Saw The Thing when it originally came out in the theaters in 1982 on my 13th birthday. Back then I was (and still am) a fanatic about movies. I was going to the movies once a week with my then best friend (a fellow fanatic about the movies) for a lot of years from the 1970s-1980s
But The Thing was one movie I saw without my friend. A few days before my 13th birthday, my uncle called up and asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him I wanted to see 2 movies. The Thing and Poltergeist.
So, on the day of my 13th birthday, first he took me to see The Thing. About half way through the movie he couldn’t stand the gory special effects anymore and walked out of the movie, waiting for me in the lobby when the movie ended.
He then took me to see Poltergeist, but assuming he didn’t want to see gory special effects that movie might have, he bought only a ticket for me and went back to his apartment (which was nearby the theater), coming back to pick me up after the movie ended.
Yes, I very much enjoyed both movies.
82 was a great year in movies