LogFAQs > #946255876

37. The Blood Test Scene (The Thing) (19.5 points)
Nominated by: BetrayedTangy (2/5 remaining)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2o2FRwn_hg

Importance: 2.5
Fear: 7.5
Snake: 9.5

This is like the textbook of how to perfectly produce tension in any horror movie scene. Kurt Russell leads this scene as MacReady; since it appears every part of the Thing is an individual life-form with its own desire to survive, MacReady devises this test to test all members' blood with a heated piece of copper wire. Watch how the camera pans across each man, each with the same dour look on their faces, knowing the implications of what will happen if their blood turns up positive, looking petrified but also distrusting and apprehensive about MacReady as the leader. I love how the scenes goes through the trouble of painstakingly filming each person's finger getting cut, it is just a slight bonus to make the viewer that much more uncomfortable. The scene is perfectly paced, so slow and agonizing, you just constantly waiting in alarm for one of the blood tests to come up positive, the whole time, keeping in mind, one of them is definitely the alien creature. It can become a guessing game for the audience, and as MacReady goes through blood sample after blood sample, subtle things are revealed about each character, such as Garry's suspicious feelings the blood test is a fraud, or Child's quickness to judge MacReady as a murderer for killing the human Clark, these small touches exponentially expanding the tension just turned high enough to make the Thing's reveal occur at a misleading time and completely surprise everyone involved. It's Palmer, and as he turns into the Thing, the effects here are out-of-this-world amazing, as Palmer practically melts into a disgusting pile of slime, flesh, and blood, and the mood is pure chaos as Windows hesitates with the flamethrower and the other people are still tied down, making it a case of all-out survival for everyone involved. Finally though, MacReady burns both Palmer and now the infected Windows, and things calm down for the moment. Whenever I rewatch the Thing, this is one of the biggest scenes I look forward to. At its heart, it's about how humans can so quickly turn on each other, even after knowing one another for years and years. how quickly paranoia can spread, and how cabin fever and already high tensions can only contribute to a sense of total confusion. It's well-shot, well built-up, and contributes to knowing each character even more, and that's an amazing horror scene in my book.

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Bare feet on the tile with my head up in the clouds
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