The Thing

There are two movie versions of The Thing, which is itself based on a short story by John Campbell called "Who Goes There," but every iteration shares the same basic structure. An alien beneath the ice of Antarctica gets thawed out by a lonely group stationed on the continent during winter. It slowly picks off members of the group, perhaps most spectacularly in John Carpenter's movie version, which is packed with terrific, gory effects of alien/human slaughter.

"At the Mountains of Madness"

This classic short story by H.P. Lovecraft is about a group of explorers who discover an ancient city buried beneath the ice in an Antarctic mountain range. Within the city, they find evidence that Earth's earliest inhabitants were aliens who took up residence in the once-temperate South Pole. They lived in a state of advanced civilization, occasionally having problems with other alien groups (like Cthulhu's spawn, which live in the sea). But finally their city descended into decadence, and the polymorphous slave beings known as Shuggoths began to take over. Eventually it emerges that some of the Shuggoths still live, and the human expedition may have released them upon the world.

The X-Files movie

The 1998 movie that came out of the popular alien-paranoia TV series includes a final set of scenes that take place in a secret underground lab in Antarctica, where aliens are being studied. We know the aliens are dangerous, and are associated with the black oil that has been mind-controlling several humans in the show. As the movie ends, a spaceship beneath the lab rises up and takes off. More black oil to be unleashed on the world? Aliens finally freed from prison? We may never know.

Alien vs. Predator

A group of explorers travel to Antarctica (this plot is starting to sound familiar, isn't it?) to investigate a mysterious heat signal in an ice field. They discover a vast, underground structure that looks sort of like a temple. It turns out to be a holding tank for aliens, and a group of predators have awakened them in order to have a fun hunting expedition. Unfortunately the human explorers are caught between the predators and aliens, and some of them get used as alien-hatching vessels so the predators can have their fun. When things get out of control, the humans have to decide whether to ally themselves with the dangerous predators if they're going to escape alive – and prevent the aliens from being unleashed all over the Earth.

Alien

It's possible to claim that the original 1970s Alien movie is about ice-bound creatures awakening to kill, kill, kill. The aliens that Ripley's vessel stumbles across are on what seems to be a frozen planet.

"A Colder War"

In this short story by Charles Stross, a Cold War-era nuclear submarine finds a Cthulhu-esque creature beneath the ice. It's an even greater threat than nuclear war, and makes the cold war pale by comparison.

Mammoth

Perhaps one of the greatest kitchen-sink monsters ever created, this movie's eponymous creature is discovered frozen whole in the arctic ice. But when the ice melts and (of course) the mammoth escapes, we discover that not only is it a reanimated paleolithic beastie, but it's also controlled via wireless by a group of hostile aliens and it's got the power to suck people's lifeforce out using its trunk. So it's an alien-controlled vampire dinosaur. And it's pissed. Watch the alien vampire mammoth wreck havoc among drunken teens, including Summer Glau (!) at a rave in the forest!

Transformers

In the first Transformers movie, evil Deceptacon leader Megatron is found deep beneath the ice, and as he thaws, his evil world-destroying powers grow.

Demolition Man

In the movie version of Demolition Man, set in the near future, supercriminal Phoenix is thawed out of deep freeze to face trial. Unfortunately he kills everybody in sight and escapes, to engage in a zillion acts of crime in a city unprepared for such a dangerous criminal. Luckily the city is able to defrost our cop hero too, whose skills dealing with violence were honed during Phoenix's era.

Dinosaurus

In this flick from 1960, a team constructing a harbor on a Carribbean island accidentally unearth two dinosaurs, a T-Rex and a brontosaurus. Of course the kaiju are struck by lightning and brought back to life for a mega-rampage – though sadly they aren't controlled by aliens or capable of sucking people's souls out. A caveman is brought to life with them, and serves as is the friendly defrosted foil to the dinos.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

This classic 1952 Ray Harryhausen movie basically started the giant atomic monster genre. A "Rhedosaurus" is awakened in arctic circle by atomic bombs, and unleashes monstery, claymation madness upon the world.

Doctor Who, "The Ice Warriors"

A new ice age is sweeping over the world, and a team of scientists and maniacs is desperately trying to find a way to roll back the glaciers. And then they find a weird Viking warrior-esque figure trapped in the ice for millions of years... and when the ice defrosts, the figure awakens!

