Big hat. Fangs.

The Movie: The Thing, directed by John Carpenter
Recommendation: Horror movie fans everywhere.
Reason: A work of paranoia that everyone should see.

The more I see of Carpenter, the more I appreciate him as a true visionary among horror directors. In the 80's, he was making some really interesting, some might say landmark projects. He directed The Thing, The Fog, Escape From New York, Big Trouble In Little China...aside from his slight man-crush on Kurt Russell (which was completely alright, considering the body of work they produced together), he really pushed the envelope. His specialty, perhaps even his fingerprint, is the sense of paranoia that marks his films. Managing a delicate balance between gore and suspicion, he really blew The Thing away.

The sense of fear and helplessness that feeds the terror of the film has been attempted by more than a few sci-fi shows since. The most notable of these would probably be The X-Files, which essentially remade The Thing, sans gore and only an hour long. Chris Carter could hardly have made a better decision-the episode was almost as creepy as this movie was.

When we're speaking of atmosphere, it's rare to mention characters, but Wilford Brimley's Blair completely redeems him for anything cheesy he's done in the past. Far surpassing the already decent effort of Kurt Russell, Brimley himself managed to heighten the fear to new levels. A hesitation here, a glance there...it was really an excellent performance. The Thing surely belongs near the top of the horror heap, for gorehounds and horror fans alike.

-118/365 down, 247/365 to go