Remakes, reboots, and reimaginings suck, right? You know, except for Heat, True Lies, Little Shop Of Horrors, True Grit, The Fly, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, and John Carpenter’s 1982 redux of Howard Hawks’ The Thing From Another World. In 2011, Universal pictures released a sort-of remake disguised as a prequel to Carpenter’s The Thing. The film was a flop. However, “horror aficionado” Aidan Cosky believes that the work print of the movie is a superior version and deserves a release.
The theatrical version of the 2011 The Thing was was rife with middling CGI, but originally, it was intended to feature good old-fashioned practical effects. John Carpenter’s take on John W. Campbell, Jr.’s Who Goes There?, while being well directed and containing some terrific performances, is probably best remembered for the gooey, gory, SFX work of Rob Bottin and Stan Winston; apparently, the makers of the reboot wanted to retain that style in 2011, but the studio disagreed.
Cosky is currently petitioning Universal Pictures CEO Ronald Meyer to release the 2011 work print of The Thing on Blu-ray in hopes that all of Amalgamated Dynamics’ special effects work on the film will finally see the light of day. “The executives hated the practical effects and had them replaced almost completely.” Cosky says on his Change.org website “Amalgamated Dynamics’ practical work went to waste.”
The Blood Shed posted this clip of Amalgamated Dynamics’ excised effects work:
The impressive monster effects certainly recall Carpenter’s version of the film, and it’s always great to see men in rubber suits, but whether or not they would improve the film won’t be known until the work print is released. Earlier this year, the producer’s cut of Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers finally got an official release after being bootlegged for years. That particular vision of the film is an improvement, sure, but it’s still Halloween 6.
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You can read more about Cosky’s campaign and sign the petition here.