Yeah, I remember the people sinking into the sand and then getting the thing on their necks. But the movie that really got to me was “The Thing”. My parents took me to see it when I was 5 and I remember hiding under the theater seat. Even years later, The Thing gave me chills.
I was attending Fleet Sonar School at the time that movie came out. Thought it was great, except that the creature reminded me too much of Frankenstein. The best scene, IMO, is when they first open the door and this barbed arm comes out trying to grab the guy. It made me jump.
The PX had two shows a day so I went back in for the second show, and when that arm came out, I turned around and looked at the audience. Almost as one person, the whole crowd recoiled back like a tidal wave in reverse.
A shipmate of mine was one of those "I ain't skeered o nuthin" types and when I told him about jumping at that scene, he just laughed.
So . . . I talked him into going and made sure we sat down in the front row with the kids. When that arm shot out, he shrunk down in his seat and threw his arms across his face. From then on, whenever he started his brave talk, I reminded him of that movie.