John Carpenter Knows Who’s Not Human in The Thing, but He’s Not Telling

The ending of John Carpenter’s sci-fi creature feature The Thing is one of genre cinema’s greatest puzzles; with just two characters left alive, the viewer is never sure who’s human, and/or who’s secretly an alien. Now, a popular theory about the scene has been dismissed by the director.

The wild thing is, the theory was presented by The Thing cinematographer Dean Cundey, who you’d think would be in on it as he and Carpenter worked closely together to capture that iconic ambiguous ending. During the release of a recent Blu-ray for the film, Cundey shared on his commentary track what was seen as his clue: “So we were looking for some kind of a subtle way, to say which one of these [men] might be human. You’ll notice there’s always an eye light, we call it, a little gleam in the eye of the actor. It gives life.” That “eye light” is supposedly a tell, as survivors MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) wait it out to see what’s what before the credits roll.

But while promoting his new Peacock series John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams, the director spoke with candor about the theory with ComicBook.com. “He has no clue. He has no clue,” Carpenter said of Cundey; he also confirmed that at least one person truly knows the truth. “Yes, I know. I know who’s the Thing and who’s not in the very end.”

Carpenter continued to rib his frequent collaborator, saying, “He has no idea. He puts the lights up. He puts the lights up, and we were in the snow. He has no clue.” When asked by the outlet if he would want Cundey to know what he really thinks, slyly added, “You tell him that. Tell him he’s full of shit.”

John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams hits Peacock on Friday, October 13.

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