DURING its initial release 41 years ago, John Carpenter’s The Thing was hated by almost everyone who watched it. The film featured a remote American research station in Antarctica coming under siege from an alien organism as it slowly infected, absorbed and mimicked the American research team based at the station.
The Thing’s gruesome special effects, body horror and nihilistic tone were the exact opposite of the cheery, hopeful films being in theatres during its release in 1982, like Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
It then ends with a massive cliffhanger, leaving audiences to ruminate in the silent ambiguity of which of the two survivors, RJ MacReady (Kurt Russell) or Childs (Keith David), is infected with the alien organism.
After its initial bad reception, the film quickly gained a cult following and is often cited as one of the greatest science fiction horror films of all time, and the discussion on the ending has seen all kinds of theories hurled about.
One of the most popular theories comes from the film’s cinematographer, Dean Cundey. He suggested that throughout the film, a specific light gleam can be seen in the eyes of whichever body is currently being inhabited by the alien.
A light gleam can be seen in Child’s eyes in the final scene, which would mean he’s infected with “the Thing” under Cundey’s theory. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Carpenter trashed the theory.
“He has no clue,” Carpenter said about Cundey’s explanation of the ending. “Yes, I know. I know who’s ‘the Thing’ and who’s not at the very end.”
According to Carpenter, he is the only person who knows the real answer and he has no intention of telling anyone.
Carpenter’s The Thing received a prequel film in 2011 starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton, and the ending of the prequel ties directly into the opening of the 1982 film.