<P> On June 25, 1982, The Thing opened in 840 theaters, and it was the #8 movie of the week at the box office . It remained in the top 10 for three weeks . The lower - than - expected performance has been attributed to many factors, the main ones being the runaway success of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was also released by Universal Studios two weeks earlier and featured a more optimistic view of alien visitation, and that another major adult - oriented science fiction film, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, was released by Warner Brothers the same day . However, The Thing went on to gain a cult following . The film was eventually reappraised by critics, and is now considered to be one of the greatest horror films ever made . The film subsequently spawned a novelization in 1982; a comic book miniseries adaptation, entitled The Thing from Another World, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1991; a video game sequel, also titled The Thing, in 2002; and a prequel film with the same title on October 14, 2011 . </P> <P> In 100,000 BC, a flying saucer flies towards Earth, landing in Antarctica . In 1982 in Antarctica, a Norwegian helicopter pursues an Alaskan Malamute to an American research station . Upon landing, a Norwegian accidentally drops a thermite charge, destroying the helicopter . The surviving Norwegian raises a rifle at the station personnel and is shot dead by Garry, the station commander . The Americans send a helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and Dr. Copper to the Norwegian camp for answers, but they find only a charred ruin containing corpses . Outside, they discover the burned remains of a humanoid corpse with two faces, which they bring back along with some video tapes . Their biologist, Blair, performs an autopsy on the corpse, finding a normal set of human internal organs . </P> <P> Clark kennels the Malamute with the station's sled dogs; it soon metamorphoses and attacks them . When he hears the commotion, MacReady pulls the fire alarm, and Childs incinerates the creature . Blair performs another autopsy which leads him to believe the creature perfectly imitates other organisms . The Norwegians' records lead the Americans to the now - buried flying saucer . Blair becomes increasingly paranoid and withdraws, calculating that if the alien escapes to a civilized area, all life on Earth will be assimilated within a few years . Fuchs tells MacReady that he is worried about Blair, and according to Blair's journal, the creature's "dead" remains are still active on a cellular level . The camp enacts safety measures designed to reduce risk of assimilation . </P> <P> The creature assimilates Bennings, but Windows catches him outside before his metamorphosis is complete and MacReady burns the creature . They discover Blair has wrecked all the transports and killed the remaining sled dogs . The team subdue Blair as he is destroying the radio and lock him in an isolated tool shed . Copper recommends a blood - serum test to determine who is assimilated, but the paranoid men turn on each other when they find the blood stores have been sabotaged . </P>

Who was chasing the dog at the beginning of the thing