Heroes

At the end of last season's superhero soap Heroes, Tracy uses her freeze-ray powers to freeze . . . herself! She goes mega-icy and then shatters into a million pieces to save the son of her dead, ultrastrong mutant genetic clone "sister" Nikki. But she'll be back this fall in the new season, all thawed out and healed up and ready to engage in all kinds of evil.

Frankenstein's Monster

In this early-70s comic from Marvel, the Frankenstein monster emerges from an arctic glacier twice: Once to battle Dracula, who injures him; and a second time in the modern world, aided by Frankenstein's distant, gothy relative Victoria Frankenstein. Though revenge and killing were among his goals after his first thaw, by the time he thawed a second time he was ready to fall in love (with Victoria) and fight for great justice (with Iron Man). Frankenstein's Monster teaches us that taking a second ice nap can be redemptive.

Terminal Freeze

In this novel by Lincoln Child, a group of explorers living in "Fear Base" underneath "Fear Glacier" encounter – surprise – something they need to be afraid of. It's a frozen, catlike creature that they plan to defrost when they return to civilization. But unfortunately it defrosts before the group makes it home, and people start dying. This is yet another tale in the sub-sub-genre established by "Who Goes There," the short story on which The Thing is based.

The website Comic Book Religion has a great list of Jewish superheroes, from which I'm shamelessly culling this list.

The Thing is surely the greatest Jewish superhero of them all - there's not even really any doubt about it. Benjamin J. Grimm, hero of Yancy Street, got bombarded with cosmic rays and became super strong, super-tough, and rocky. But he never forgot his Jewish roots, and in Dan Slott's short-lived series, he actually goes and gets bar-mitzvahed. And then has a raucous poker game.

Colossal Boy is one of the coolest members of the Legion of Super Heroes. Writer Paul Levitz was reviewing notes on the Legion, when he realized Colossal Boy's real name, Gim Allon, was similar to Israeli leader Yigal Allon. So in 1983, when Gim married an alien shape-shifter, Yera, he wondered aloud if he could convince the aliens to let him raise their kids Jewish.

Moon Knight. Okay, sure, Marc Spector ended up becoming an adherent of the Egyptian god Khonshu, who gave him his superpowers, but he was raised Jewish. His dad was a rabbi. Editor Joe Quesada identified Moon Knight as an important Jewish superhero in his column.

Kitty Pryde, one of the coolest X-Men, is also Jewish, according to Quesada. She shows this with her "everpresent Star of David."

Atom Smasher, aka Nuklon, is also Jewish. In one issue of Infinity Inc., the Justice League member reminisces back to his Bar Mitzvah as part of remembering how he became a superhero. And then in one recent comic, Albert Rothstein gets a Christmas kiss from Supergirl:

American Flagg, aka Reuben Flagg, is also a great Jewish hero of the people, taking out all the scumbags who threaten the stability of a future dystopian America.

Magneto isn't exactly a superhero, but he is a morally gray member of the superhero world, who sometimes fights on our heroes' side. And there's a whole FAQ listing all the evidence that Magneto was in Auschwitz because of his Jewish roots, rather than some other reason.

There's lots more at the link above, including Captain Underpants, and the unlikely hero The Acidic Jew. M'chlaim!

Bloody Disgusting broke the news on Thursday that Eric Heisserer has been hired to rewrite the script for the movie, and when the writer confirmed the story on his blog, he revealed that it was more than just slight script doctoring:

We are all so much in love with Carpenter's film, so protective of it, we're doing all we can to avoid stepping on its toes. I jumped at this job because I hold the Carpenter adaptation to very high standards, and I knew it would be a challenge to create a comparable companion piece. Sort of a "Nobody better screw this up, especially me" mentality. Lucky for me, the people at Strike and the director have the same standards. This is a "from scratch" rewrite assignment for the most part, as was my work on A Nightmare on Elm Street. I can't say any more on that. I have the highest respect for both Ron Moore and Wesley Strick.

