The Thing (1982) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: R BBFC: 18 Maturity Rating 18+

BBFC Reason: Contains strong violence and gory horror

BBFC Ratings info: THE THING is a 1982 science fiction horror film in which an alien force that threatens a group scientists. Violence: There are scenes featuring deformed and mutating dogs and human characters. The shape-shifting nature of the alien in the film is depicted through shots of bleeding heads, an alien head exploding out of a stomach, a head turning into a spider and similar horror images. The film also contains infrequent strong language ('f**k').

Sex & Nudity

none

There are pictures of women in their underwear in the wall of the rec room and a woman in a bikini in the tool shed. There is no sex or nudity in this film. Reference is made to underwear which have been soiled with blood. Right after R.J. pulls the alarm a man in his underpants runs down the hallway. (no nudity)

Violence & Gore

severe

A corpse is seen with its wrists and throat slashed open in an act of suicide. We see the body from behind and the blood dripping from it being frozen by the cold temperature. Fairly gruesome. A character is grabbed by the face by the monster in human form, which proceeds to force its fingers under their skin. The monster is seen dragging the body away with the face melted into its hand, like an extra limb. No blood. A man takes a hot wire and puts it into a container of his blood, the blood then splashes out of the container and then is on the floor swimming away by itself. When the thing transforms, it is always very gory and creepy. A man is shot in the knee. A man is shot in the eye by a magnum. We later see the bloody wound on his face. An autopsy is performed on a dead alien/human. The person performing the autopsy cuts open the corpse and takes out its kidney, gallbladder, and a lung. Might make some people cringe. A dog transforms into an alien. Its jaw falls out and its skin comes off in the process. Very gory. An alien mutilates other dogs. 1 is ripped in half, 1 has its skin melted off, and 1 transforms into another alien. Graphic. A dog is shot. Blood is seen. A man gets gasoline poured on him and gets set on fire. A brief fistfight ensues. A man gets his arms bitten off by an alien. The head then stretches itself off the body. We see muscle and blood being ripped apart. This is possibly the most graphic scene in the film. Several men have their thumbs cut and the blood put into dishes for testing. The cutting shown and there is very a large amount of blood that oozes out. This happens twice. Some people may be grossed out by this. A man transforms into an alien; his head inflates and stretches, and eventually splits in half. Very gory. An alien thrashes a man around by the neck. Blood drenches all over the place. The man is then thrown into a shelf, were we see he is completely mutilated. A man is shot square in the forehead. Seen from a distance. An alien is blown up on screen with a grenade. No blood. Bloody, shredded clothes are seen. A man is blown up with TNT. No blood.

Profanity

moderate

G_d d__n used Sparse uses of the f-word (at most four), a handful of s-words, d--n, hell. 6 uses of "sh*t", including one use of "bullsh*t" and "sh*thead." 3 uses of "b*tch", including one "S.O.B." More than 10 uses of "hell", "damn", and "ass" each.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

mild

Several characters drink beer and whiskey, but it is not graphic or explicit. One character smokes marijuana. A brief heroin joke. Several people have morphine injected into them.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

severe

During a blackout, theres a jump scare where an alien runs past a man making mysterious sounds Many will agree that this is one of the most scary movies ever. It is extremely gory and disturbing, and will scare some people a lot. The creature of the title has no defined form. What it looks like, or what it even IS, can't actually be described. Paranoia is the main theme, as no one knows who is human or alien. Several jump-scares that come out of nowhere. Dogs are slaughtered and shot onscreen. Many animal lovers may be offended and sad. The aliens are disturbing to look at. They are basically a mixed up pile of body parts with a head and tentacles. They also have rows of sharp teeth. Each alien is differently designed. In one scene an imitation has gasoline poured on it and it is lit on fire, the imitation lets out a roar that is very disturbing and will unsettle many audiences. There is a scene were a man suddenly transforms into an alien and rips another mans arms off. This is an extremely successful jump-scare, as nothing like this happened for 45 minutes. Not recommended for the faint-hearted at all. The movie follows the members of a research station in Antarctica confronting a shape-shifting alien. The Thing is often described as one of the scariest movies in the history of cinema and is especially known for its horrific and disturbing visual effects; there are many gruesome deaths, creepy creatures and an intense atmosphere of dread. This is a science-fiction/horror film likely to scare impressionable viewers of all ages.