(content) On Watching "The Thing From Another World"

[heslopian]

Howling winds. Dark corridors. Snow beating like fists
on the windows and walls. A creature evolved
from vegetable life which feeds on blood,
and doesn't care whose. Why does this chilling story need
stupid macho army types, ignorant studs
who look like they belong in a cigarette ad from the first world war?

I want to watch the scientists. I crave to see them huddled round
a lab table, discussing this monster from the stars;
reaction shots of scared faces, terse arguments, fighting,
a battle between their natural instincts
and a yearning for knowledge, the secrets this strange Thing withholds.

So why Mr. Hawks do you punish me with an airhead captain,
his jaw line a central personality trait, and the male bonding
he inflicts; "gee wiz Jimmy, the Thing slaughtered
those bodies like hogs! Why don't we trade a cigarette
and talk about the girls in Acapulco?"
Not to mention his woman, and all the clichéd pouting
she does. "An alien's been found, history hinges
on the study of it, ethics and morals are becoming confused,
but first I think I'll tie you up and tease your libido, captain."

If I ever write a horror story the first people to die,
the ones hanging from the ceiling, necks cut
and fluids drained, will be these fucking idiots,
the captain and his girl Friday, preferably side by side,
with cigarettes still caught in their lips.

[youtube]AC4Vp5anCyA[/youtube]

[billy]

i remember the kurt russel remake,
will give some in depth feedback later

[billy]

Howling winds. Dark corridors. Snow beating like fists
on the windows and walls. A creature evolved
from vegetable life which feeds on blood,
and doesn't care whose. Why does this chilling story need
stupid macho army types, ignorant studs
who look like they belong in a cigarette ad from the first world war?

I want to watch the scientists. I crave to see them huddled round
a lab table, discussing this monster from the stars;
reaction shots of scared faces, terse arguments, fighting,
a battle between their natural instincts
and a yearning for knowledge, the secrets this strange Thing withholds.

So why Mr. Hawks do you punish me with an airhead captain,
his jaw line a central personality trait, and the male bonding
he inflicts; "gee wiz Jimmy, the Thing slaughtered
those bodies like hogs! Why don't we trade a cigarette
and talk about the girls in Acapulco?"
Not to mention his woman, and all the clichéd pouting
she does. "An alien's been found, history hinges
on the study of it, ethics and morals are becoming confused,
but first I think I'll tie you up and tease your libido, captain."

If I ever write a horror story the first people to die,
the ones hanging from the ceiling, necks cut
and fluids drained, will be these fucking idiots,
the captain and his girl Friday, preferably side by side,
with cigarettes still caught in their lips.

if the reader knows the film then the image given in the 1st verse will awaken their memory of it well. i still remember the spider head in the kurt russel remake.howling winds feels a little cliché but lets be honest, we're talking of an old film and howling suites it.

the 2nd verse shows how demanding we've become as viewers, back when it was made, it was all the rage to do what is portrayed of the early cinema in the 3rd verse. and juxtaposition of then and now and back to then work well in showing how discerning we've become.

then to the fourth which transitions from from good images of cardboard acting, trite dialogue and the chins of the period to the final rant as to what vengeance the writer would extract with a great image of an over the top parody with cigs stuck to their lips as they dangle sort of skewered on their own petards.

i can't see anything i'd change with this one
i found it a light hearted rant full of images showing how crass the old films were and why i love em (though that wasn't the intent i fear ) thanks for the read

[heslopian]

The intent was simply to convey my point of view; I fear I'm not equipped to appreciate male bonding and machismo
I haven't seen John Carpenter's The Thing and I don't intend to - I hear it's one of the goriest films ever made - but interestingly it was a much more faithful adaptation (minus said gore) of the original short story Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell.
Thanks for the kind words Bilbo

[billy]

yes, i figured as much

carpenter's the thing was pretty good, it wasn't that gory though, some of special effects were pretty good and it kept the suspense going.
you seem to be doing a lot of film related poetry lately, (not that i'm complaining)

[heslopian]

Yeah I've noticed that as well. A lot of my poems are just observations I make based on my everyday life, and I've been going through an obsession with classic horror movies lately.

[addy]

Howling winds. Dark corridors. Snow beating like fists
on the windows and walls. A creature evolved
from vegetable life which feeds on blood,
and doesn't care whose. Why does this chilling story need
stupid macho army types, ignorant studs
who look like they belong in a cigarette ad from the first world war? I like how you did this stanza... a great suspenseful set-up to the scene that draws you into the horror, only to be pulled out into the meta-bright lights of hollywood filmmaking. A fun deceit

I want to watch the scientists. I crave to see them huddled round
a lab table, discussing this monster from the stars;
reaction shots of scared faces, terse arguments, fighting,
a battle between their natural instincts
and a yearning for knowledge, the secrets this strange Thing withholds. Ah, yes. Indeed, sci-fi at it's heart is a rational-leaning and very philosophical form of fiction

So why Mr. Hawks do you punish me with an airhead captain,
his jaw line a central personality trait, LOL and the male bonding
he inflicts; "gee wiz Jimmy, the Thing slaughtered
those bodies like hogs! Why don't we trade a cigarette
and talk about the girls in Acapulco?"
Not to mention his woman, and all the clichéd pouting
she does. "An alien's been found, history hinges
on the study of it, ethics and morals are becoming confused,
but first I think I'll tie you up and tease your libido, captain." Oh god, THIS, all of this. I am reminded of a scene in "Dr. Strangelove", which was kind of a parody itself, where a bunch of scientist and officials in the war room were discussing that the humans who should be saved in order to repopulate the earth had to be the smartest males, and the most beautiful women to serve as glorified breeders.. what a low class discussion

If I ever write a horror story the first people to die,
the ones hanging from the ceiling, necks cut
and fluids drained, will be these fucking idiots,
the captain and his girl Friday, preferably side by side,
with cigarettes still caught in their lips. I love the bite of this ending

[heslopian]

Thanks for the kind words Addy To be fair Dr. Strangelove was a comedy, whereas The Thing From Another World was supposed to be a serious science fiction thriller. I'm glad you get as angry as I do about this kind of uber-macho stupidity though Like you said, sci-fi is at heart a very philosophical genre, thus it doesn't need military jarheads and girl Fridays sitting around spouting silly dialogue. The love story between the captain and the woman (as "woman" is about as much character development the fairer sex are afforded in these stories) was grossly inappropriate when threaded into a narrative where people at a remote outpost are being ripped apart and fed on by an alien. That's like Two Weeks Notice ending with Sandra Bullock hanging Hugh Grant from the ceiling by his ankles and slitting his throat. Although...

[heslopian]

Looking back on this poem from last year it's funny to see that I said I'd never watch Carpenter's The Thing. Now I have and it's one of my favourite movies

[billy]

will give some feedback later jack

[heslopian]

Cheers Bilbo

[billy]

bumped up

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bumped

[billy]

i said i'd give some feedback later on when in fact i'd already given it :blush; it got a thumbs up from me jack

[heslopian]

Yeah, all I did was add a video, because I wanted to try out American accents