John Carpenter surprises The Thing fans by Zoom-crashing screening in the South Pole

Zoom meetings can get crashed by unknown forces and wayward children, but rarely is one hijacked by one of all-time great genre directors. But that’s just what happened when none other than John Carpenter made a cameo for some fans in just about the most fitting way possible. And no, it wasn’t on Halloween… The John Carpenter Zoom Hijack of 2024 was posted on the Facebook group page of The Nerds District. As one follower told, “I feel like y’all will appreciate this. I’m currently a contractor at the South Pole on a one year deployment, and this last Friday (Thursday in the states), our last plane of the season departed; meaning we are cut off from the rest of the world until November. As a tradition, the following day off (the station doesn’t work on Sundays, otherwise 6 day work weeks) we watch The Thing. Well, this year our Thing Marathon was started off with an Zoom call with none other than John Carpenter himself!”

First off, living in the South Pole – especially for such an extensive stay – sounds like the coldest version of hell imaginable. But it is pretty awesome that this team gets together to watch The Thing, set in Antarctica, which might help set the mood…if the mood they’re going for is infection, paranoia and betrayal of anybody you’re supposed to trust. On top of it all, to have John Carpenter pop in and – we have to assume – tell them to abandon their mission before they all end up on the wrong side of a flamethrower, is beyond cool. See? He’s not that much of a curmudgeon!

Outside of the original The Thing, John Carpenter has teased a potential sequel being in the works. There, too, was talk of Blumhouse producing a remake, which is far more unnecessary than an updated version of 1951’s The Thing from Another World, which Carpenter’s 1982 film is.

More than 40 years on, John Carpenter’s The Thing is considered one of the greatest sci-fi horror films ever, perhaps edging out Alien and 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

What is your favorite scene in John Carpenter’s The Thing?