Matthijs van Heijningen

Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Eric Christian Olsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ulrich Thomsen

In his editorial on The Thing premake, Michael Felsher mused that something had to have gone wrong during post-production on the flick. The film just switches gears into a CGI-laden mess. Where were the practical effects? Well, sadly ... we're about to show them to you.

The premake of the John Carpenter classic The Thing is on its way to DVD and Blu-ray, and if you didn't see it in theatres, now's your chance to decide which camp you'll fall into - forgiving and happy, indifferent, or flaming pissed.

To call the premake of The Thing a mixed bag is a bit of an understatement. Even after all these weeks have passed, we still can't shake the feeling that there was behind-the-scenes turmoil we may never be privy to. The film for the most part was a decent combination of CGI and practical effects--that is, until the third act, when some sort of switch was flipped and we got an entirely different movie.

It's only been a few weeks since the release of director Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.'s version of The Thing, and to tell you the truth, I'd all but forgotten about it until this week's Motion Picture Purgatory arrived from Trembles. Check it out, and see if you agree with his take on the flick.

First off, consider me to be a full-fledged obsessive fan of John Carpenter's The Thing. It was one of the formative films of my youth and remains to this day one of my all time favorite movies...period. It's an expert examination of escalating paranoia and pressure-cooker suspense with a stellar cast, nimble and effective screenwriting, dread-soaked photography and score, and expert finely-tuned direction that never missteps once. All of this, and one of the most kick-ass "downer" endings that earns its hard-won finality from a film whose tone signals death and resigned self-sacrifice from the very get-go.

The prequel to John Carpenter's classic of the same name, The Thing, is finally opening in a theater near you, and as usual we want to help you decide if you should part with your hard earned dough by putting together this neat package of coverage.

With The Thing (review here) morphing its way into theatres tomorrow, we figured right about now would be a great time to give away some goodies to ya! Dig it!

In the upcoming Universal prequel The Thing (review here), Mary Elizabeth Winstead portrays paleontologist Kate Lloyd, who's recruited for a research expedition in the Arctic after a team of Norwegian scientists uncover an alien life form and its spaceship frozen deep within the icy terrain.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje may have made his name with his television roles as Mr. Eko from "Lost" or the downright chilling Simon Adebisi from HBO's "Oz" but it's beginning to look more and more likely that his stellar work on television has made for a smooth transition to the big screen with the multi-faceted actor's performances in flicks like Faster, G.I. Joe, Killer Elite and the upcoming Universal Studio's project The Thing (review here).

The waiting is over. Our verdict on the premake of The Thing is finally here, and we've got the skinny on what to expect, what to roll your eyes at, and if you should head to theatres this weekend or not!

Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Eric Christian Olsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ulrich Thomsen Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.

In the upcoming prequel The Thing the always hilarious Eric Christian Olsen (Not Another Teen Movie, The Hot Chick, Beerfest) shows off a more serious side with his portrayal of Adam Goldman, the research assistant who helps recruit paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) for an expedition to the Arctic after a Norwegian research team uncovers an alien entity discovered frozen deep below the icy surface.

After featuring video interviews from the cast of The Thing over the past couple of days, it's now time to hear from the director and producers who have the daunting task of living up to John Carpenter's masterpiece.

By coincidence The Thing just happens to star several talents with triple names including the two cast members for our video interview series today, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ) and Eric Christian Olsen (TV's "NCIS: Los Angeles"). They always come in threes, ya know! *cues spooky music*