The Thing Expanded (2026)

Another huge success from CreatorVC

There was a line that struck me within the opening 10 minutes of this documentary. “Horror is democratic, we decide what the classics are”. In the democracy of horror, The Thing is an undisputed heavyweight; potentially even the reigning champ. If by some travesty, you’re here and you haven’t actually watched John Carpenters 1982 masterpiece…seek help. Once you’ve done that, bookmark this tab for later and come back!

Most horror fans will know the broad brush strokes of the films history and how it cemented itself as a cult classic. Released to mediocre reviews but now reviled as one of the most important and influential horror films of all time. The work that went into the practical effects and how they still hold up 4 decades on. Did the thing survive through McCready or Childs?

So when Creator VC gave me the immense privilege of sending over a screener edition to review, my initial thought was “how the fuck can this thing (no pun intended) possibly run to more than double the length of the actual film?!” I’ve happily sat through hours of the In Search of Darkness documentaries because of the variety in them and the year spans covered. I can’t lie, I was initially quite trepidatious about stepping into a near 5 hour long documentary on one film.

Whilst it is a long watch, as always, I overthought it.

The Thing Expanded is a love letter and the most in depth possible look into one of THE classics. A ridiculously stacked cast of John Carpenter, Dean Cundy, Kurt Russell, Keith David, Anne Billson, Margaret Prentice, Greg Nicotero, Guillermo del Toro and a host of others, provide first hand accounts of the filming experience as well as positing theories, critiques and opinions. For example, did you know that Tobe Hooper was initially in Universal’s list of potential directors?!

As always, John Carpenter is hilariously grumpy and nonchalant in the way he discusses this. Seemingly with a bee in his bonnet with the studio and the decision to not allow him to solely be responsible for the score. His discussion around the infamous ending was another highlight. A serious case of “and what?”

I found Keith David to be mesmerising and full of joy, completely at odds with his character of Childs. The personal highlight though, was every moment spent talking about the special effects with Bessera and Diaz. The creativity, genius and graft that went into every iteration of The Thing and its effects is phenomenal. It’s my favourite aspect of the film and it’s usually my benchmark for comparison with any other practical effects in horror. Seeing how they made the magic come to life was incredible and worth the price of admission alone.

The most shocking practical effect of all time

The peak of the practical effects for me, is the moment the remaining crew discover Palmers blood has been infected. My reaction to seeing this scene on the 100th watch is the same as it was on the first watch, one of complete open mouthed awe. I found it incredible that some of the talking heads compared this scene to Evil Dead stating that it branches into “silly” horror. My jaw hit the floor again when Eli Roth compared his 2002 film Cabin Fever to The Thing stating that he stole scenes and ideas from the classic…

All in all, I’d recommend this to any fans of The Thing. It’s another high quality and lovingly crafted documentary made by fans for fans. I learnt a lot, I laughed a lot and I think it probably elevated my love for the film. I really hope Creator VC have more of these in the pipeline and they continue I keep the quality of the output as high as this.