
Thereâs a snazzy new Blu-ray of John Carpenterâs monster classic The Thing coming out in October. One of its new features is a commentary track with cinematographer Dean Cundeyâwho reveals a sly lighting technique used throughout the film to indicate when a character has become no longer human.
Cundey, whose career includes several other Carpenter films (including Big Trouble in Little China), as well as Jurassic Park and Apollo 13, broke it down to Blumhouseâs Rob Galluzzo, who interviews him for the commentary track:
Early on in the commentary track, I asked Cundey if he and John discussed doing a subtle lighting trick to imply who might be âthe thing.â He waited until the blood scene to answer my question. As the scene began, he explained, âSo we were looking for some kind of a subtle way, to say which one of these (men) might be human. Youâll notice thereâs always an eye light, we call it, a little gleam in the eye of the actor. It gives life.â
This is a fun thing to look out for during the blood-test sceneâwhich I usually spend counting down the seconds until I can yell the âTIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCHâ lineâbut it really gets interesting when you think about The Thingâs final moments. Standing by the flaming wreckage of their base, MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David), who have absolutely no reason to trust each other, decide to just wait and âsee what happens.â
Though Cundey tells Galluzzo that Carpenter wanted to keep the ending ambiguous, anyone who watches the film canât help but wonder if one of the men has already been overtaken by the alien. Looking for the âlittle gleamâ might best be done on the big screen (or at least on the new Blu-ray, which boasts a brand-new 2K scan of The Thingâs original interpositive film). But as others have pointed out, it sure looks like Childs is the one with something to hide:
The Thing Collectorâs Edition is out October 11 from Scream Factory.
Advertisement