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     As with most of the better science fiction films of the 1950s, THE THING (a.k.a. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD) succeeds because of a literate screenplay, well-defined characters, and suspense based on people in peril, rather than on the absurdity of the peril itself.  In this sense, the "Thing," a humanoid alien vegetable that feeds on blood, is something of a MacGuffin, a catalyst upon which the human drama is built.  The credited director for THE THING is Christian Nyby (who worked almost exclusively in television for the next 25 years), but it looks and feels like a film by its producer, Howard Hawks. ½ - JB

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