The Thing Returns (2021) User Reviews

Good sequel, to an incredible movie...

[Vishkareem · 7/10 · 17 May 2021]

This movie is scary, well directed, well acted and a very worthy sequel to the 1982 sci-fi horror classic.

This movie is such a relief to see as anything with The Thing tag on it.

It keeps the same tone and fear of the first film and makes up for the loss of what the first film left out, the mystery of the alien ship.

The CGI, on the other hand, could have been better, but i don´t know if they had the money to do it.

A good time with the thing.

[tonyreeves-04185 · 7/10 · 18 May 2021]

Sequels are usually a disappointment as they try to raise the bar and fail. This movie doesn't attempt that. It didn't fall into the trap of adding boring clichés or breaking the suspense with cheap laughs. It didn't try to change the formula too much and that's a good thing. Why re-invent the wheel. Just make another interesting one.

I definitely enjoyed it and I would suggest my friends to go watch it. That's just my sincerest opinion about this movie.

The sequel we never had.

[aldinamensal · 7/10 · 15 June 2022]

This is sequel very well done, with lots of pratical effects trough, most people don´t realize that this is a fan film, because of all the people and budget putted into this, i saw an interview with the director on a you tube channel, were he explains, the love he has for the franchise.

For me it was a pleasant surprise what i´ve got here, the rating of this movie, should be around 7, not 6.0.

What can I say ?

[jumpinjacks-88017 · 1/10 · 3 September 2021]

I have only really reviewed a few movies, I can be blunt some times and brutal when needed. The other reviews here must be from the cast and crew since I can only describe this as pure garbage.

I had high hopes but to be honest, it doesn't even come remotely close to recreating anywhere near the atmosphere of the original, which was why the original was received so well. Atmosphere is everything!

Like most B movies, it has one or two moments of...let's say.... Hope...but that quickly fades due to a mediocre script, "school play" level acting and a budget of around $8 and some free pizza coupons. You should avoid this movie.

FAN-tastic horror!

[burkejayaliens · 8/10 · 16 May 2021]

Rarely do you find a sequel that skillfully pays homage through storytelling.

You can watch first 2011 and then 1982 and finally 2021, you will be satisfied, like me. Awesome, scary concept, great sci-fi! Bravo!! This "franchise" deserves even more! The Thing still lives... We're waiting for more!

It ties up all the loose ends and leaves room for one more... bring it.

SEEMS LEGIT

[horrorgasm · 3 September 2021]

Just watch the trailer on this page if you want to see the level of quality you can expect with this movie.

Every single one of these 9-10 reviews are shill accounts that made them all in the same week of May, 2021. And EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has done nothing (or almost nothing) but reviews for the exact same handful of movies for this same trashy knockoff bootleg movie company.

Don't be a sucker, people.

The Worst ever

[jrzzrj · 3/10 · 10 November 2021]

The first 35 minutes were simply boring...then the gore begins...just globs of crawling goo, a humanoid-like figure here and there, lots of blood and guts. There is little to no similarity to the original "The Thing", No sense of anything with a plot., the acting is 3 on a scale of 1-10. I would recommend not wasting your time. Don't make me tell you, "I told you so".... PASS.....

Much better than most sci fi movies.

[evelynskym · 8/10 · 17 May 2021]

A group of explorers from Mcmurdo station go to outpost 31, only to discover the two dead bodies on ice of last survivors from the original movie, then the nightmare begins, the thing still lives and starts to take over their base, killing and assimilating all the crew, and it´s up to two guys to stop it.

The "scientific" aspect is better than previous films, for me this sequel is great and equal to the first ''The thing'' it has more blood and gore, the story is fast paced, The CGI is not that great, but they used practical effects too. The alien scenes are scary, so I wouldn't complain about that.

It exists as a worthy extension, not an insult to the memory of a cult classic. It offers a similar overall experience without replicating styles and situations.

'Phantom reviewers' ?

[john_p_wilson-69074 · 4/10 · 31 August 2021]

Any one else notice all the high rating reviews made about the same period (May) ?

No prizes for reason why !

Fuelled by nostalgia with a twist

[theoriginalpunisher · 8/10 · 3 September 2021]

This subverted my expectations in a good way.

Don´t listen to the haters, they should go fishing instead of critize movies, they don´t understand.

It´s the real sequel and a glorious hommage to the classic.

The creatures and the pratical effects were so awesome, i couldn´t believe i was watching a low budget.

And the cast made a good job.

8/10 for me.

