What's red, white and dead all over? The new trailer for 'The Thing'

Posted Monday, September 19, 2011 at 5:06 PM Central

by John Couture

You all know where I stand on remakes, but this isn't supposedly a re-make of the classic 1982 film The Thing. They are calling it a prequel, but I'm not sure how a film made thirty years after the original could be considered a prequel unless it has the words Star Wars in the title.

Of course, both "prequels" do star Joel Edgerton, so maybe there is something to this whole prequel business after all.

The nice thing about John Carpenter's vision for the 1982 film was the low tech and filth actually helped to build the suspense much in the same way the limited technology of Alien helped to set the mood and ramp up the tension.

While I do think the new red band trailer (and the full-length trailer released in July) sells the movie as a compelling piece of horror and suspense, I'm a bit worried that the clean and brilliant shots filmed with modern technology will cheapen the overall effect.

The beauty of the older film is in the simplicity of the beast. Less is seen and that makes it scarier. Now, you have to set the bar higher and make the monster as real and scary as possible. Unfortunately, for this film I think that will make the prequel come off as a cheap imitation.

But, for what it's worth, I did enjoy the trailers.

And here's the original full-length trailer in case you missed it back in July.

And for the nostalgia buffs, I dug up this gem from the 1982 film on YouTube. Enjoy! The Thing melts into theaters on October 14.