Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. Today, we’re watching a video that re-imagines John Carpenter’s The Thing as a big band musical number.
It’s no secret that John Carpenter‘s The Thing didn’t do so hot when it first hit theaters. Its failure to launch was a combination of several factors, but chiefly: folks just weren’t in the mood. A despondent chiller punctuated with reputable excess didn’t sit right. Audiences wanted something more uplifting, and The Thing had the misfortune of debuting on the same month as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. So, Carpenter’s shape-shifting infection from another world did the box office equivalent of a pratfall.
Luckily, most of Carpenter’s career has big “your kids are gonna love it” energy. Cable re-runs may have eviscerated all of Dean Cundey‘s beautiful split diopters, but small screen showings effectively ensured The Thing‘s survival and inevitable cult following.
And adoration, not unlike the titular Thing, takes many shapes, from sold-out Mondo board games to adoring compilations of Kurt Russell cackling like a maniac throughout the film’s commentary track. But every good cult-movie lover knows one expression of love tops the rest: turning a film into a musical. And if you’re thinking the upbeat medium of song and dance is at odds with The Thing‘s vibe, think again. The audiences of 1982 were right about The Thing‘s hopeless, apocalyptic gait. But they lacked the imagination, let’s say, to see the (bloody, depraved) joy at the heart of it all.
So, without further ado: here’s The Thing re-imagined as a big-band musical number.
Watch “John Carpenter’s The Thing: The Musical:
Who made this?
According to Legolambs, they’re the world’s number one source for internet musicals of both classic and modern cinema. Their mission is simple: to turn every single movie into a toe-tapper. The channel is run by composers (and brothers) Jon and Al Kaplan, whom you can follow on Twitter here. You can find Legolambs on YouTube here.
More Videos Like This
- There are few joys in this world as pure or as sacred as “Conan the Barbarian: The Musical.”
- In fact, Legolambs have kind of cornered the market on making Arnold Schwarzenegger belt show tunes. Here’s their take on what Predator would be like as a musical.
- Another absolute classic from Legolambs: a ballad from Bryce Dallas Howard about how she is not, in fact, Jessica Chastain.
- Did you know The Thing was supposed to have a sequel at some point? It wasn’t a musical (tragically) but here’s a look from GodzillaMendoza at what we missed out on.
- As hinted at above, the only thing more delightful than hearing the Thing sing is hearing Kurt Russell giggle on the film’s commentary track. Here’s a sample.
Related Topics: The Queue, The Thing
