MovieChat Forums > The Thing (1982) Discussion > A thought about the "shadow man"

A thought about the "shadow man"

posted 8 years ago by funnygy
7 replies | jump to latest

*Possible Spoilers Ahead* (though why you'd be reading the message board if you haven't yet seen the movie is beyond me)

I watched this film last night for the first time in years and I just figured that the man seen only in silhouette early on (who invites the Dog-Thing into the room) was Clark. After all, he was the one who was so fond of dogs, and I thought the silhouette looked like him. It wasn't until reading about the film online that I realized that it's supposed to be ambiguous as to who it was.

Just throwing that out there.

[–] lisasboyfriend 8 years ago

Definitely not Clark since he passed the blood test posthumously later on in the movie. Either had to be Palmer or Norris.

Go, Miami Redhawks!!!

[–] Alex_RM7 8 years ago

You can't judge basing on the shape of the shadow because as stated by the director the man in the scene was not one of the actors at all

[–] Herreken 8 years ago

But we still have to go with the story. The Shadow Man was one of the characters in this story even if he wasn't one of the actors.

DISPLAY thy breasts, my Julia!

[–] AtheismBecauseReason 8 years ago

I agree,

Although I believe it has been confirmed that the director stated it was indeed Palmer, who was the thing all the way until the blood test.

So it's important to keep an eye on Palmer the rest of the film as only he and the dog are things at that point.

It's also interesting to note that the dog thing can risk more in the kennel with the other dogs, as it already knows it isn't the only thing at that point.

[–] dueville (41) 2 years ago

Disagree- look at that silhouette- it's totally Norris

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 2 years ago

On repeat viewings, I always thought it looked like Norris. Certainly it's not Palmer, and no one else has hair like Norris's.

You can't judge basing on the shape of the shadow because as stated by the director the man in the scene was not one of the actors at all

Just listened to the commentary track, and there's nothing about it being a random non-cast-member, so I'm not sure where this tidbit comes from (though I believe it - the silhouette has Norris's hair but it doesn't quite match Charles Hallahan's build).

Regardless, it had to be Norris or Palmer, and it's clearly not Palmer.

[–] bjensen4 (1281) 2 years ago

Can't be...if it was Chuck Norris then the movie would be 2 minutes long he'd have roundhouse kicked the dog in the camp so hard it would have gone into orbit.