchcock Theatre in L.A. for a special cast and crew screening. (Ironically the same night E.T. opened.) 

-Opened on June 25th, 1982 (the same night as Blade Runner) at a total cost of $15 million plus advertising and prints. $1.5 million alone was spent on the special effects. Grossed $13.8 million in the first 3 weeks at the box office and then dropped out of sight. 

-Carpenter and crew adamantly stressed they were NOT re-making Howard Hawks 1951 "The Thing" but making a film version of the 1938 original novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell. To promote this they had the short story printed up in a re-release booklet complete with movie artwork. 

-During promotional & press campaigns for  the film Rob Bottin wore a t-shirt which read: "I Love E.T."

-Christian Nyby, director of the original 1951 The Thing said after first viewing Carpenter's version, "If you want blood, go to the slaughterhouse. All in all, it's a terrific commercial for J&B Scotch."

-There are no females in the film. Although a scene with MacReady and a blow-up doll was cut from the final film. 

-Adrienne Barbeau is the female voice of MacReady's computer chess game. (Uncredited)

-The film was originally banned upon release in Finland. 

-Certain home video releases of the film had copyright problems with Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious". The song was dubbed over with "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" by The Four Tops. On the DVD it is back to Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious". 

-There is a 'Smokey the Bear' sign nailed to the bottom right of the United States National Science Institute Station 4 sign. It can be seen in the close-up shot. (Note: This is only clearly visible from the film on a theater sized screen.) 

-The prominently featured black & white sign on the wall of the Rec Room is a notice for STD's. It says: "THEY AREN'T LABELED CHUM" and the woman is wearing a tag which says, "I Have VD". 

-In the chaos right before Dogtown as the men fumble to get dressed in the hallway Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart) pulls a quick full frontal shot for the camera. 

-The Norwegian dog was played by a half-dog, half-wolf hybrid named 'Jed'. He acted all his parts eerily well and was extremely quiet and well-behaved on the set. 

-Stan Winston was called in to do the effects for the Dog-Thing. He agreed to take on the task but did not want screen credit to take away from Rob Bottin's show. Nevertheless he is recognized in the end credits: "A Special Thanks to Stan Winston." 

-The flesh-flower that attacks Childs is actually an  incredibly detailed effect. Its petals are 12 dog tongues complete with rows of canine teeth. Bottin dubbed it the 'pissed-off cabbage". 

-Unbelievably there are 52 gunshots fired in this film. (Thanks to Butterman for the bullet count.) 

-In the exterior explosion sequence in which MacReady tosses a stick of TNT at the Palmer-Thing, the explosion is far larger than Kurt Russell and the crew anticipate. It sends fiery debris over the crew and almost knocks everyone down. Russell, who's yelling, cursing, and laughing, along with the rest of the crew repeatedly calls Roy Arbogast a fucking asshole among many other things. (Watch Kurt in this scene when the explosion goes off, he almost gets blown over and has trouble remaining on his feet.) 

-While filming on location up in British Columbia, Canada the cast and crew would head over into Hyder, Alaska at night to the local watering hole, the Sealaska Inn.  Here in local tradition they would get "Hyderized" with the bartender's potent elixir. This led to many rough mornings on the set recovering from Hyderization.  

-Stewart was chosen as a great filming location as it is the snowfall capital of North America. The camp was built in July 1981 and filming commenced in December. The temperature ranged between 0 F and -15 F during shooting and it cost $75 000 alone to wardrobe the cast and crew with winter gear. 

-To match the Antarctic atmosphere on the Los Angeles soundstages for interior scenes the sets were refrigerated down to 40 F while it hovered around 90 F outside. 

-For the scene in which Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart) has his arms severed, a double amputee stand-in was used wearing a Richard Dysart mask. The audience focuses on the bloody stumps while the mask goes unnoticed. 

-Filming The Thing took 57 weeks to complete. Rob Bottin worked 7 days a week for the entire duration, often sleeping at the Studio and living off of pop and candy bars. After the conclusion of filming Rob had to check himself into the hospital; to recover from serious stress and fatigue. 

-The prime-time television CBS airing of The Thing was quite a different version, having most of the gore edited out and the profanity dubbed over. Interestingly though extra narration was added to the opening scenes of the film introducing and describing the characters at the camp. (Norris has his heart condition pointed out here as well.) The scene with Blair at his computer has an extra voice narration by Wilford Brimley reading the wording on his screen. Also when Blair attacks Garry he repeats one of his lines from his rant in the radio room. Depending on when you believe Blair was taken over, before or after his outburst, this makes no sense. 

