The Thing (also known as John Carpenter's The Thing) is a 1982 American science fiction horror movie directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Richard Dysart, Richard Masur and Donald Moffat. The film's title refers to the main antagonist: a parasitic extraterrestrial lifeform that violently assimilates other organisms and in turn changes into their shape. The Thing enters an Antarctic research station, taking the appearance of the researchers that it absorbs, and paranoia develops within the group. It was released on June 25, 1982.