While we're waiting for more information on what the prequel will be like now that Moore is no longer involved in the project, we must admit some sadness at being robbed of seeing a terrifying alien shapeshifting dog with a glowing spine as he humped someone's leg.

'The Thing' Prequel Script Getting Rewritten! [Bloody Disgusting]

Thor:

Not only is Kenneth Branagh pumped up to direct the Thunder God's saga, but he's also thinking about ways Thor connects to fellow Marvel heroes Iron Man and the Avengers, so his movie will properly tie in to the other Marvel films, according to Marvel's Joe Quesada. [MTV via Cinemablend]

Knowing:

You may have thought Nicolas Cage's main adversary in this movie was random scary number strings, or weird staring albinos, but according to Reuters, he's actually up against Mother Nature. [Reuters]

Also, a review in the Daily Herald gives away a ton of plot points. Nic Cage is John Koestler, an MIT professor who's still grieving for his recently departed wife, and who says things like, "Life is just a series of random acts and chemical mistakes." After his son Caleb gets a page of numbers from a 1959 time capsule, Koestler realizes it predicts every major disaster since 1959. "The numbers are the key to everything!" he says. A plane crash and subway disaster confirm it.

Meanwhile, little Caleb is receiving weird messages on his hearing aid from weird looking blond men who stand around the house looking like Matrix wannabes. Also hearing from the albinos is Abby, the grand-daughter of the girl who wrote down those numbers in 1959. Just when you think the movie is turning into a Biblical prophecy story, it darts into a different genre, which is foreshadowed by the fact that it's super hot for October, and there are weird flares on the surface of the sun. "How am I supposed to stop the end of the world?" shouts Koestler. But at least he gets religion, starts believing in the afterlife, and reconnects with his estranged pastor father. [Daily Herald]

The Thing:

Ronald D. Moore offers another smidgen of info about how his movie will connect up with the John Carpenter film. "We're telling the story of the Norwegian camp that found the Thing before the Kurt Russell group did, so it's very buried in the continuity [and] it's supposed to be the other story that you saw part of." [IGN]

Dollhouse:

More reports that Friday's episode is mind-bogglingly awesome and will restore your excitement about this series. Also, Joss Whedon spills some details. Like, the series' big love story is between Victor and Sierra, despite their mind-wiped status. Even for brain-erased Actives, it turns out love conquers all. Except it's never quite that simple. Meanwhile, we won't exactly find out in season one why Paul Ballard is so obsessed with the Dollhouse, but we will delve into his backstory a bit, before seeing him go forward. His obsession will become even more painful and disturbing. Also, Paul's cute manicotti-making neighbor is at the center of Friday's most disturbing scene.

As for Boyd, Echo's handler, he cares about Echo more than his job requires, and their relationship is going to have to shift. Meanwhile, in Friday's episode, a crime goes down inside the Dollhouse, and it's suddenly handy to have an ex-cop around. And finally, expect a lot more Amy Acker in the next few episodes as we discover how she came to "this fabulous career." [E! Online]

And remember how we said episode eight was about Echo, Victor and Sierra remembering who they are and mounting an escape attempt? Here are some pics. Including some shirtless Tahmoh. Rejoice! [SpoilerTV]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Here's the official synopsis for the season finale:

Born to Run: Fate is changed forever on the explosive season finale episode! The Connors come face-to-face with Weaver in a confrontation that shakes John to the core and changes his reality. Nothing will be the same.

And here are two awesome clips from tomorrow night's episode. Dude! [Fox]

Battlestar Galactica:

A few more snippets about "The Plan," the Cylon-centric TV movie which Edward James Olmos directed. Apparently, a big chunk of it takes place before the attacks. We follow the Cylons, especially Cavil, and find out why they did what they did. [E! Online]

K-9:

Exactlly how silly will the Doctor's tin-dog former companion look in his new series? Really, really silly, judging from these promo images released for an international television content convention. [Wired]

Lost:

Radzinsky will be in next week's episode, then miss the following two, and then he'll be in the final five episodes of the season. And he's got a really great character arc to play out. [Doc Arzt]

And here are some new pics from episode 5x10, "He's Our You." [SpoilersLost]

Smallville:

Here's a new trailer for the next three episodes, including our first glimpse of Lois in her superhero identity as Stiletto. [EW]

