Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today, we venture into the world of Sci-Fi horror with a legend from the genre. This film was instrumental in igniting the Sci-Fi Horror genre to dominate the industry, as it served as the inspiration for one of the most legendary horror films ever created. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

The Thing From Another World

The Thing from Another World is a very famous example of Sci-Fi horror done right. Being created in 1951, it propelled the industry to make more movies. Truly daring to change the perception of horror forever. This movie, as some of you may have guessed, was the inspiration for John Carpenters’ The Thing, one of the greatest horror films of all time! (Go check out October Horror Fest Day 5 for a deep dive into The Thing!) This film was also cemented into popular culture, even being the film that Tommy Doyle and Linsday Wallace watched in Halloween. (Check out Horror Fest Day 1 for the Halloween Review!). Funnily enough, both The Thing and Halloween were directed by John Carpenter.

We started our journey in an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska. A man walks in from the cold, and comes to a table of three military officers playing cards. The man who walked in was Ned Scott, or Scotty. He’s a Newspaperman, and wants to get the big stories out. The three men at the table are Captain Hendry, McPherson, and Eddie. Eddie and Scotty are old friends, and know each other well. Scotty is looking for a story, and he gets one when Hendry is called away to General Forgaty. We learn that in the North Pole, a Science “Convention” is being held. There’s scientists from every field, all led by Dr. Carrington. Forgaty tells Hendry that Dr. Carrington told him that an Airplane crashed next to the institute, and asks for Hendry to come up to the North Pole, and Scotty follows to chase his story.

The small team heads out, with Sleigh Dogs and all. Tex, a radio operator at the North Pole radios to Hendry, and tells him that all electronics are failing close to the base. Hendry understands, and continues his flight. The plane lands, and the group meet Dr. Chapman. He is investigating the crash, and he shows the group to Dr. Carrington. Hendry, as he goes to meet Carrington, stops by his receptionist, Nikki. We learn that they have a romantic past, and Hendry wants it to continue. After the couple flirt, we finally meet Dr. Carrington. He is instructing Nikki to write his notes, and tells Hendry about the Crash. There was an explosion/crash east of the base, and a deviation of seismographs, audio devices, and normal technology was caused. The only way this could happen is if an object weighing 20,000 TONS of steel crashed into the Earth. Photos were taken as it landed, and it was no meteorite, and no airplane. The team set out once more, with Carrington with them. As the team surveys the ground from the sky, they notice the crash hidden under ice. The ice was all melted, and the team landed. As they land, they attempt to free the trapped object, but cannot. They then stand at the edges of the craft, and realize that it’s a perfect circle. The team has found a flying saucer, and they immediately, in classic United States Army decision making, decide to blow it up with thermite bombs to free the craft. This causes the engine to blow, and the entire craft is destroyed.

Carrington is devastated, but not before one of the team members gets a reaction on the geiger counter, a counter for radiation. As they walk, the counter gets higher and higher, until they stumble upon a body frozen in the ice. The team is shocked, and Scotty wants to get his story out. However, in another classic United States Air Force display, General Forgedy won’t let him get the story out. The team cut around the block of ice with the body still inside, and flew it back to the base.

The ice block is put in a warehouse, with a guard from the team switching every four hours. The team and the scientists debate if the discovery could be dangerous, before they go and find Tex. Tex sent a message to Forgedy, and he says to withhold the story, to the disappointment of Scotty. Forgedy can’t get to the North Pole, as the weather grounded all planes. No messages can get out, and Hendry sends one out. He tells Barnes and Tex to tell the general what happened, and they are waiting until further instruction, as Carrington wants to examine the body.

Scotty learns that the story was leaked on the way up to the President, and he is devastated. The people want the truth, and are becoming more and more agitated. Everyone wants more information. Bob, another team member, tells Hendry that McPherson can see the thing through the ice as it thaws, and it terrifies him. It has no hair, and a gaunt face. Hendry tells Bob that he will switch the guard places soon, much to his relief. Nikki then comes back to Hendry, and asks about the “Man from Mars”, to which he has no answers. The pair then get a drink, until Hendry has to become the guard of The Thing. After Hendry’s switch, Barnes gets to watch over The Thing. Its eyes are open, but it remains unmoving. Barnes puts his electric blanket over the block of ice so he can’t see its face, and this is the beginning of the fight for Humanity. The Thing thaws out, and Barnes is terrified. He shoots, but the bullets do nothing, and he runs to Hendry. We see that The Thing escaped outside, and is being attacked by the dogs. The Team put on coats, and ran out into the blizzard. Once outside, the team sees two dead dogs. The arm of the Thing sitting underneath one. The team heads back inside, and Carrigton examines the arm. The Thing was extremely, extremely strong, and threw the dogs all over the place. Examining the arm, he finds that it is thorny, and can be used as a weapon. Blood from one of the dogs is on the arm, and the team continues the examination. Dr. Stern realizes that there are no arteries, and no nerve endings. It is porous, unconnected, cellular growth, and Scotty realizes that it’s like a vegetable.

