While it doesn’t hold a flamethrower to the 1982 cult classic, The Thing prequel is itself a genuinely frightening and horrific monster movie.

For those who don’t know (and shame on you if you don’t), The Thing is a prequel to the John Carpenter classic of the same name, which itself was a remake of the 1951 film The Thing From Another World based on the short story by John W. Campbell Jr.

Carpenter’s 1982 version of The Thing is seen by many as a horror masterpiece thanks to its tight direction, well played performances and the excellent special effects work by Rob Bottin. In short, it sits on top of a high pedestal that Dutch director Matthijs van Heijningen needed a rocket pack to reach. That he makes it three quarters of the way is enough to make his Thing a success.

The film begins in Antarctica, where a group of Norwegian researchers discover a long buried UFO and its frozen extra-terrestrial inhabitant. A team led by scientist Dr. Sander Halversen (played to asshole perfection by Ulrich Thomsen) and featuring American palaeontologist Dr. Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and helicopter pilot Braxton Carter (Joel Edgerton), attempt to study the long thought dead creature only for it to awaken from its centuries long slumber and kill-consume-replicate its new human playthings.

What follows is a scary and horrific sci-fi movie, where the line between murder and survival is blurred when anyone could be a shape shifting creature waiting to pounce.

Van Heijningen carefully balances suspense with bloodshed while also evoking scenarios which fans of the original will recognise and newcomers will also get a kick out of. However, what this Thing is lacking are memorable personalities to latch onto, with many of the Norwegian characters amalgamating into a fog of big beard and warm knitted sweater Nordic stereotypes.

The one true personality is found in Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s scientist, who brings a Sigourney Weaver vibe in her portrayal of a beautiful and intelligent woman battling creatures from outer space. Edgerton however is wasted as the hard man helicopter pilot.

What The Thing lacks in personable figures it makes up in ferocious violence and tension thick tone worthy of its hard certification (MA in Australia, R in the U.S.). The imagery here is nightmare inducing, with horrific mutations and gross out sequences created via practical special effects and CGI courtesy of creature effects specialists Tom Woofdruff Jr. and Alec Gillis, and visual effects producer Petra Holtorf-Stratton.

Of course the effects don’t have the same “charm” as Rob Bottin’s ground breaking work. Nor does Van Heijningen match the filmmaking of John Carpenter, or Winstead/Edgerton make for a substitute to original hero Kurt Russell.

Yet as a prelude to an iconic horror classic, The Thing is much better than it should be and is sure to be loved by Thing fans and novices alike.