-The Chess Wizard game belonged to Production Manager Robert Latham Brown. It is an Apple II computer and the game is Sargon II.

Official Body Count for The Thing

TOTAL BODY COUNT: 22

These numbers and facts are gathered from the film, not the novelization or script. By the film's finale 22 humans at two Antarctic research facilities have had exposure to the Thing. None have survived that we know of...

From L to R: Dick Warlock, unknown, Larry Franco, David Foster, Robert Brown, unknown

Norwegian Outpost

- 10 members in all (6 male, sex of other 4 members is undetermined)

- 7 members presumed dead, either taken over by the Thing, homicide, suicide, or exposure to elements

- 1 member, male, apparent suicide off-screen, slashing of wrists and throat

- 1 member, male, killed by partner's grenade, which subsequently also destroys Norwegian chopper

- 1 member, Jan Bolen, shot in the left eye and killed by U.S. Outpost #31 Station Manager Garry

- Norwegian Dogs: The Thing takes over at least 1 Norwegian sled dog off-screen; it is burned by Childs in the kennel at U.S. Outpost #31.  Remaining dogs are unaccounted for, dead or alive.
 

U.S. Outpost #31

- 12 members (all  male)

- Bennings: attacked and killed by the Thing off-screen, taken over but discovered and quickly burned by MacReady

- Palmer: killed and taken over by the Thing off-screen.

- Norris: killed and taken over by the Thing off-screen

- Blair: killed and taken over by either Palmer-Thing or Norris-Thing off-screen.

- Fuchs: burnt and killed off-screen by one of the Things or committed suicide by burning himself before the Thing could take him over.

- Doc Copper: arms amputated by the Thing, succumbs to shock and blood loss.

- Clark: shot in the forehead and killed instantly by MacReady.

- Windows: attacked by the Thing, takeover started but burned by MacReady.

- Garry: Blair-Thing shoves hand into his mouth, stretching his face and killing him.

- Nauls: presumed attacked by the Thing off-screen, possible takeover started.

- Childs: survival undetermined, presumed dead from exposure to elements…

- MacReady: survival undetermined, presumed dead from exposure to elements…

- U.S. Dogs: all are killed, some by Mac and possibly Garry’s gunshots and/or Childs’ flamethrower. The remaining dogs are later axed to death by Blair off-screen.

The Thing 
Ultimate Trivia Challenge!

Sure you're a fan of The Thing, it could even be your favorite movie and you've seen it dozens, maybe even hundreds, of times!  But can you pass the Outpost #31 Ultimate Trivia Challenge? Are you a Thing-Freak? This quiz was compiled by Todd Cameron, Steve Crawford, and Zach. 

