John Carpenter has stated that of all his films, this is his personal favorite. He takes all his failed movies pretty hard, but the film's initial negative reception disappointed him the most. Not only was it a box-office bomb but critics panned its gory effects, tone, and characters.
John Carpenter considers this to be the first of his Apocalypse trilogy. Prince of Darkness (1987) and In the Mouth of Madness (1994) comprise the other two parts of the trilogy.
The casting of MacReady proved to be difficult. Many A-list actors met with Universal and read for the role of MacReady, but nearly everyone turned it down; Nick Nolte, the top choice, immediately rejected the offer, and the role was also turned down by Jeff Bridges, Tom Berenger, Christopher Walken, Scott Glenn, Roy Scheider, Kris Kristofferson, Sam Shepard, Jack Thompson, Tom Atkins, and Don Johnson. Screenwriter Bill Lancaster wrote the script with Harrison Ford or Clint Eastwood in mind for the lead role and both received offers. Fred Ward expressed interest but was passed on by Universal as they wanted a bigger name. Kurt Russell was hired by recommendation from Carpenter.
The film is considered a benchmark in special make-up effects. The effects were created by Rob Bottin, who was only 22 when he started the project.
The British Columbia town of Stewart was chosen as the main location as it is the snowfall capital of North America. The camp was built in July 1981 in anticipation of filming commencing in December. The temperature ranged between 0 degrees Fahrenheit and -15 degrees Fahrenheit during the shoot. It cost the production 75,000 dollars just to keep the cast and crew warm in winter gear. The opening sequence was shot in Alaska over the Juneau ice fields.
To give the illusion of icy Antarctic conditions, interior sets on the Los Angeles sound stages were refrigerated down to 40 degrees Fahrenheit, while it was well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside.
The opening title attempts to replicate the appearance of the original Howard Hawks film. To create the effect of the title, an animation cell with "The Thing" written on it was placed behind a smoke-filled fish tank which was covered with a plastic garbage bag. The bag was ignited, creating the effect of the title burning onto the screen.
While discussing the character of MacReady, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell discussed having MacReady be a former Vietnam War helicopter pilot who was involved in some sort of tragedy and since felt disgraced by his service. Because of this, MacReady suffers from PTSD, alcoholism, and severe insomnia. This backstory ultimately did not make it into the finished film, though it explains why MacReady was awake to hear the dogs whining and why he isn't fazed by the grotesque violence. It also adds deeper context to the line "I'm a real light sleeper, Childs."
According to the signpost outside the camp, the Antarctic research team is stationed at the United States National Science Institute Station 4. However, in early drafts of the script, the base was called, "U.S. Outpost 31". When making a recording of events, MacReady, signs off as, "R.J. MacReady, helicopter pilot, U.S. Outpost #31".
The female voice on MacReady's computer was performed (uncredited) by then-wife of John Carpenter, Adrienne Barbeau.
This is the first of John Carpenter's feature films which he did not score himself. The film's original choice of composer was Jerry Goldsmith, but he passed and Ennio Morricone composed a very low-key Carpenter-like score filled with brooding, menacing bass chords. Unused music composed for this film was later used by Ennio Morricone in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight (2015). Ironically, Morricone's Thing score was nominated for a Razzie for worst score, while his score for Hateful Eight won him an Oscar.
Opened the same day as Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982). Both movies were met with unfavorable reactions by critics after the premiere and they were beaten by the more positive Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the biggest hit of that year.
John Carpenter's next project was to be Firestarter (1984) but he lost that gig when The Thing (1982) didn't do well at the box office.
