The Thaw

THE THAW is an unashamed rip-off of THE THING, with the action shifted to Alaska rather than the Arctic and a prehistoric parasite rather than a shapeshifting alien as the menace. Other than that, it's business as usual, with a small cast whittled down by an unknown enemy and paranoia erupting all over the shop.

Given that this is a low-budget B-movie starring a mostly unknown cast, I thought it was surprisingly enjoyable. The director and writer focus on the sense of impending menace and the creepy atmosphere for the most part, and it works well; some parts are genuinely unnerving. There are the inevitable gross-out and medical scenes, but these are handled well; the gore effects are limited but more effective as a result. Even the expected CGI isn't too shabby.

The idea of a parasitical organism has been explored quite a lot in recent years - such as in the memorably creepy found-footage horror, THE BAY - and it's always one I find pretty disturbing, and that's no exception here. Add in a value-for-money Val Kilmer and you have a decent B-movie for a change.