13: The Thing (1982)

13: The Thing (1982) - Destruction of the Antarctic base.
In Canada, production designer John L. Lloyd spent over 6 months overseeing construction of the Antarctic research base for John Carpenter's superb re-take on the John W. Campbell short story; only to watch Carpenter & Co. blow the lot up. The ruined set was then used for exteriors of the destroyed Norwegian base seen in the early part of the movie.

Impact: As with Dawn Of The Dead (#15), it's the drawing back and the ghostly isolation of this war in the middle of nowhere that lends the explosive climax real impact. The remaining survivors of the research base were already set on self-destruction at this point, as it was the only way to surely destroy the alien presence threatening mankind, but these moments drive home the loss of shelter amidst the harsh and murderous Antarctic conditions. If Carpenter had zoomed in to capture the explosions in current Hollywood 'pyro-porno' style, the emotional impact would have been severely diminished.

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