Also, John Schneider, Annette O'Toole and John Glover will be back for the flashback episode that deals with Davis' backstory. (The one with young Lex, I guess.) [EW]

Heroes:

Here are some promo pics from episode 3x21, "Into Asylum," showing Peter and Angela Petrelli holeing up in a church. Also, sources say Baby Matt is the heroes' "salvation," and he'll somehow cause Hiro to stop time once more. [The ODI]

Also, despite your fondest wishes, Claire will be back in season four, for sure. [EW]

Chuck:

Here's what happens in episode 2x20, "Chuck Vs. The First Kill":

After Chuck's father Steve (guest star Scott Bakula) is kidnapped by Fulcrum, Chuck learns the only chance he has to find him is by putting his trust and life into the hands of the person he trusts the least-his ex-girlfriend Jill Roberts (guest star Jordana Brewster). Meanwhile, the Buy More team tries to sabotage Emmett's (guest star Tony Hale) corporate evaluation.

[SpoilerTV]

Reaper:

Here's a ton of pics from episode 2x05, "I Want My Baby Back" and 2x06, "Underbelly". [Reapersite and SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

Yet another update on the Deadpool controversy. Ryan Reynolds confirms that the weird figure in the trailer with his mouth sewn shut and the freakish tattoos is him, and that it's Deadpool. "When I'm in the scarred makeup, too... you'll see closer shots, obviously, in the film." You can see in the video, the reporter even asks a follow up question to make absolutely sure "the dude with the mouth sewn shut" is Reynolds, and he says yes. [MTV]

Monsters Versus Aliens:

A couple of pretty hilarious TV spots have been airing the past few days, including some new footage of the monsters meeting Ginormica's family and stuff. This movie may be the only time I ever find Seth Rogen cute.

The Thing:

Scribe Ronald D. Moore repeated that his script is a prequel, and added it's a "companion piece" to John Carpenter's original movie. It links up with the Carpenter film, and doesn't try to reinvent it. A director (Matthijs Van Heijningen) is assigned, and now he's waiting to see if Universal Pictures greenlights it. [Sci Fi Wire]

Doctor Who:

The Tenth Doctor will face creatures from Mars right before he regenerates, according to a report from the Mirror. (But it's not clear if these are Ice Warriors, or some new creatures. Or possibly the guys from "Ambassadors Of Death," who were not technically from Mars, but hung out there.) Also, two villains in the final episodes will be played by Neighbors star Peter O'Brien and "glamorous actress" Gemma Chan. [Mirror]

Battlestar Galactica:

Ron Moore tells Sci Fi Wire it was important for him to deliver a finale that tied up most of the loose ends and left a few people dead. (From which I infer, not everybody dies?) [Sci Fi Wire]

Also, the first hour and a half of the finale is so intense, you'll be breathless. And Mary McDonnell, in particular, will have you in tears more than once. A ton of questions will be answered, including some you'd think they wouldn't have time to address. [TV Guide]

Lost:

That mystery upcoming death? Apparently, it's not Sawyer. Also, don't expect to see Nikki again on the show this spring. [E! Online]

What's going on with Young Ben in the upcoming episodes of Lost? Actor Sterling Beaumon explains:

You're going to find out how Ben became the mean, cruel Ben that he is today. And you're going to find out about the roots of the island and how the island became the island. ... In two of the episodes, I'm really not doing a lot, but you just see me a lot, and you'll see what I mean by that.

And he says he's not really doing an impression of Michael Emerson, for a reason that will become apparent. [Sci Fi Wire]

There are six pages from the season finale script that detail some huge twist, which only the actors involved get to have... and Elizabeth Mitchell says she's not one of those people. And Juliet has a lot of insecurity over Kate coming back, and how Sawyer will react. [TV Guide]

Dollhouse:

This week's episode will make you gasp at least once, and possibly rewind to see if someone said what you thought he/she said. And the episode features one of the best hand-to-hand fight scenes ever, a "cool reveal" about the Dollhouse's business model, and lots of shirtless Tahmoh Penikett. [TV Guide]

Also, this Friday's episode is Sierra-centric, and focuses on a documentary about the "urban legend" of the Dollhouse. There's some "sexy time" going on "behind the scenes" in the house, and some of it involves Sierra. And as we've mentioned, Echo and Paul also come face to face. [E! Online]]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

The official description of the season's penultimate episode, "Adam Raised A Cain," fills me with giddy excitement:

When John attempts to rescue Skynet's latest target he finds himself closing in on Weaver, but at what cost? Game plans change, causing Sarah and Ellison to reunite. Meanwhile, Weaver learns Ellison's secrets.

