TIMELINE

The following timeline is based on actual times spotted in the film, mostly from the clock on the rec room wall. Other times can be reasonably inferred, and these are surrounded by parentheses. Other events are impossible to place except that they occur on a certain day, in which case they are listed without times. (NOTE: The 4:30 AM timing of Dogtown is taken directly from the script, showing the passage of time from when Clark kennels the Norwegian dog until we have the attack.)

Day 1

8:25 AM Men relaxing in the rec room; Mac playing chess in his shack

(8:30) AM Norwegian helicopter does flyby; Dog-Thing arrives at Outpost 31

9:36 AM Norwegian body lying on ping-pong table; discussion about what to do

9:55 AM Mac and Copper leave for Norwegian camp

(11:00) AM Mac and Copper arrive at Norwegian base and begin their inspection

12:30 PM Dog-Thing takes first victim at Outpost 31

(2:00) PM Mac and Copper return to Outpost 31

2:25PM Unwrapping and initial inspection of burned Norwegian-Thing

Autopsies of Norwegian pilot and Norwegian-Thing

7:00 PM Men relaxing/playing poker in the rec room; Palmer and Childs in their bunkroom

(7:05) PM Clark cages the Dog-Thing

Day 2

4:30 AM Dog-Thing attacks the sled dogs in the kennel

AM Autopsy of Dog-Thing and dead dogs in the lab; discussion amongst the men

AM Review of Norwegian video tapes

AM Mac, Norris, Palmer leave for crash site

AM Mac, Norris, Palmer arrive and inspect alien wreckage

PM Mac, Norris, Palmer arrive back at Outpost #31

PM Discussion/debate in the rec room about the derelict ship

5:36 PM Blair performs computer simulation and calculations

PM Transferring Norwegian-Thing carcasses into the store room

PM Bennings attacked by the Norwegian-Thing and killed; Bennings-Thing torched

PM Blair goes berserk

Day 3

AM Blair locked in the tool shed

AM Blood discovered to be sabotaged; Garry relinquishes power to MacReady

(9:20) PM Blood is burned and destroyed; Mac makes his speech: "I know I'm human..."

9:35 PM Doc, Garry, and Clark are drugged and tied down in the rec room

Day 4

There are no events seen in the film during this day. The blizzard starts hitting the camp at approx. 3:30 AM.

Day 5

(8:15) PM Mac makes his tape: "The storm's been hitting us hard now for 48 hours..."

(8:55) PM The lights in the lab go out

(9:00) PM Fuchs is killed

10:05 PM Mac organizes search parties to find Fuchs

(10:15) PM Mac speaks with Blair at the tool shed

(10:17) PM Fuchs body discovered; Mac and Nauls head up to the shack

(10:50) PM The men begin boarding up the outside doors

(11:20) PM Mac breaks inside through the supply room window and takes charge

(11:30) PM Norris-Thing bursts out and is killed; Spider-Head torched

Day 6

(12:26) AM Mac directs everyone to tie themselves down in the rec room

12:28 AM Clark is shot and killed by Mac

12:44 AM Palmer-Thing's blood jumps out of petri dish

12:47 AM Palmer-Thing hit with flamethrower

(1:15) AM Blair is discovered to be missing; ship found under the tool shed

(1:22) AM Nauls thinks he sees Childs; generator is blown

(1:25) AM Tool shed and Blair-Thing's escape ship destroyed

(1:30) AM Men start preparing to destroy the outpost

(1:55) AM Bulldozer crashes through rec room wall

(2:00) AM Mac, Garry, and Nauls begin destroying Outpost #31

(2:20) AM Garry attacked by the Blair-Thing in the old storage room
(2:22) AM Nauls wanders off into the old storage room

(2:23) AM Confrontation with the Blair-Monster

(2:45) AM MacReady and Childs have their final encounter . . .