The theory changes The Thing's whole story, as it becomes less a tale of survival and more a tale of men becoming the battleground for two competing alien organisms. The idea that there are actually two Things is compelling, as it also feeds into the paranoia displayed by the film's characters.
What is the original form of the alien in The Thing?
In Howard Hawks' original 1951 film The Thing From Another World it appears as a plant-based life form, while in the 1938 science fiction novella Who Goes There? that first introduced the story, it appears as a blue-haired creature with three eyes.
The Thing is a shape shifting organism, but it must come into contact with its host in order to begin the process of analyzing and copying its cellular structure. To do this, the cells begin digesting and replicating the host, eventually taking over the entire body.
Two remakes of this film occurred in 1982 and 2011, each with the truncated title of "The Thing". They both occurred in Antarctica as in the original "Who Goes There?" story. It's very interesting that the 2011 is a "prequel" to the 1982 version. The German version shortened some scenes, e.g., Dr.
The answer lies with the writers and Carpenter. The origional ending had them both being rescued and found to be human. It was felt that this ending was too upbeat for the tone of the movie and it was scrapped. So, they did know, but have been good at really playing up the mystery angle, cause that's more interesting.
THE THING (1982) Breakdown | Ending Explained, Why Childs Was A Thing, Theories & Hidden Details
Was child infected in The Thing?
Cundey suggested that throughout the film a specific light gleam can be seen in the eyes of whichever body is currently inhabiting the alien. A light gleam can be seen in Childs' eyes in the final scene, which would mean he's infected with the Thing under Cundey's theory.
The eye light theory states that humans were marked with a light in their eyes by the film's director of photography, Dean Cundey. At the end of the film, Childs does not have the eye light, and MacReady does.
So called "alternate ending" is added with final voiceover saying to watch others around cause who knows what tomorrow, tonight will bring. This ending is actually longer version of the opening scene with Norwegian dog escaping while their camp is in flames.
In any case, van Heijningen Jr. never got to see the idea through to the end once his film underperformed — both critically and financially. "The Carpenter version was so good and a lot of fans were almost offended by the prequel and didn't see the necessity for a follow-up," he says.
Instead it's far more plausible that Norris was the one first assimilated during the dog encounter. The later assimilation of Bennings and the dogs suggests it is a relatively quick process, with the alien able to create nearly perfect copies of both in a matter of minutes. With Norris, it had nearly an entire night.
As The Thing follows MacReady's perspective, it's not likely that he was secretly assimilated. Of the two, Childs is far more likely to have been infected, but the nature of the Thing makes it impossible for either man to trust the other. However, the most likely eventuality is that neither man is infected.
John Carpenter's 'THE THING' 1982 Remake, is, as we all know, about a shapeshifting (parasitic?) Alien Life-form, that can take over & fully assimilate any living host it touches. It can replicate them perfectly. In the movie, nobody knows who IS or ISN'T a 'Thing', because its completely infected & assimilated.
The film was about the end of the world. Its bleakness was the reason it wasn't a success at the time, but I think also why it has endured. In fact the film was an enormous failure. I got fired because of it and was out of work for a while, but slowly its reputation changed.
After designs for the creature were completed, the film's crew estimated that they would need around $750,000 for the effects, which Universal agreed to. The effects were designed by Rob Bottin, except for the Thing's dog form, which was designed by Stan Winston.
Trivia. It is likely that Juliette was attacked and assimilated by Griggs in the bathroom and that the fillings and the blood in the shower belong to her. This is the first and so far only female Thing in both films.
Like the 1982 film, the fate of the protagonist of 2011's The Thing is left vague in the movie's ending. Kate Lloyd remains in a similar position to the original's MacReady and Childs. Even if she is able to drive the other snow vehicle out across the landscape, there is no guarantee that she will find any help.
Lancaster's original ending had both MacReady and Childs turn into the Thing. In the spring, the characters are rescued by helicopter, greeting their saviors with "Hey, which way to a hot meal?".
So they set explosives to destroy the station, but the Blair-Thing kills Garry, and Nauls disappears. Blair-Thing transforms into an enormous creature and breaks the detonator, but MacReady triggers the explosives with a stick of dynamite, destroying the station and the monster.
Upon emerging from the wreckage, the crew was subject to incredible changes from the radiation, and the pilot himself lucklessly transformed into a hulking, boulder-skinned monstrosity quickly dubbed the Thing.
Universe. The Thing, also known as the Thing from Another World, is a shape-shifting creature that crash-landed upon Earth roughly 1,000,000 years ago. It was frozen in the ice of Antarctica and accidentally freed by the crew of Norway's Thule Research Station, which it proceeded to attack and destroy in 1982.
Taking the form of a prequel, the 2011 revival — also titled The Thing, which isn't confusing at all — explains what occurred at the abandoned Norwegian camp explored by R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Doctor Copper (Richard Dysart) in the Carpenter film.
MacReady returns in the 2002 video game sequel to The Thing to assist the U.S. Rescue Team investigating Outpost 31 in destroying The Thing. MacReady's survival is never explained, though the game is set 3 months after the events at Outpost 31. MacReady has also gotten access to a new working helicopter.
The final scene of the 2011 version even leads directly into the opening shots of 1982's The Thing. As predicted, the vast majority of the prequel's characters are dead by the time credits roll, though Winstead's Kate has managed to (at least temporarily) stop the monster from escaping Antarctica in its spaceship.
MacReady then hands Childs the bottle of whiskey. He drinks from it and MacReady smiles to himself. Now the popular theory is that Macready had filled the bottle with gasoline. As Childs drinks from it and there is no reaction this is why the pilot is smiling.
