No, Dean Cundey Hasn’t Spoiled the Ending of The Thing
John Carpenter’s The Thing is about as close to a perfect horror movie as you can get. You have a master filmmaker at the peak of his powers, one of the most inventive creatures in cinema, and the paranoid subtext is still powerful today.
It’s also a movie that rewards repeat viewings, with each one yielding a new clue or insight you never spotted before. For example, in the scene where Windows finds Bennings being assimilated, did you hear the sound effect of keys dropping? These are the keys the intruder later uses to sabotage the blood test and also the reason Windows freaks out during the scene, since he assumes suspicion will fall on him. That’s just one of many little hints layered into it.
Carpenter has said The Thing benefited from a long development process, where he was able to develop the script and seed it with clues. Fans are discovering more to this day, thanks to the new special edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory. Amongst the many extras this package contains is a new commentary with cinematographer Dean Cundey, wherein he discusses his approach to lighting it and the discussions he and Carpenter had in regard to key scenes.
The biggest surprise is a clue that’s been there the whole time, but no one seemed to pick up on it. During the infamous blood test scene, four men suspected of being the creature are tied down, with Kurt Russell’s MacReady determined to weed out the imposter. It’s hard to tell on first viewing who it could be, but if you look real close, there’s a major clue.
Three of them have a glimmer of light in their eyes, like gloomy gus Childs here.
The only one who doesn’t is Palmer, and like Cundey says, his “dead eyes” are a subtle hint the character is an imitation.
Horror fans have lost their minds over this revelation, proving once again The Thing is bottled greatness. Of course, they also think this visual cue might apply to other scenes; namely, the ending. The debate over Childs’ humanity in this final moment has raged for years, which is the point. It’s up to the viewer to decide ultimately, though movie geeks have eagerly picked the scene apart looking for proof.
The evidence many hold up is that Childs doesn’t appear to be breathing, an argument that falls on two fronts. The first is that the Thing is a perfect imitation of a human host, meaning all the good stuff like a heart, kidney and lungs. Blair points this out during the autopsy scene so it makes no sense to link Childs’ lack of visible breath with him being infected. Plus, his breath is visible, especially when he’s asking MacReady if anyone else survived. His isn’t as noticeable as MacReady’s, but it’s there.
Many are now applying the eye light theory to the ending, and at a glimpse it holds water. There’s clearly light reflected in MacReady’s eyes; yet, Childs’ look dark. Again, though, if you look closely, light is seen a couple of times throughout the scene. Like here.
Cundey confirms the notion of treating one of the characters like they were infected was discussed, only for Carpenter to shoot it down; he deliberately wanted it vague. Maybe the director does know who might be infected during the end, but he’ll never tell us. Paranoia and the loss of humanity are the key points of the story so the paranoia needs to linger on after the credits roll. We’re not meant to know for sure, and it would almost be a disappointment to find out.
In the end it says a lot about the craft of The Thing that we’re still discovering secrets three decades later, thanks to the artistry of the people who made it.
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