1. What is MacReady's full name?
2. What is the name of the alcohol he drinks throughout the movie?
3. What is Fuchs doing when you first see him in the film?
4. What is Windows doing when first seen in the film?
5. What is Mac's first line in the movie?
6. What is Nauls first line in the movie?
7. Where in the movie does John Carpenter appear?
8. How many hours of Norwegian video footage do they have?
9. What classic game show are Childs and Palmer watching when in their rooms?
10. What does Nauls do at the outpost?
11. What does Norris do at the outpost?
12. How many legs does the Spider-Head sprout?
13. How many dogs are in the kennel not including the Norwegian dog.
14. Did the Dog-Thing escape the kennel?
15. Where did they find the Norwegian-Thing?
16. Who found it?
17. Who first discovered the Dog-Thing.
18. Who is Clark playing pool with before Clark puts the dog in the kennel?
19. Who was trapped in the radio room with Blair when he went berserk?
20. Who tried talking to Blair to calm him down?
21. What did Blair do right after that?
22. How did the Norwegian helicopter explode?
23. How many doors lead into the recreation room?
24. Did they ever show a bathroom in the film?
25. How many shots did the Norwegian shoot off when shooting at the dog (from beginning to end)?
26. Who was hit by mistake?
27. Who shot the Norwegian dead in his tracks?
28. Where did the Norwegian get shot?
29. Who discovered Fuchs' burnt body?
30. Who told Mac that he knew Bennings for over 10 years?
31. Who was caught as 'the thing' during the blood test?
32. Who was last in the blood test?
33. Second to last?
34. Third to last?
35. Who's finger did they cut first on camera?
36. Who's finger was cut next on camera?
37. Who was tested first?
38. Who was tested second?
39. Third?
40. Fourth?
41. Who were the last two survivors?
42. Why was Blair locked in the tool shed?
43. Who was tied up on the couch the longest?
44. How did Clark die?
45. Was Clark a 'thing' ?
46. According to the script, what happened to Nauls?
47. When the two hands with claws came out of the Dog - Thing reaching for the ceiling, how many fingers did it have?
48. Who told Childs that Mac wanted the flamethrower?
49. What was Blair secretly building ?
50. What parts was he making it from?
51. How did Windows die?
52. How did Garry die?
53. How did Copper die?
54. How many times did Window's feet hit the light fixture when being swung around by the Palmer - Thing?
55. What did Mac do when he first heard the Dog - Thing?
56. How many years ago did the spaceship crash?
57. Who first discovered 'the thing' in the ice?
58. What does Palmer say when he sees the Norris spiderhead?
59. What did Palmer immediately start doing when they found out he was a 'thing' ?
60. Why did Nauls cut loose from Mac on the line?
61. How did Nauls and Norris get in the supply room where Mac was ( Where they came up from behind Mac and tried bringing him down)?
62. Who cuts down the door to the supply room with the axe?
63. Who has the keys to the supply room?
64. Did Windows drop Garry's keys?
65. Why did Windows run off when the blood was discovered all over the floor.
66. Was Windows becoming a thing when let loose of Palmer's grip?
67. How many times did they show the chess wizard screen?
68. Did Mac lose or when?
69. What did Mac say after the results of the game?
70. How many grenades did the Norwegian throw?
71. Who does Mac get the Norwegians mixed up with?
72. Was Blair's assimilation program correct or incorrect?
73. How many hours would it take for the entire world population to be infected if the thing had reached a civilized area?
74. Probability that one or more group members may be infected ______ %.
75. _____ _____ and _____ were down in the generator room planting the explosives.
76. Who was first to go out of those three?
77. The second?
78. What came out of the Blair Monster's stomach?
79. What did Mac say to the Blair Monster?
80. What was the last and final line in the movie?
81. Who doesn't Palmer want to go around with?
82. What was the other Antarctic base Windows was trying to reach?
83. What was the name of the magazine Windows was reading when in the radio room?
84. Who was the first one to speak to Windows about contacting anyone?
85. Who was the second one?
86. Who found the "dirty clothes" in the kitchen?
87. Who found some stuffed up in the furnace in Mac's Shack?
88. When everyone is standing around the blown up Norwegian helicopter, what does Mac say?
89. Who was constantly talking about Blair to Mac?
90. Who were the three suspects of contaminating the blood, according to Mac.
91. Who was the first killed out of those suspects?
92. The second one?
93. The third one?
94. What does Fuchs suggest everyone does food wise?
95. Who won the point in the ping pong game early in the film? 
96. Where can you see a case of Milk Duds in the film? 
97. Who wears a Walkman? 
98. What side of the head did Windows have a cut/burn?
99. Where does Fuchs' tell Mac he wants to meet him to talk privately? 
100. Who do you think was first assimilated and why.
101. What is the only home gaming console shown in the film? 
102. How many legs did the Spider-Head sprout? 
103. What beer brand is on the neon sign in the bar? 
103. Does the Norwegian chopper circle the camp clockwise or counterclockwise? 
104. How many guns are in the gun cabinet when Windows breaks the glass? What type of guns are they and how many of each type?
105. Fuchs was originally slated for death by impalement so that his body would be found stuck to the inside of the greenhouse door. According to the film's Deleted Scenes, what tool was used to kill Fuchs? But according to the original script, what tool was used?
106. Who is the only person in the film seen playing a guitar?
107. What biker gang name and logo are on the back of Palmer's jean vest?
108. What is the film's runtime? 
109. Why is this link www.herc.com relevant to the film The Thing?? There is only one direct and definitive answer that can be found in the film. 

The X-Files Episode: "ICE"
Original Air Date: Nov. 5th, 1993

     The episode "Ice" in Season One of The X-Files is a direct tribute/homage to John Carpenter's The Thing. There are several exterior scenes of the Outpost lifted directly from the movie used in the TV show. A group of scientists at a remote research base in the Arctic uncover an alien parasite while drilling deep for ice core samples. They are infected and eventually all commit murder and/or suicide. Agents Scully and Mulder head up with new scientists to unravel the mystery and it begins again as the mind-controlling parasitic worms are discovered and paranoia breaks out as to who is infected. Stranded by a snowstorm, members of the group begin to die, and even Scully starts to suspect that Mulder is now infected. There is heavy emphasis on the tensions and paranoia between the characters and the claustrophobia of the isolated camp. Definitely a fun watch for any fan of The Thing. Note that this show was also filmed on location in British Columbia, Canada. 

"Scully! For God sakes, it’s me!"
"Mulder, you may not be who you are."

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