The coolness that might have been with THE THING prequel is already well documented, at least as far as the practical creatures/make-up is concerned. But why not toss another reminder your way? Here's footage of the creature team working on the "Juliette thing"; prefacing the footage is a statement from the crew:
Transforming the female character Juliette was an exciting and unique challenge for THE THING prequel. The plan was to "thing out" Juliette from a human to a threatening, terrifying creature. Our approach was to design and build the final creature as an animatronic prosthetic that a performer would wear on set. See Juliette's evolution from illustration to maquette to final sculpture.