I get it. They want the audience to feel the same fear the character is feeling in the moment. But to me, a jump scare is pretty much the laziest way to do that. And for people like me with already existing anxiety issues, it makes the rest of the movie an unpleasant experience. Instead of engaging with the story, I’m just trying to protect myself against the next time this mystery movie, or whatever, wants to scare the shit out of me. I’ve been an avid movie goer for years, but the problem has me thinking I might start watching most movies at home now where I can control the volume.
I have always admired John Carpenter for working in the opposite direction. He likes to show you a scene where you gradually realize that something is wrong. When you do, you get the same adrenaline jolt as from a jump scare. Or he will show you something terrifying that is going to happen, then make you wait while watching it arrive.
I haven’t watched much of John Carpenter’s work, so I can’t comment on this sentiment particularly, but I have always liked a psychological trick Terry Pratchett used to describe the machinations of Granny Weatherwax and her approach to stealth. (Yeesh, I need to read those books again, it’s been years.)
I can’t remember the exact quote and won’t do it justice, but the message is something like “over time you noticed a familiar shape in the darkness, something like a coat, then you noticed what might have been a boot, then suddenly you realized she has always been there.”
Sir Pterry doesn’t use it in the context of horror, at least not for the reader, but I feel like it would fit that well.
Amazing quote but real quick if you haven’t seen Carpenter’s The Thing go do so immediately. Best horror movie in my book and wish daily I could watch it for the first time again.
Oh, I have. Good movie. Still not sure who’s the Thing at the end.
Honestly part of the fun of the movie. Specifically for the ending though, by what they show, you can assume that neither of them are based on the fact they are the only 2 left. If they both were, then there would be no reason to remain disguised. If one of them was, they could simply kill the other as there’s no benefit to remaining disguised. That aside, tracking who is a Thing and who isn’t is not simple at all.
Is it known that Things can identify each other?
I once read a theory that the flask they were sharing was shared with gasoline or something else noxious so that whomever filled it could judge the other’s reaction to determine whether they had been beThinged. (I think that was it. I read the comment a long time ago and saw the movie even longer ago so I might misremember the details.)
If that’s in the movie (the gas flask) it must be a deleted scene or something because I’ve never seen anything like that. So Things can identify themselves and if in the correct conditions will combine to form a larger creature. Especially the conditions on the end of the movie where survival and not freezing to death are the main concerns. Another established fact in the movie is if there is one Thing and one human it will attack / consume / clone that person. Anyway, def seen it a few times, haha. You should give it a rewatch.