The Thing constructed the aircraft that flew millions of miles in space, with a force unknown to humanity. Carrington says that The Thing, whichever planet it is from, evolved as we did. However, instead of us evolving through animals, The Thing evolved from plants. This gives it a superior brain, not “handicapped” by emotional or sexual factors as Carrington says. He says that it is completely superior to humans. Underneath the soft tissue in the hand, a seed pod is found. It has no emotions, no heart, no pain or pleasure, and Carrington, turning more into a Mad Scientist, admires it. He wants to communicate with it. The arm then suddenly moves, and the blood from the dog is gone. The Thing feeds on blood plasma, and that is how it survives. Hendry and the other military men from the team go to kill the creature, while Carrington continues to protest. Hendry either wants to end it, or lock it up. Scotty will get a picture of the creature as soon as he can. The Geiger Counter then begins to act up again, and the team heads into the Greenhouse. Carrington notices dead plants, but he does not tell Hendry. Scotty jokes how they can brag that they lost a UFO and a man from mars on the same day.

Carrington heads back into the greenhouse with his scientists, and they realize that The Thing was in the room. Once they open a cabinet, they find a dead dog. Its blood is completely gone, and was fed on by The Thing. Carrington keeps praising The Thing, and tells his men that it is wiser than humans are, and it’s for the betterment of science. Carrington stands guard in the room, knowing that the Thing will return. Carrington does not tell Hendry any of his discoveries. Back with Hendry, none of the team found anything in the storm. Forgarty grows more and more impatient with Hendry through the telegrams, and wants the ship and the Thing in perfect condition. Suddenly, a scientist from the greenhouse bursts into the room, injured. He falls onto the floor, and Barnes goes to the comms system and tells everyone to barricade their doors. Their visitor has returned, and he is dangerous. The Doctor tells the men what happened. He was in the Greenhouse when a blast of cold air came through. He heard Olson scream, and The Thing struck at him as he turned around. He doesn’t remember what happened next. He saw Olson and another doctor when he came too. They were hanging from the beams on the ceiling, dead. Their throats were sliced.

Hendry tells his team to seal the outside door, as they head into the Greenhouse from the front. Scotty follows, still wanting his picture. As Hendry opens the door, the Thing swings at the group, and the men block the door as best they can. They get him back in the room, and attempt to barricade the room. Scotty also didn’t get his picture. The team completely barricades the door from both sides, trapping the Thing in. Hendry grills Carrington on what he did, and Carrington doesn’t seem to care. He tells him to leave, and with much protest, he does. New guards are assigned to the hallway heading to the greenhouse. Carrington tells his scientists that they are in a battle against The Thing. He says that it is more powerful and smart then they are, and has the same attitude towards humans as we have for a cabbage field. He says only Science, not Hendry’s weapons, but Science can conquer it. He begins frantically thinking, having not slept in days. We learn that Carrington, becoming more and more of a complex character, a mad scientist, took the seeds from the arm and planted them. He saturated the soil with two units of blood plasma that Hendry had given two months earlier. Sprouts appeared in the soil, and began to grow at an outrageous rate, Carrington supplying more and more plasma. Carrington shows the team the sprouts, and they all look fully grown. It reproduces itself. The Thing grew a new arm in the greenhouse, and the Sprouts are breathing. The ones closer to the Plasma are healthier, and the ones further away are wilting.

As another doctor listens to the plants with a stethoscope, he describes it as hearing the wail of a newborn. Carrington still wants no one to see his notes. Carrington is educated by the other doctor, and he persists that his mind is clear. The Doctor disagrees, saying the Thing is doing the exact thing that he was doing with blood in the greenhouse. If that is what one creature can do, imagine a thousand of them. More scientists get worried, telling Carrington how the spaceship may have landed to conquer Earth with a horrible army. To turn humans into food. Carrington keeps saying that it is not an enemy, but a phonomena. And Carrington will study it till the end.

We cut to Nikki and Hendry, where Hendry asks about the blood that he donated. Nikki gives him the notes, even though Carrington told her not too. Hendry thanks her, and sets out back into the building. Nikki says he isn’t thinking right, and he wants to keep studying it, like a kid with a new toy. Hendry, correctly, says it isn’t a toy, and goes to confront Carrington. He grills him once again, finding the sprouts and blood. Dr. Stern tells Carrington that the Thing keeps multiplying itself, and truly telling him how dangerous it is for the world. It could take over the entire world, and everyone agrees it must be destroyed. Carrington keeps saying that it is a betrayal of silence. General Forgaty finally gets a message through, and he says not to destroy the Thing. Hendry ignores his direct orders, knowing he will probably be court-martialed for it.