[Sarah Connor Society]

Fringe:

When we find out what Peter's "condition" is, we'll understand why Walter has been so desperately attached to him, and so concerned about him. [TV Guide]

Life On Mars:

Producer Josh Appelbaum hints that the American version of this time-stranded cop drama will have a very different ending than the U.K. version. But he also seems to be saying both Sams are in a coma, so it's hard to tell. [Slice Of Scifi]

Smallville:

Meteor freaks start dying out in Metropolis, but Doomsday may not be to blame. [E! Online]

Heroes:

Angela and Peter Petrelli are on the run together, now that the Hunter is in charge. They hide out in a church on Monday, and then after that they go "someplace special." And Angela has a big role in the rest of the season's episodes. [E! Online]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. (Zien) is in the running to direct RDM's new movie.

But more interesting than that, BD found out that the main character of this Thing might be R.J. Macready's brother, who was played by bad-ass, flame-throwing Kurt Russell in the John Carpenter's movie.

Hopefully, this movie will explain a little of the backstory about the Norwegians that were hunting down that dangerous alien dog.

[Bloody Disgusting]

Hulu:
Hulu's Hulloween special section has load of movies to tantalize your horror needs including, 28 Days Later, Night Of The Living Dead, Christine, Near Dark (my favorite horror flick of all times), The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror and lots more. Unfortunately many people can't view Hulu, so we're offering up other options. But while it's there please enjoy John Carpenter's The Thing:

The Thing:

Ez Takes:
EZ Takes has a fantastic collection of the really good old horror/scifi films. You can download a high res copy for a price or just stream the whole thing from the site. It's got all the classic like The Ape Man, White Zombie,and Human Monster (with Bella Lugosi)

The Sci Fi Drive In:
The Sci Fi Channel offers up a fair selection of classic horror black and whites such as The Killer Shrews, Menace From Outer Space, The Mad Monsters, The Attack Of Giant Leeches and other large attacking thingies to fear.
 
 
 

Teen Angst And Treats on The WB:
Yay it's the "Halloween Special" episodes of Buffy, One Tree Hill and Friends. Sure not scifi but still everyone looks forward to the Halloween special ten times more than the Thanksgiving clip show.

ABC Family:
In true Family style ABC Family is hosting the entire first season of The Adams Family. Plus The Joan Collins in Empire Of The Ants where Ms. Collins plays a scam artist real estate agent in Florida selling people crap land that they all later find out is home to giant ants!

Fearnet:
Besides their adorable 66.6 second film recaps of all the horror classics (from Jason to Candyman) they're also hosting The Midnight Meat Train in its entirety.

Here's Night of The Living Dead in 66.6 Seconds:

Thriller:
And of course would it be Halloween with out a little Thriller? We couldn't embed the whole thing but you can check out the entire Michael Jackson Zombie dance over at yyoutube.e. And until we can find it as a whole to embed, please enjoy Indian Thriller:

Indian Thriller:

Google Video:
Google Video is stocked with so many horror classics which we decided to just give you the best straight up.

Phantasm [Some NSFW]:

Plan 9 From Outer Space:
 
 
 
 
 
And Just For Fun Here's A Little MST3K And Some Rocky Horror:

MST3K Pod People:

Hobgoblins (Because It's My Top 5 MST3K)
 
 
Rocky Horror Picture Show:

Free TV : Ustream

Metropolis (1927)
With the economy imploding, we know what The Suits are thinking: Why not tap into the zeitgeist by remaking this stylish, silent, futuristic thriller about socioeconomic-class chasms? Added bonus: At the heart of the film is a hot stripper robot — total box office bullion! To paraphrase Nigel Tufnel, speaking about his precious vintage guitar in Spinal Tap: “Don’t touch it… don’t point, even.” No, don’t even look at it.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
After the success of his UFO-sighting film, Stephen Spielberg expressed interest in revisiting the property, which haunted our minds and stoked our imaginations as we pondering these mysterious aliens. Soon after, he made the cuddly E.T. instead. Smart man.

