The first movie that traumatised Edgar Wright: “We freaked out and changed channels”
One of the many great things about Edgar Wright is that he can tackle just about any genre of movie and do a great fucking job.
Want a balls-to-the-wall action romp? Look no further than Baby Driver. Want a laugh-out-loud comedy? Try Hot Fuzz, one of the funniest goddamn films ever made. Science fiction, superhero adventures, even music documentaries, the British genius has got them all in his back pocket.
A genre that Wright has flirted with but never fully committed to is horror. Yes, he directed Shaun of the Dead, which has got more blood and guts than your average abattoir, but it’s too funny to be considered a ‘horror’ in the proper sense. It still bangs, though. Then there’s Last Night in Soho, the least ‘Wrighty’ of his films. It explores elements of psychological horror and does get bloody in places, but its pacing and setting are more akin to a mystery thriller than a true spookfest.
Perhaps Wright has never gone all-in on horror because he’s still traumatised from his childhood. As he explained to Slash, one night when his parents were enjoying a rare night out, he switched on the television to watch an uncut version of John Carpenter’s The Thing. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it scared him to death.
“My brother and I watched it in the kitchen with the lights on,” he said. “I cannot lie, at the sight of the first sticky set piece with the dog’s head peeling and bloody tentacles spreading, we freaked out and changed channels to the snooker on BBC 2. The change from this freakout set piece to the quietest sport on television was memorable, and this pattern repeated itself whenever we were brave enough to return to the Carpenter film. Man amputated by teeth in chest? Switch back to the snooker. Palmer’s face melting after the blood test reveals he’s The Thing? Switch back to the snooker.”
Released in 1982, The Thing is technically a remake of the 1950s film The Thing from Another World, but with Carpenter’s signature gooey flair. The story of a group of Antarctic researchers who come into contact with a shapeshifting alien, the film is full of gruesome set pieces, much like the ones a young Wright was terrified by. Perhaps the scariest thing about it is the ending, as audiences are left unsure of the true fate of the terrifying mimic.
The home release market was where The Thing truly found a home. It wasn’t initially well-received in theatres. Critics didn’t care much for it, and audiences at the time liked their aliens to be cute and non-threatening. For context, this was the same year that Steven Spielberg’s ET the Extra-Terrestrial was released. Even when they were talking shit about it, however, reviewers couldn’t help but be won over by the same set pieces that had Wright reaching for the remote. Almost a tenth of the budget was assigned to Rob Bottin’s creature effects, a decision that truly paid off in the long run.
It might have left him seeking the comfort of dull men in waistcoats, but it’s clear that The Thing had a major impact on Wright. If The Running Man goes well, maybe he could try remaking it as his next project. He can’t do a worse job than they did in 2011…
