There have been countless battles between hive-mind monsters and courageous heroes in past science-fiction entertainment. Two of the most popular versions of this story take place in Stranger Things season 3 and John Carpenter’s 1982 cult classic, The Thing. In both of these stories, we see a rag-tag group of protagonists come together to fight off a growing army of “flayed” victims, until they finally come face to face with the true monster.
What’s interesting is that in these two stories, the fool-proof plans to fight off the respective monsters are not dissimilar. Let’s take a look at how the Stranger Things crew’s plan mirrors the researcher’s plan from The Thing:
Step 1: Get Yourself A Powerful Weapon
While the monsters they are going up against seem to be all-powerful, both monsters share a weakness: Heat. This is why the researchers from The Thing make sure that they keep a flamethrower readily available for a large portion of the runtime of the film. Both of the monsters were faces with some kind of explosive as well, In Stranger Things we saw a few of the kids throw fireworks at The Mind Flayer, and The Thing ends with a climactic explosion lighting up the night sky.
R.J. MacReady using the trusty flamethrower.
Additionally, the Stranger Things crew had access to Eleven’s psychic powers- which was also helpful in fighting off The Mind Flayer.
Elven using her powers.
Step 2: Trap The Enemy
Both of the crews also “Trap” whoever poses a threat in order to keep people safe, and in hopes of getting some answers. In Stranger Things season 3, the kids are able to finagle Billy into a sauna, where they lock him up and heat him up (remember what weakness the monsters share).
Billy in the sauna.
In The Thing, the crew are able to shut Blair into the toolshed after he suffers from a paranoid attack. Blair is assimilated by The Thing and then starts to build a spacecraft under the toolshed that the crew locked him into. While leaving Blair locked up and unattended for a long time ended up being a mistake on the crew’s part, the intention was still more-or-less the same as locking Billy in the sauna.
Blair in the toolshed.
Step 3: Blow It Up
When all else fails, blow the monster sky-high. That’s more or less how both of these plans end up playing out. One last shot, one last effort to save the day.
In the Stranger Things finale, Hopper destroys the reactor that was opening the gate between the human world and the upside-down. Once Joyce and Hopper were able to destroy the reactor, (seemingly) sacrificing Hopper in the process, The Mind Flayer monster was cut off from the upside-down and was killed.
Reactor explosion in Stranger Things 3
During the climax of The Thing, MacReady leads what’s left of the research crew in a last-stitch effort to blow up the entire research facility. This way, The Thing will not be able to finish its makeshift space-craft and leave the Antarctic.
Climatic explosion from The Thing.
There you have it, a fool proof way to kill a mind-flaying monster. By following these 3 simple steps you should be able to stop any alien or inter-dimensional being from taking over the world.
The season finale of Stranger Things season 2 ends with a tease of a giant creature watching over the town of Hawkins, Indiana. It is observing, plotting, scheming. Then, in season three, this monster is revealed to be The Mind Flayer, an incredibly powerful being with the power to infect and control the inhabitants of Hawkins.
A Drawing of The Mind Flayer featured in Stranger Things season 2.
The Thing (1982) begins with the realization that the nearby Norwegian Antarctic outpost has been destroyed by a mysterious force. This realization comes after the American protagonists have already let in a dog that had travelled from the Norwegian outpost to the American one. Then, the dog is revealed to be The Thing in disguise- because The Thing has the ability to transform itself into whatever creatures it absorbs.
A depiction of The Thing going up against the movies main protagonist, R.J. MacReady
There have been plenty of instances of Hive Mind horror throughout entertainment history, but it seems apparent that The Mind Flayer was heavily inspired by The Thing. Come along with me as we break down some of the similarities and differences between The Mind Flayer and The Thing.
Similarities:
Aesthetics – There’s no arguing that The Mind Flayer and The Thing look very similar, especially up close. While The Mind Flayer does have a consistent shape that it keeps (see photo above), there are plenty of shots throughout the season—and especially the climatic battle at the mall, that show just how slimy and gross The Mind Flayer is (see photo below). This grotesque, slimy aesthetic was adopted by Stranger Things way back in season one when they introduced the first scary inter-dimensional monster.
The climatic battle at the end of season 3 of Stranger Things.
If you like how slimy, grotesque, and disturbing The Mind Flayer is, then you should take a look at its spiritual predecessor, The Thing. The Thing is a cult classic for having some of the most disturbing visual effect to ever be put on screen. While, yes, Stranger Things uses mostly computer generated effects to create The Mind Flayer, the creator’s of the show definitely got inspiration from The Thing’s practical effects.
The Thing causing a commotion on an operation table.
It is not just how they look, that is similar, aesthetically. It is also how these creatures move. They move in a manner that is so bizarre and so manic that it sends a shiver down the spine for the viewer. The sounds they make are quite similar as well, sonically. The way these creatures look, feel, sound, and move all resemble each other, but yet they are still distinctly their own in so many ways. Credit to the creatures of Stranger Things for coming up with a creature that is so inspired by The Thing, but is still interesting and different enough to stand on its own.
For a more visual comparison of the two creatures, I have linked two scenes that spotlight how these monsters sound, move, and look:
Here is a scene of The Mind Flayer fighting the Stranger Things kiddos.
Here is the finale from The Thing, in which we see the monster in all of its glory.
Abilities – Not only do these two monsters share similar aesthetics, but they also share many of the same abilities as one another. Firstly, and most prominently, both of these are the leader of a hive-mind. While it seems that The Thing’s creatures have more of their own agency than the followers of The Mind Flayer, both of the monsters are still in control of “underlings”. These monsters can split fragments of themselves off into other vessels, so that they can overtake their enemies.