Killed the franchaise

[reezwanamin · 2/10 · 24 September 2022]

This is the worst possible sequel of any masterpiece that was ever made. There is absolutely no story line, no character development, no suspense, no excitement, there is nothing except a few jump scare attacks and special effects. New characters just pop up out of nowhere and so do the creatures. A number of scenes were just copied and pasted from the original movie. Acting was also lame and probably shot during Covid pandemic so you could easily tell that they captured those shots on their or something like that. A total waste of time. People who praised this for special effects and no CGI, come on! The last scene was pure CGI and was a joke!

impressive effort on a low budget.

[jaimesantos-28115 · 8/10 · 17 May 2021]

The plot is very well made, as it's up to the audience to figure out the mystery of who got infected, no cliches at all.

The acting is outstanding as well, and doc is one hell of a character, great performance, i´ll will keep an eye on this guy´s career, from now on.

Partially based on H. P Lovecrafts mountains of madness this movie is everything I wanted.

The way this story unfolds is so organic, and on a perfect pace.

Has an easter egg of Alien Perfect 8.

An impressive ride, in the same spirit of the Carpenter´s classic.

[marcioantunes-15154 · 7/10 · 21 June 2022]

Impressive fan film, with lots of produtcion value, and faithfull to the source material.

The first half of the story follows a group of people that try to contact outpost 31, but in vain, because we all know that they are dead.

Soon, they send a team there only to discover that they are indeed all dead, without knowing what happend they start to investigate the situation, and the thing is loose again, killing everyone, and assimilating them.

It has mostly pratical effects, some Cgi and a lot of blood and action, suspense and tension, but lacks on more story development, regarding Childs and Macready (but they find the k7 that he recorded) it ties very well to the original classic.

So i´m giving it a 7.

Turning a treasured film into something to exploit!

[lenwenzellw · 1/10 · 23 February 2022]

After watching part of the film, witnessing the horrific direction, and stilted directionless acting I must admit to being horrified. I didn't see one scene that convinced me that anything in this film was possible, unlike the first film. There is little suspense, the action is poorly scripted and carried out, and the acting is stilted with no cohesion to any sense of mystery, suspense, or horror. Not to mention the cheesy special effects, there is actually nothing here that a fan of the original John Carpenter's "The Thing" would enjoy.

The originals of The Thing, Alien, and Aliens, are all among the very heights of the art of Horror film making. Hopefully Mr. Carpenter will do a sequel one day that will have his fans celebrating his return to film making.

These are not the droids you are looking for.... Unless you enjoy totally worthless trash, keep looking.

A must watch.

[tinoco-03113 · 8/10 · 16 May 2021]

I´ve watched it two times already, and it´s really good.

Packed with suspicion, survival instincts, betrayal, fear, doubt and more.

It consistently switched between action, mystery, horror, and discovery.

Great scares, fulfilling characters, solid story, a developed plot, this movie is great.

On a final note, this film has some great cinematography.

The Thing Returns is a good film, you should watch it.

A terrific sequel and soon to become an horror gem.

[kevincrazymoss · 8/10 · 15 May 2021]

This is a good horror sequel and a good one too, we can really feel the tension between the characters in just about every scene and that there is genius.

The special effects are really good, especially the pratical ones, they are really fun to look at and we can tell what hard work has been put into them, i have seen some goriest films, but this one is a must.

I love the scenes shot in the dark because they fit well with the tone and I do like the lighting in those shots with the girl in the corridor.

It's violent, it's gory, and broadly it may not be for everyone. But this needs to be seen by anyone with the slightest interest in horror, or creature features.

This is the right formula to fear factor.

You couldn't ask for better sequel

[anapires431999 · 9/10 · 14 May 2021]

John Carpenter´s The Thing is one of the greatest sci fi horror movies of all time, they were bold enough to make a sequel of this outstanding movie, and the result was magnificent.

It's a well-told story, it features some of the best special effects i´ve seen in a low budget like this, good performances from the cast, especially the doctor, this guy is amazing, i could feel his fear, as he tells us what´s happening at the base, good chemistry between him, and John, the creatures are true lovecraftian things that takes on all kinds of forms, probably an amalgam of the different organisms it has mimicked over its lifetime.

Overall this sequel is one scary movie, with great atmosphere, so i´m giving it a 9.

This is how a sequel is made...

[josuemariano · 9/10 · 16 May 2021]

Horror sci fi as it was meant to be, a real story with good acting.

Rich in atmosphere, you find yourself intrigued.

The remoteness of the region gives a true sense of the isolation of McMurdo Station, the film is terrific on many levels. It works as your straight monster or action type film.

The cast is very big for a low budget like this, i was impressed.

The gore effects here are absolutely amazing and messily realistic, Constantino then manages to deliver the shocks as well as the mystery that's needed to keep the film heading in the right direction.

Place yourself in the good chair of your home. Be sure you're not interupted by anyone, Let it absorbe you, and you'll see it my way!

This is the sequel we´ve been waiting for.

A good movie.