History of the World, Part I (1981)
It’s a joke, you see: what with history traditionally recalled in successive volumes. As much as we’d love to see the musical “Jews in Space” — which was teased in Mel Brooks’ cinematic romp through times of yore — we’d hate to see this stellar concept stretch into an SNL type skit gone too long. Plus we’ll always have The Schwartz.

The Thing (1982)
The late Vincent Canby, one of the New York Times’ greatest critics, once referred to John Carpenter’s remake of 1951’s The Thing From Another World as a "a foolish, depressing, overproduced movie." Which is naturally why we consider it a classic. Carpenter, the Sci Fi Channel, and Strike Entertainment (Slither, Dawn of the Dead), and have respectively tried to resurrect the property. And just last year, it was announced that the latter had succeeded, forging an (unholy?) alliance with Universal for a prequel. Nicely played, Strike, nicely played. But a prequel still feels like a sequel even though it is a prequel. (We’ll pause while you think that through.)

12 Monkeys (1995)
A dude goes back in time and hangs at a mental hospital while trying to stop an earth-plaguing virus, in this gripping, plot-twisting head trip. Anything more would simply be anti-climactic. Besides, what would you call it: 13 Monkeys? 24 Monkeys?

The Running Man (1987)
We know what you’re thinking. The awesome, sensational Running Man — about a to-the-death reality show for felons — would make a perfect obvious tie-in soon enough. It takes place in 2019! Which is coming up. Like, relatively soon. Too bad Death Race beat you to the punch. As we learned, the game show-as-moral-decay metaphor simply isn’t shocking anymore. Besides, we’ve been getting our fix of dystopian competitions from Japanese competition shows anyhow.

Akira (1988)
A thriller about a covert government op and a guy teeming with supernatural powers, this is an apocalyptic epic of sweeping beauty and challenging complexity. To attempt to improve upon — or even mimic — this classic would be utter hubris.

Armageddon (1998)
Despite popular disdain, the hysterically ridiculous doomsday asteroid flick made a killing, internationally, at the B.O. And we know you all too well, Michael Bay. We’d hoped you’d learned your quality-control lesson from Bad Boys II, but here’s hoping you will with Transformers 2.

Donnie Darko (2001)
Director Richard Kelly’s break-out movie was dark, intriguingly time-twisty, and made ghoulish use of a rabbit. It also went on to become a surprise cult hit, which is why the industry is so ready to juice it with a story about the creepy misadventures of his little sister (Sparkle Motion!) while on a roadtrip. (Nightstalker director Chris Fisher will helm the follow-up.) S. Darko, as it’s called, was said to have started shooting in May. But, as we learned from the original, it’s never too late to change fate and put this risky proposition out of its misery.

Ghost Rider (2007)
Nicolas Cage’s painful paean to the flame-headed motorcycle enthusiast made a decent chunk of change, so a follow-up is already in development. But it’s never too late to do the right thing and snuff it out of its misery. According to the actor, there’s been talk about “going international with that character. Taking him into Europe, having him go on a motorcycle.” Perhaps we should use that Penance Stare on the sinful filmmakers—apparently the fate of the Western world depends on it.

I Am Legend (2007)
The lucrative, Will Smith-starring adaptation of the Richard Matheson book initially found its stride, then missed the plot mark completely — that the infected vampire/zombies are, in fact, evolved humans — in its frustrating, off-putting second half. Still, not ones to pussyfoot around, Warner Bros., eager to cultivate another franchise, has obtained the sequel rights. But forgive us if we doubt Hollywood’s commitment to the fine source material, given the tendency to transform anything cerebral into a mindless popcorn flick.

Watchmen (2009)
Zach Synder recently took the high road and declared that he’s doubtful he’d direct a second Watchmen without the Hollywood-loathing Alan Moore’s involvement — which pretty much settles that. Or not. Once we figure out who owns the big-screen rights to the property, they can theoretically bastardize the bejesus out of it. Surely some things are sacred.