Eddie goes outside once the team is back in the warehouse, and realizes that the Thing escaped from the greenhouse. Nikki suggests to the men that they do to the thing what they would do to a vegetable, a genius suggestion. She says they boil it and burn it, and the team agrees, going to throw Kerosene on the Thing. The Geiger counter starts up again, and the Thing is approaching rapidly. In an incredible scene, the Thing enters the warehouse, and is set on fire by the team. It fights the team through the flame, in absolutely stunning cinematography. It jumps out of a window, and runs into the Blizzard once more. The team put out the fire, and Scotty fainted, unable to get his picture once again. Hendry tells the entire group that they know how to fight it, and tells everyone to stay safe, and that he wants to burn it. Mac, another team member, suggests that they use something hotter than fire. In another genius suggestion, he suggests using Electricity. They stretch cable from the transformer, and they will be able to burn him with electricity. Tex continues to try to radio back to Anchorage, with no success. Nikki then realizes that the heat in the building is off, being cut off by The Thing. The team constructs the trap in the hallway, which will be able to electrocute The Thing.

Everyone moves into the Generator room to stay warm, even Carrington. Barnes stays on guard, and monitors the position of The Thing with the geiger counter. The team continues to construct the genius trap, but the Thing has to stay on a path in the hallway for it to work. Scotty stays with the team in preparation for the arrival of the Thing, still wanting that picture. Washington and Forgedy keep telling Hendry to keep the Thing alive, but Hendry, being awesome, keeps disobeying direct orders for the survival of humanity. Carrington keeps protesting, even saying that Knowledge is more important than life. The only reason to live for the mad scientist is to think and find out, and they should all die to talk to the Thing. Carrington is removed from the hallway, as the geiger counter starts steadily going up. As it keeps getting colder, the Thing keeps getting closer. The group turns off the lights, and hopes they can lure the Thing into following them into the trap. The Thing enters the chamber, and walks towards the group. Suddenly, the lights go dark, as we learn that Carrington cut the generator. He has a gun, until he is disarmed by Barnes. The group switches on the generator, and the plan continues. Carrington suddenly runs up to the Thing, saying that it is his friend, and how he is so much wiser than he is. He wants to learn from him. The Thing then hits the doctor, slamming him into a wall behind him.

The Thing strays off the path, when Mac throws his pickaxe at the thing, causing it to get back on the path. The team waits until The Thing is in the middle of the path, when the electricity is fired. The Thing falls to its knees, being burned in an incredible feat of filmmaking, especially for the 50s. Hendry wants it to keep burning so none remains. The team then exits. The Thing is gone, and all of the findings, including Carrington’s lab and the arm, were burned. Carrington broke a bone and has a bad headache, but will live. Tex is finally able to get through to Anchorage, in one of my favorite horror movie endings. Nikki and Hendry keep joking about marriage, as the team encourages the pair to get hitched. Finally, in his moment of Glory, Scotty gets on the radio with Anchorage. He says that Captain Hendry is out at the moment, as he sits behind the group with Nikki. Scotty asks if there are any news outlets at Anchorage, and he learns that the whole place is flooded with them. Finally, Scotty gets his story out, and throws on his best Narrator voice. He says that one of the worlds greatest battles was won, and it was an amazing battle.

 “All right, fellas, here’s your story: North Pole, November Third, Ned Scott reporting. One of the world’s greatest battles was fought and won today by the human race. Here at the top of the world a handful of American soldiers and civilians met the first invasion from another planet. A man by the name of Noah once saved our world with an ark of wood. Here at the North Pole, a few men performed a similar service with an arc of electricity. The flying saucer which landed here and its pilot have been destroyed, but not without causalities among our own meager forces. I would like to bring to the microphone some of the men responsible for our success… but as Senior Air force officer Captain Hendry is attending to demands over and above the call of duty… Doctor Carrington, the leader of the scientific expedition, is recovering from wounds received in the battle.”

Eddie then tells Scotty good for him, and the team relish in his victory.

“And now before giving you the details of the battle, I bring you a warning: Everyone of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are. Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.”

That brings us to the end of The Thing from Another World! This movie was a fantastic one, and truly set up the horror genre to succeed moving forward. This was the movie that inspired John Carpenter’s The Thing, and I can truly see why he took his concept from this film. It’s cinematography and ideas were unheard of for 1951, and created a movie I won’t ever forget. It truly was fantastic, and I recommend it to each and every one of you! I hope you all enjoyed it! I hope you all liked my use of Scotty’s actual speech, as well. I love all the speeches delivered in horror movies, and this one really stood out to me. I am a (self proclaimed) investigator of the unknown myself, and love to research space, and just like Scotty said, keep watching the skies. Just before I go, always remember this. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Always remember, keep watching the skies…