The Thing (1982)

Screenplay Genre: Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi

Movie Time: 109 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

After an unexpected Norwegian helicopter shows up at the U.S. base fires shots at the Americans while chasing after their dog, MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Dr. Blair (Wilford Brimley) decide to visit the nearby Norwegian camp to investigate. Once they reach the location, they find a bloodied and empty base. This leads to their discovery of a mangled and distorted clump of flesh that somewhat resembles a body. They transport “The Thing” back to their base for further examination. (00:16:00)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

Back at the U.S. base, Blair (Wilford Brimley) is examining the Norwegian cadaver and looking for abnormalities. The rest of the group are playing cards and relaxing in the game room when George (Peter Maloney) is startled by the dog brushing up against him under the table. George asks Clark (Richard Masur) to put the dog back in it’s cage. Once the dog is back in the cage the other dogs start to growl and bark as it morphs into a flesh eating extraterrestrial with twines ripping out of the body, snatching up and devouring the other dogs in the cage. (00:28:21)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Now aware of an extraordinary threat to their camp, Blair calculates and discovers the chances of the camp being infected and how quickly it could spread across the entire planet.  Overwhelmed, Blair has a mental breakdown and destroys the helicopters, tractors, and any form of communication with the rest of the world. The remaining men apprehend him and jail him in the tool shed. (00:54:57)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

When MacReady’s torn clothing is found by Nauls ( T.K. Carter), the camp suspects that he’s been infected, so they lock him out and into the frozen wasteland to die, but MacReady breaks back into the camp with dynamite, demanding a blood test for everyone to prove who is infected. Midway through testing, Copper (Richard Dysart) morphs into “The Thing,” infecting Windows (Thomas Waites). MacReady successfully destroys Copper and Windows and continues the testing. In the end, only four men remain uninfected. (01:26:30)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

With Dr. Blair missing and suspected of being infected, the four remaining survivors, led by MacReady, set out to rig the camp with explosives in the hopes to destroy “The Thing” in order to prevent the possibility of it being discovered by a rescue party and introduced to the rest of the world. However, Blair infects Gary (Donald Moffat) and Nauls, and just as MacReady is set to push down the detonation plunger, “The Thing” explodes through the floor, pulling away the device, and reveals itself as an amalgamation of Blain, Gary, Nauls, and some dogs. MacReady has no choice but to face “The Thing” for the final battle alone. (01:37:11)