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Other ways to kill The Thing besides fire?

posted 4 years ago by sONOMArEturns (1253)
19 replies | jump to latest

The movie only explores fire/blowing it up as a possibility, probably because that's all the characters had to work with. However, I'm sure there are other ways The Thing could be stopped, especially since even fire didn't seem to work every single time.

What about acid? Could you drown it in something? I wonder what electrocuting The Thing would do; would every cell just lose its form and turn into a giant pile of goop on the floor? That would be interesting.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

You would have to destroy every cell so I suppose acid would work, but that is insanely impractical. Drown it? No. Electrocution? No.

[–] BurningSun (717) 4 years ago

They actually electrocute the thing in the original “Who Goes There?” short story and in The Thing From Another World, and it seems to stop them in both versions. I’m sure this version of the thing would have a lot of trouble getting around with a few hundred thousand volts of electricity running through every one of its cells.

Acid could be a big possibility. Being able to drown or suffocate it would depend on whether or not the thing even needs to breathe to begin with.

[–] BuckSwope (3511) 4 years ago

Interesting.

[–] ebhaynz (3525) 4 years ago

Nuke it, it's the only way to be sure.

[–] TimMC (9143) 4 years ago

Stun him with your good taste.

[–] ccr1633 (1411) 4 years ago

The flamethrowers were ideal for responding rapidly in real time to a Thing's manifestation. The electrical trap they laid out in the 1951 version wouldn't have worked, except perhaps for Blair, because nobody knew up until the time they blew up the camp who was assimilated. You could argue that the time for an elaborate trap was right after MacReady's blood test, but their initial strategy to test Blair (who they didn't know had escaped MacReady's shack) was the right one. Immediately thereafter the Blair-thing took the generator and they had to resort to destroying it immediately by any means available, and at the cost of any chance for survival afterwards even if they did succeed.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

he would have froze to death?

[–] thingmakersback (1178) 4 years ago

Nope... We have to assume that, since the THING survived in the ice from the initial spaceship crash, it would survive re-freezing after the base burned down. So if either of the "survivors" had any surprises left, or if there were any unseen THINGs around... Well, the people who eventually came to investigate the base would be likely to get the benefit.

All in all, I'd say the chances are good that any honest sequel would be pretty likely to lead to the conclusion Dr. Blair anticipated.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

he would have been immobilized at least.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7396) 4 years ago

I think it'd just survive drowning by just absorbing a fish and then imitating said fish. I suppose acid could hurt it just as much as fire. But I am not sure any of the scientists really had access to acid on the base.

[–] pazuzu9 (296) 4 years ago

They could have lured it into a bathtub, then dropped a hair dryer in it.