Twelve men are isolated in a research station surrounded by endless ice and snow. Months on end pass by with no one but each other and the dogs. When an alternate Norwegian research team comes running to them in a fatal panic, will the pandora’s box they open be too much for the team in the end?

John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (1982) was up against impossible odds from the moment it was released to the public. In the midst of the Cold War, horror movies about paranoia, distrust and uncertainty were not what the American family were looking for. When it released that summer, even more was stacked against it.

It released alongside other iconic titles from well-known artists: ET, Poltergeist, Bladerunner, Tron and Annie – the latter of which was no doubt a more feel-good choice for young kids and their parents.

What it was: a movie with disgusting practical effects and a terrifying cosmic threat where the main characters can’t possibly survive at the end. No one was going to take their niece or nephew to watch the beginning of what could be the end of a world – at the very least the ends of the young men on that doomed research station.

Despite this and the complete box office failure that was a 15 million budget and only a 20 million return, the recent years have been good to “The Thing.” Theater re-re-leases, home viewings and a new rise of devoted fans has brought the alienated film back from its frozen grave.

Will you be one of them?