ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

Of the two alien-related films that invaded theaters in the summer of 1982, The Thing definitely walloped E.T. as the grosser movie-going option. Scarier than both the 1951 original and the 2011 CGI-fest, John Carpenter’s take on an arctic expedition that unearths a much less friendly extraterrestrial is the more memorable version of the story, and based most closely on John W. Campbell Jr.’s original novella. Roger Ebert called it “a great barf-bag movie,” but gratuitous gore aside, the paranoia that ensues when the Thing assumes human form is where the real terror lies, making this cult classic a psychological thriller at its core. See it tonight as part of the Red Hook Flicks series.

Tue., Aug. 13, 8:30 p.m., 2013