Deliberate mistake: When the Norwegian starts shooting at the dog, Childs jumps into the snow and you can see the shape before he jumps in where he's had to do this before on different takes. (00:08:40)
The Thing (1982)
1 deliberate mistake
Directed by: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Keith David, Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, T.K. Carter
Character mistake: The last time Doc tries the defibrillator on Norris, he uses it on the abdomen instead of on the chest. He also positions the pads incorrectly. They should be placed diagonal, with the heart in the middle, not horizontal.
Clark: I dunno what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is.
Trivia: The ruins of the American and Norwegian camps are actually the same set. Carpenter saved $750,000 by only filming the one set with different lighting rather than building a second one.
Question: Why did Kurt Russell sound the alarm when the thing was attacking the dogs? He was nowhere near the area and could not see what was going on. Also before he pulled the alarm, the sound he would hear was too faint to think something was wrong.
Chosen answer: He sensed something was wrong and wanted as much help from the others as possible.
Answer: Having investigated the Norwegian camp, he could have conceived that the use of fire would be helpful. As such, he would need fire extinguishers after combating whatever the thing might be with the flamethrowers. It could have been foresight on his part that by ringing the fire alarms, somebody was more likely to bring fire extinguishers with them, thus allowing better control of the fire.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Remember that he'd just spent the whole day investigating how something mysterious and horrible destroyed the Norwegian camp, so he's already in a spooked state of mind. Hearing the dogs screaming at night is already unusual on its own, and also reminds him how this whole episode all started with a crazed Norwegian trying to kill a dog. Deep down he knows whatever happened to the Norwegians is now starting at their own camp.
TonyPH
I 100% agree.