I’m going to try to recommend a new movie each day until Halloween.

It’s not as if the Howard Hawks original version of The Thing From Another World (1951) isn’t a classic in its own right, but it’s a completely different animal. Literally. The original is about a creature from outer space, and it too had some stunts and special effects so amazing that they were even featured in a recent Corridor Crew video. (Can’t find the link; sorry.) If the 1982 movie hadn’t been made, everyone would talk about what a classic The Thing 1951 was.

But while the 1951 is a classic, the 1982 one is one of the best movies ever made. Almost 40 years old now, the only thing that dates it is the personal computer (partly that it is so old and partly that it seems to answer questions as though it is the computer from the Enterprise-D).

For the few out there that have never actually seen it and watched it, I’m going to avoid spoilers. Which means I can discuss very little about it. It is about an Antarctic expedition that slowly comes to the realization that it has been infiltrated by an alien that can disguise itself as anybody. That sentence reads as absurd, but the movie proceeds at a pace that eases you into the truth and then slaps you with sudden proof.

It begins with the men of the base all running outside to watch a helicopter that is trying to shoot a sled dog. The helicopter is from the nearby Norwegian base, and the American teams’ reaction is one of bafflement. Not one of the men even voices the suspicion that maybe they are trying to shoot the dog because it is diseased, even as it jumps up and licks the face of one of them. Flying over to the Norwegian base to get some answers, they find an unearthed flying saucer and a block of ice which clearly contained a being from the ship, preserved for thousands of years.

John Carpenter’s directing is claustrophobic. I’d bet every audience member out there believes that the whole thing was entirely shot on location, because we all feel the dread of being trapped in this remote site without any transport or communication with the outside world.

The practical special effects hold up amazingly well in the age of CGI. When an attempt was made at a prequel in 2011 (also, maddeningly, called just “The Thing” despite being a continuation of the ’82 film), they did practical effects to remain consistent, but then the producers insisted on CGI because they didn’t think audiences would like anything less.

Numerous scenes in this movie are used as reaction videos today, where the YouTuber watches the movie and then records their reactions to the shocking moments in the film. Deservedly so; I just hope those young people watch the whole film.

If I have a complaint, it’s that it takes a while to understand who all these men are and what their names are, especially given that there are a number of them who resemble others on the team. When this aired on TV, they actually changed it to put a narrator at the beginning listing all the men, because I guess I’m not alone in this complaint. Oh, and yes, our hero is named “Mac” and there’s another guy named “Windows”, but this came out before the Windows computer.

I haven’t even mentioned how good the actors are. Like everything else, they are convincing. You really believe they are in this frightening situation.

Hard to believe: this movie was a failure. It couldn’t compete with E.T. for audience dollars. It goes on the sizable heap of great works from Sorcerer to the Iron Giant that came out against tough competition or without enough studio promotion, and watched today absent of such considerations there is no explanation for why this didn’t make John Carpenter the next George Lucas or Steven Spielberg.

I could probably talk for endless paragraphs about this one, especially if I wasn’t avoiding spoilers. I will only say this: if you haven’t seen The Thing 1982, you now have your movie for this Halloween. Don’t go looking for videos. Don’t read anything else about it. Don’t watch a trailer for it. Just watch The Thing. And I envy you.