Latino Review talked to director Marc Abraham, who's working on the new movie. Responding to a question about whether the movie was, as rumored, a remake, Abraham said,

This is more of a prequel than a sequel, there is your exclusive. Its going to be taking place in the same time frame... These are the events leading up to the 1982 film.

While it's going to be tough finding someone who can live up to the legacy of Kurt Russell's grizzly protagonist from the Carpenter movie - We'd go for Josh Holloway if we were in charge - the idea of seeing just how that dog ended up in the antarctic in the first place makes for a particularly tantalizing proposition.

Exclusive: News On The 1982 Remake Of The Thing [Latino Review]

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Moore just signed a deal to write and produce an original science fiction movie trilogy for United Artists, the resurrected production company that wants to create its own home-grown franchises. No word on what the trilogy will be called, or what it's about. New UA CEO Paula Wagner worked with him 10 years ago, when he co-wrote Mission Impossible II, which she produced.

As for Eick, he just signed a two-year development deal with NBC/Universal, on the heels of his failed Bionic Woman reboot. He's going to work on reinventing another, as yet unnamed, Universal franchise. But he's also working on two other projects, which scarcely sound science fictional at all: AKA, a "family adventure" that he describes as Little Miss Sunshine meets Thelma And Louise, and another series that's "sort of a modern-day Hart To Hart." [Hollywood Reporter and Variety, via Wes]

1. Double mouth, or double-wide mouth. (See: Alien)

As the Alien series taught us, there's nothing scarier than a really long, giant toothy mouth — especially if there's a second long, toothy mouth inside it. But the long, toothy mouth rule shows up in a lot of alien movies. In Slither, for example, a guy is taken over by an alien and one of the first things it does is elongate his mouth so that it practically stretches to his ears on one side. (Lopsided elongated mouths are a bonus — lopsided is always scary.)

Corollary: Drool

A scary alien must drool. Again, we know this from the Alien series where the drool flows like water. But since Ridley Scott first gave us full frontal drool in the first Alien flick, drool has been the sign of scary for all aliens. It says "out of control." Now, of course, we cannot imagine any monster without drool. See, for instance, Beowulf, where the monster's drool is one of the first 3D effects. And there's 3D drool coming up in Journey to the Center of the Earth, too. Dinosaur drool!

2. Collective Consciousness (See: Borg from Star Trek)

One of the scariest and most alien things we can imagine is a species that has collective consciousness, or group think. All their minds are connected together like a bunch of little networked Linux boxes, rapidly churning through all that knowledge to figure out exactly how to kill you. Plus, collectively conscious creatures can more easily coordinate an attack, because they are all in mental communication with each other all the time. And they might absorb you — think how scary it was the first time you saw the Borg chanting: "You will be assimilated."

3. Looks Exactly Like a Human (See: Invasion of the Body Snatchers)

Somehow it's scarier when an alien looks exactly like a human, or is camouflaged as one. Even though Men in Black wasn't exactly scary, there was something uncanny when the alien took off its human skin and revealed its true face. And of course one of the reasons Hollywood has remade Invasion of the Body Snatchers four times in the past 50 years (Invasion was the most recent one) is that it's so freakin creepy that the aliens look perfectly human — except for the fact that they have no emotion. We will not, however, speak of the human-camo farting aliens from Doctor Who.

4. Treats Humans the Way Humans Treat Animals (See: Predator)

The infamous Twilight Zone tale "To Serve Man" packs all its punch into one single idea: the aliens have a cookbook ALL ABOUT EATING HUMANS! They look at us the way we look at chickens! The same idea lurks at the heart of popular franchise Predator, where the whole conceit is that the alien has just come to Earth on a safari to hunt human game. Where's the respect? 5. Polymorphous (See: The Thing)

If there's anything scarier than an alien that looks just like a human, it's an alien that can look like whatever it wants. Although the shiny, pretty aliens in Abyss wind up being our friends, they are super scary at first because they can morph into any shape they want. And of course what makes the thing in John Carpenter's version of The Thing so scary is that it can turn any body part into chunks of alien — human heads sprout legs, blood jumps up and runs around the room, people grow dog heads. Whoa. Same goes for the aliens in my personal favorite alien movie, Society, where a bunch of rich Beverly Hills types turn out to be polymorphous creatures who love to have giant orgies where they merge into a big room full of goo and eat humans.

