DIY VIRAL
The author Robert Scucci
| Published
Every now and then a classic horror movie like a John Carpenter movie The case Boosts streaming and reminds us how ahead of its time it was, elevating such a simple story line with next-level creature effects. Now this The case streaming in all its violent and nihilistic glory on Shudder, you can see for yourself how tense and nasty it is.
From the remote Antarctic wilderness to the menacing and ever-increasing sense of paranoia that oozes from every single episode, you'd be hard-pressed to find a sci-fi horror film that will make you want to test the blood of everyone in your country. house before bed just to be safe. Or, if you're anything like me, your next viewing The case may or may not read on Shudder Amazon flame thrower reviews.
Why it works
Although The case before the date Predator five years later, the two films have one thing in common that makes them superior to their contemporaries, and that's the sense of routine and camaraderie created by a seasoned team, disrupted by outside factors. an alien forces. Kurt Russell's RJ “Mac” MacReady is the link to the rest of the research team, effortlessly letting the audience know how these guys generally trust each other and get along in any other circumstances before the events that take place The casenow streaming to Shudder.
When the American team's Antarctic research station is attacked by a Norwegian helicopter (they're not Swedish, Mac!), Mack and Dr. Vara (Richard Dysart) decide to fly over to the attacker's station to see exactly what set them off. Their initial assumption is that the Norwegians had isolation-induced cabin fever and for some unknown reason wanted to squeeze one of the many sled dogs living on the American base. It doesn't take long for Mack and Dr. Vara to find a badly burned corpse that appears to be a human in a suspended state of mutation after being incinerated by the Norse crew.
Searching for a logical explanation, Mack and Dr. Vara take the body back to their base of operations, along with the Norwegian research before things went south. Senior biologist Blair (A. Wilford Brimley) confirms that the corpse is human despite the deformities, but has second thoughts when one of the station's dogs violently mouths while locked in the kennel. The crew now know they are dealing with some sort of 'thing' that takes the form of a host to assimilate and eliminate any living thing that can harbor its DNA, and shudder at the consequences.
While there is some initial doubt that they are dealing with an alien life form, it is hard for anyone to ignore the buried alien spacecraft that the Norwegians discovered before they went on a rampage.
An exercise in futility
The case creates a moral dilemma that needs immediate resolution. Blair, growing in his paranoia, makes an executive decision that the matter contamination and assimilation efforts must remain isolated after predicting that any life form they encounter could take over the entire planet within a few years if released worldwide. . He destroys the radios and sleds and kills the remaining dogs to make sure none can escape.
Armed with flamethrowers and enough explosives to blow up the research station, the crew is pretty sure they won't make it through the winter. When Bennings (Peter Maloney) and Norris (Charles Hallahan) become infected, the surviving crew's paranoia gets the best of them, as they have no real way of knowing who else is infected with the Thing. While Mack and Childs (Keith David) have more than enough reason to distrust each other in this trying moment, they really have no choice but to put their heads together in their survival efforts.
Next level creature effects
Aside from the emotional and existential turmoil, The case shocked everyone upon its 1982 release as it was ahead of its time with its creature designs and stop-motion moves that still hold up today when streaming it on Shudder. Special effects designer Rob Bottin's budget was $1.5 million (one-tenth of The thing is the entire production budget), and used a mix of chemicals, food, rubber, and mechanical parts to bring to life various grotesque permutations of the eponymous thing. If you somehow see it John Carpenter classic for the first time in 2025, you might not believe you're watching a 43-year-old movie because the practical effects are well executed.
A certified cult classic
The case is one of those creature features that really benefits from putting its monster on screen, and there's no shortage of blood, ectoplasm, saliva and bones to get it right. As each mutation becomes more intense, so does the feeling real the fear of its leads, made all the more compelling by the frigid temperatures of the filming, which likely kept adrenaline levels high during production, giving the film an air of authenticity I haven't seen so beautifully replicated since.
You can stream The case right now to Shudderand I highly recommend you do it the next time you want to see the world burn. And if you want to explore The case further, Genre vision The podcast is a great breakdown that you don't want to miss.
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DIY VIRAL
