The Thing (partially found deleted scenes of horror/sci-fi film; 1982)

John Carpenter's The Thing was released in 1982 to a barely modest box office return and mostly negative reviews, with criticism aimed at the gory violence, underdeveloped characters and its nihilistic tone. However, the film has been met with praise for these same reasons in recent years, with it achieving a strong cult following. It has since been labeled one of the greatest science-fiction horror films ever made.

During post-production, several scenes/moments were cut from the movie, most of which have since been released on home media, posted online, or even included on television airings of the film. Some clips remain unreleased, however, with only screenshots left to preserve their existence. The deleted/extended scenes are as follows:

• A slightly different scene where the crew study the body of the Norwegian M.T. Garry was forced to kill. They discover his name is 'Jans Bolen' from his dog tag. This scene also includes an unused shot of Palmer sitting up and a glimpse into Childs' more aggressive side. The actor playing 'Jans' can be seen blinking, which is a possible reason it was cut.

• During the Norwegian Camp scene, a short shock sequence was made but went unused. It depicted a body falling out of a closet MacReady and Copper opened. Only a still photograph has been released. It was likely cut for time or simply deemed unnecessary, given the discovery of the grizzly suicide victim and Split Face moments later.

• The scene where the crew inspect the burned remains of the Kennel-Thing is different, featuring some additional dialogue for Blair and Nauls. The sequence was most likely trimmed for time.

• MacReady confronts the crew with a pair of shredded long johns and aims most of his suspicion at Clark. The scene was likely cut as to not make Clark more of an obvious suspect.

• In the final cut of the film, Bennings is assimilated and his copy is burned in the snow, but in an alternate scene, he finds a mysterious hooded stranger who he believes to be Clark tampering with the supplies in the kennel. After following him into a cage, Bennings is stabbed in the neck and most likely dies. Although the scene is available up until the point Bennings enters the cage, it cuts to black before the murder happens. All that survives of the original death is a still photograph, depicting Bennings grasping the fence as he is stabbed. This was likely cut so that the Bennings-Thing scene could be used instead.

• During the search party for Fuchs, there are two scenes cut from the sequence, both of which are only known to exist as still photographs. The first was them discovering Fuchs murdered in a greenhouse, impaled by a shovel. However, some sources claim that it was in fact a still taken from a cut shock sequence during the Norwegian Camp scene, although others claim the actor resembles Joel Polis. The second was a humorous moment where Palmer and Childs consider burning their marijuana plants, as they fear the Thing could've infected them as well, being living organisms. It is likely the Fuchs scene was cut so they could use the charred corpse fate instead, and the plant scene was cut to keep the tone serious.

• In the television cut of the film, a narrator speaks as an Alaskan Malamute (implied to be the Kennel-Thing somehow surviving) runs off into the arctic. Also included are some unused shots of the landscape. This ending has been disapproved by John Carpenter himself.

• Most infamously is a cut scene where MacReady plays chess alone in his cabinet whilst holding a blow-up sex doll. It is unknown what the scene actually was (character development, comic relief, etc.) and why it was cut, and all that exists is a single photograph.

• Various other short fragments and pieces of dialogue have also been included on television runs of the film but haven't been known to surface online or on home media.