6. Wants to Mate With Humans to Produce Scary Hybrid Offspring (See: Species)

The fear of an alien being who wants to mate with you probably goes back thousands of years, but in terms of current pop culture we can probably trace it back to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu stories of the 1920s. Remember, one of the scariest things about Cthulhu's spawn is that they are mating with humans, producing strange, fishy-looking humans who eventually go back to the sea. Combining this rule with rule 3 (looks human) is the Species franchise, where a super-hot alien lady goes around humping unsuspecting men for their seed and then killing them in flagrante delicto.

7. Buglike (See: Independence Day, Starship Troopers)

Buglike aliens are a staple of the genre. Even the aliens of Alien are buglike, with their hard carapaces. Bugs are so scary-looking already, and we suspect they may also participate in rule 2, having collective consciousness. In fact, "buglike" has become shorthand (sometimes lazy shorthand) for "scary alien," which is why you see so many depictions of aliens with feelers or antennae on their heads. Bug aliens show up in some of the most generic scifi flicks like Independence Day and Starship Troopers. But there are buggy aliens in more highbrow places too, like the Ender's Game series, where Earth is battling (and ultimately genociding) a buglike race.

In The Burrowers, a group of men goes out to try and find a family of settlers that has gone missing. The posse suspects that natives have killed the settlers, but the actual culprit turns out to be something much more sinister. Something deadly is stalking the men from under the ground. The posse includes Clancy Brown (Pathfinder), William Mapother (Lost) and Doug Hutchinson (The Green Mile.)

The movie takes place two years after the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, Petty told Shocktillyoudrop. White people have pretty much wiped out the Indians, but are still terrified of them.

So you've got this giant influx of population and people are still terrified of the 2% of people who are out there, basically dirt poor and living in camps. There's a fair amount of human violence in the movie. And there are a lot of classic monster movie elements in there.

Concept art from DreadCentral. [FirstShowing]

• New production photos of Reposession Mambo tell us absolutely nothing about the more serious of the two organ-repo movies coming next year. You can see allegedly "futuristic" cars and some buildings. Yawn. [ShockTillYouDrop.com]
• The new Justice League movie is being "cast as cheaply as possible," says New York Magazine. It's semi-official that total unknown Armie Hammer will play Batman in the League. That's in addition to the previously leaked cast: Scott Porter as Superman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Common as Green Lantern and Adam Brody as Flash. "In other words, a D-list cast is set to portray the world's oldest, most iconic superhero team," Matthew Perpetua kvetches. [NYMag]
• Newly released clips from I Am Legend reveal no spoilers, but prove the film will live or die depending on how much you enjoy Will Smith talking to himself. [IESB]

• Battlestar Galactica co-creator Ronald D. Moore has two new TV series in development: one that he's developing for NBC/Universal, and one that he's supervising for Fox Broadcasting. He's also writing a sequel to iRobot, and a new version of The Thing for Universal. The new Thing will be linked to the 1982 version somehow. [Eclipse Magazine]
• Fans who want to see more of George Takei's Sulu as a starship captain in his own right had better not blink during the new Star Trek movie. The older Captain Sulu will appear in a brief scene with Leonard Nimoy's Spock. [TrekWeb]
• Brian Aldiss spent ten years trying to convince Stanley Kubrick not to turn AI into a dumb PInnochio story. "But you might as well try to persuade this table to be a chair as persuade Stanley of anything," he complains. In the end, Kubrick died and Spielberg turned AI into non-sensical "crap," says Aldiss. [London Times]

Famous Names: John Carpenter (Director) Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David (Cast).

Crunchy Goodness: 5

Elevator Pitch: "It's ... And Then There Were None with a space alien!"

Sight You'll Never Unsee: The shape-shifting Thing's unique way of escaping a fire — as a severed head sprouts legs and eyes to scuttle away. ...

Bang for Your Buck: Rob Bottin and Stan Winston's brilliant goopy creature work — perhaps the greatest achievement in pre-digital special effects.

Ebert's Review