John Carpenter destroys his op’ director’s theory on the ending of The Thing: “He’s talking shit”

More than forty years after the film’s release, the director definitively closes the debate (spoiler alert).

During an interview for the media ComicBook.comthe cult director John Carpenter (Halloween, Invasion Los Angeles, New York 1997) returns to the epilogue of The Thing which ends with an unsolved mystery. The film follows a group of scientists on a polar station in Antarctica battling an alien entity capable of possessing them one after the other. Trapped in the station, the team members fall into paranoia.

The end of the feature film sows doubt in the mind of the viewer since we do not know who RJ MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) is possessed by the thing. The cinematographer of The Thing, Dean Cundey had given a clue to allow fans to unravel the mystery. He explains that throughout the plot, a small glimmer shines in the eyes of the alien’s host, and that at the denouement, this glint can be seen in Childs’ eyes, making him the infected character.

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Fans thought they had a satisfactory answer, shamelessly brushed aside by Carpenter in person : “He says shit ! He has no proof. (…) I know. Yes, I know who the Thing is and who isn’t at the very end.” The director has also chosen to keep the secret: “No, I can’t tell you. Sorry.”

Following this somewhat surprising revelation, he elaborates on Dean Cundey’s false theory: “(Dean Cundey) doesn’t know. He has no idea. He turns on the light. He turns on the light and we were in the snow”, he explains to refute the cinematographer’s hypothesis.

John Carpenter prepares his big comeback with John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams, an anthology series collecting true crime stories. The series has been broadcast since October 13 on Peacock. Although there is no confirmation, the director also announced earlier this year “that there will perhaps be a The Thing 2”.

John Carpenter announces he’s working on The Thing 2