John Carpenter Calls 2011 The Thing Prequel a ‘Piece of Crap,’ but Some Fans Are Rushing to Its Defence

Horror movie legend John Carpenter has slammed the 2011 The Thing prequel movie , calling it a “piece of crap.” But not all his fans are onboard with his take. 2011’s The Thing serves as a direct prequel to Carpenter’s much-loved 1982 horror masterpiece, The Thing.

It revolves around a team of Norwegian scientists who discover a parasitic alien buried deep in the ice at a Norwegian Antarctic research station. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and written by Eric Heisserer, The Thing flopped at the box office, grossing just $31.5 million worldwide.

It has a 34% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer , and a 43% rating from fans. IGN's own The Thing review returned a 5/10. We said: "The special effects quickly devolve into over-the-top goriness, with some of the Thing's forms coming across as more ludicrous than terrifying.

There are some risible CG moments involving the morphing of actors' faces with the creature's, and the whole last act falls apart into a 'chase the CG bogey monster before it gets you' sequence devoid of any true suspense or originality." Count the 78-year-old Carpenter as one of The Thing's fiercest critics.

During a recent panel at FanExpo in Chicago , Carpenter pulled no punches when discussing the movie. “They made a sequel, I guess, or something,” he began. “Norwegian camp — did you see that piece of crap? They did digital effects and they had… Instead of a blood test it was a dental test.

In Gaming, Wesley Yin-Poole puts this story at the center of the day: Horror movie legend John Carpenter has slammed the 2011 The Thing prequel movie , calling it a “piece of crap.” But not all his fans are onboard with his take. 2011’s The Thing serves as a direct prequel to Carpenter’s much-loved 1982 horror masterpiece, The Thing. FlexChar is surfacing it because it is driving searches and conversation right now.