In Stranger Things we see Billy become the “point-man” for the Mind Flayer’s takeover of the small town of Hawkins. Then, throughout the season, we see The Mind Flayer slowly take over the minds of more and more Hawkins residents. This ability assisted the mind flayer tremendously, because it’s allowed for a very stealth takeover. A large portion of residents were taken over before the good guys even knew what was going on.
“The Flayed” from Stranger Things Season 2
In The Thing, the point-man is not a “man” at all. Instead, it is a dog who begins to infect the American Antarctic outpost. This leads to more and more of the crew getting taken over, and allows for The Thing to begin crafting a spaceship in secret to get out of the Antarctic while also picking off what’s left of the American crew one by one. It’s important to note the the “hive-mind” powers of The Mind Flayer and The Thing differ slightly. While the mind flayer seems to more-or-less have constant control over it’s “flayed”, The Thing’s offshoots seem to have more control over their individual selves. With both, though, there is still some kind of centralized control.
The Thing, revealing itself.
Along with their “hive mind” abilities, both of these monsters are also somewhat amorphous in shape. While The Mind Flayer does keep a consistent outline throughout the season (featured in the first picture of this blog), it does seem to have the ability to shape and morph itself, even growing tentacles and arms to thrash around and “Flay” its victims.
The thing also has the ability to transform itself into a scary thrashing monster (as seen in the final battle of the movie, featured in a clip above). Both of the monsters seem to use these abilities as more of a last resort than anything else. Either that, or when they are angered substantially and lose their cool. The most interesting part of The Mind Flayer and The Thing is their abilities to use the protagonists friends and family against them, so these “thrashing” powers are used more sparingly.
Weaknesses– Both of these creatures are lucky in that for most of their narratives they vastly out power the people they are going up against. Sure, Eleven has mind powers for some of season 3, but even she can’t defeat The Mind Flayer alone. The Thing is in a similar situation, fighting off a group of scientists in the Antarctic cold. Sure, R.J. MacReady has a flamethrower, but even he can’t kill every one of his crew-mates.
Luckily for the American scientists and the Stranger Things crew, both of these creatures share a similar weakness. Fire. Heat . Warmth. Stranger Things features a fantastic scene where the kids trap the “flayed” Billy in a sauna and torture him with the heat. I’ll link it below:
The kids using the fireworks at the end of season three to help fight The Mind Flayer in all of its glory was also pretty cool to see. I’ll link that too, why not:
The Thing also does a fantastic job as using heat in cool and interesting ways to attack and disable the monster. For instance, when the dog begins to absorb other dogs and the crew just torches the whole lot of ’em. It’s gory, and it’s horrific, but it’s really really cool. Clip linked below:
Watch the dog monster gets fried.
Additionally, The Thing‘s climax resembles Stranger Things climax. Just throwing some explosives at a huge scary creature and hoping for the best. It’s a simple plan, but it’s better than nothing. The climatic ending to The Thing was previously linked up above.
Differences:
Origins – While The Mind Flayer and The Thing have many things in common, they do not share a similar origin story. In fact, aside from being “not of this earth”, their origins couldn’t be any less similar.
If you are a fan of Stranger Things, or have just not been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ll know that Stranger Things deals with inter-dimensional travel. The “upside-down” is a darker, alternate version of earth where scary monsters roam. The Mind Flayer is an inhabitant of this dark dimension. At the start of season 3 it makes it’s way into our reality and begins its takeover.
The Mind Flayer in the upside down.
The Thing on the other hand, does not have an inter-dimensional origin, that we know of. All that we know from The Thing’s origin is that it crashed into the Antarctic tundra in a UFO and it is trying to make another ship so that it can leave the Antarctic tundra. The monster’s desire to make a space craft, and it’s apparent arrival on a traditionally styled UFO, leads myself and many other to believe that the creature from The Thing is just your average alien horror spectacle. This has been confirmed by other supplementary materials to the film as well.
The Thing’s crashed UFO.
Power Level – While it is no question that both The Mind Flayer and The Thing are formidable foes, there is no question that one of them is far stronger than the other one is. While both have the ability to create armies by taking over the bodies of their victims, The Mind Flayer is larger, stronger, and far more menacing.
At the end of the day, The Thing was more-or-less bested by the efforts of the American research crew. The American research crew, though, would not have stood a chance against The Mind Flayer.
The Thing uses the element of surprise to get a jump on its victims for the most part, it travels incognito, and it bides its time waiting for the right moment to strike. That is the only reason why it wasn’t completely decimated by the scientists at the beginning of the film. If the dog showed up to the research facility and transformed instantly, it would have been scorched. It was only because it was able to get alone with a crew mate that it was able to survive and persist.
The Thing, disguised as the dog.
The Mind Flayer could’ve just walked up on the research facility and wrecked the whole building if it wanted to. No question.
The Thing on the other hand, would have a hard time fighting off the Stranger Things crew, if they were in a confined space and knew what they were fighting. Eleven versus The Thing would be a pretty quick fight, I believe. As long as the Stranger Things crew were able to uncover who was an imposter (they are crafty folks, I bet they could figure it out), I think they would be able to fight off The Thing. The thing would have to gather up a large following of imposters to stand a chance against Eleven’s telekinetic powers.
Eleven fighting The Mind Flayer.
Conclusion:
Matt and Ross Duffer did a great job crafting a character which was heavily inspired by a classic 80’s monster, without feeling like a total rip-off. In a way, The Mind Flayer is a lot like a cross between The Thing and a classic Kaiju monster (which are always fun). Harnessing the spectacle of a classic John Carpenter film and repackaging it to a younger audience is a really fun and engaging idea. Sci-fi entertainment is only as good as the creatures who inhabit the story. Both of these creatures are fantastic pieces of the science fiction genre, and both monsters take part in stories that will go down in Sci-fi history.
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