[cabalkanemid · 7/10 · 16 May 2021]

I was not expecting to like this film at all. And actually I quite enjoyed it. As I say, it's not really my type of thing, as I'm not a horror fan, but i remember watching the original on tv, and liked it, so I was looking forward to see this one.

The story you could say that it's a bit typical with few twists or complicated plots and it was easy to see what would happen, you know who isn't going to die and so on.

The visual effects are amazing and quite frightening, actually.

I´d rate it a 7.

The Thing part two...

[bosven · 9/10 · 16 May 2021]

The John Carpenter original was rightly celebrated for its surreal effects, giving audiences something that was genuinely cutting edge and never seen before at the time.

But now this sequel, covers the next day were a team tries to contact oupost 31, without sucess, and the investigation begins again, soon they find the base destroyed and the spaceship on ice, but soon learn that it is still alive and has the ability to assume the shape of that which it kills.

After the alien has proved to infect several humans already, extreme paranoia and distrust breaks out among the surviving crew, then there´s someone among them that is sending messages to the military, we see them with trucks and weapons, a biological crew, soldiers, helicopters.

So John (Rui Constantino also the director) assumes the type leader and along with Doc (Miguel D. Dias) take the survivors into open areas and investigate methods to expose the monsters. Tensions run extremely high, as they did in John Carpenter's, and at these moments I felt The Thing sequel had a good thing going for it.

The suspense was thrilling and engaging, and aliens were bursting out of bodies at wholly unexpected times. The acting is consistently solid.

This film is a perfect companion piece to Carpenter's film. Solid filmmaking!

A sequel that works even on a low budget like this.

[hitrunans · 9/10 · 26 October 2022]

For a fan film, this movie rocks, it has legacy all over it.

I was waiting to see this for a long time now, and yesterday i finally did.

The effort and dedication given to this movie is amazing, i could only thank the director, for making an incredible movie like this on such a low budget, i´ve noticed that he works and likes to work as i saw in his interviews here on imdb, dedication is the spirit of this man, on making great things, a real talent in filmmaking.

Love this one so much, pratical effects with a little cgi, so that the creatures were more awesome.

The story gives you chills as it continues on the original the thing.

A sequel that is just surreal.

A truly perfect sequel

[Richardtune · 9/10 · 13 November 2021]

This movie is a hit from beginning until the end.

Sarting with the soundtrack that is an absolute banger. Story keeps you on your toes and let's you root for the characters, especially for doctor Louis always wanted him to survive, and he did !

The storyline is a creative mystery that you feel like you're apart of solving.

Its chilling (pun intended) and hooks you right in as you wonder where is it and who is going to be next.

A solid addition to this franchise that I love so much.

[MariaCristinaPorto · 8/10 · 15 May 2021]

If you're a fan of the original looking for something similar, than this is the movie for you.

Story-wise, with the exception of some additions, it hits the same beats as John Carpenter's original movie, it continues the story of the classic, and a team from mcmurdo base is sent to investigate, they arrive and see the base destroyed finding the bodies of Rj macready and Childs on ice, one of them is taken by one of the creatures, and the horror begins again.

The sense of fear returns again, and we don´t know who is infected, paranoia takes over, so the mcmurdo base goes on full alert, John, Doc and Dean, and others form teams, to kill all the creatures, that´s when the scary stuff begins.

If you love the 1982 version, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

The fear of the unknown.

[kurganmaster · 9/10 · 19 May 2021]

The secret to this sequel success is the attention of details that they had with everything connected to the previous movies.

In short, there is a good reason this movie is amazing, it´s because they didn´t forget what was their mission, they go to the outpost 31 they find the dead bodies, then the ship, they go inside, make contact with the "the thing" then what comes next is the paranoia and fear that takes us "the viewers" over as we try to unfold what´s coming.

The alien is always the winner here, and this time he learned his lesson, better to kill them than assimilate them, it´s more easy that way, he doesn´t waste time doing it.

The base has 153 of population, by the end of it it´s only 2 left, John and Doc, so it´s up to these two men, to kill it, and what´s came next, blew my mind away.

It has enough atmosphere for 2 movies, and a sequel could come forward.

The movie deserves the highest recommendation It´s a 9 for me.

It begins where the original ends, top notch movie.

[jexrichy · 9/10 · 27 May 2022]

I was gripped from start to finish and would call it a top "alien monster" movie for the ages.

The acting is on point, the re discovering of the spaceship on the ice shows a lot more than i would expect, and the cellar of it, the ruined computer, the corridors and the destruction of it, was magnificent, only for those scenes i would give it a high rating, but for all it´s a 9 for me.

I recommend it for everyone who loves sci fi like me, even if it´s a fan film.

And don´t listen to the haters, it´s pure jealousy, they have, maybe they need to take pills for heartburn.