The Thing - A film that's so good, it survived being remade!

Most people will already know about `The Thing,' but, if you don't, it's about a monstrous shape-shifting alien running riot among an American base in the arctic.

And it's fantastic. That's all you need to know. However, instead of listing all its many plus points (of which there are probably too many to mention), I will simply point out that, as it was popular, it probably wasn't long before some Hollywood money-man decided to cash in on its success and remake it.

It never happened (well, it sort of did, but it didn't). Even Hollywood was at a loss as to whether they could attempt to `better' such a work of horror genius. So they didn't. They left it as it is and it's all the better for it. They did make a `prequel' which you can take or leave, depending on your taste. The original is obviously far better, so, if you choose to only watch one, definitely go for John Carpenter's 1982 original.

Bottom line: if you like horror, if you like sci-fi, if you love bizarre and monstrous creatures and spine-tingling tension, then this is for you. It may have been made over thirty years ago, but it's still as fresh and chilling as when it first came out. For the few people who haven't seen it, I won't mention its best parts, but the special effects - for their time - were truly breath-taking (and hideous).

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this