John Carpenter’s chilling (and sometimes hilarious) remake of the 1951 classic showcases some of the greatest practical effects of the ’80s. Led by Kurt Russell in top form, the staff of an Antarctic research outpost battles a shape-shifting alien lifeform in an atmosphere of escalating paranoia. Few directors can devise atmosphere as distinctly as Carpenter, who also contributed ideas to Ennio Morricone’s synth score, and whose use of minimal, claustrophobic spaces prove how location itself can become its own character.

Playing as part of our Bong Joon Ho retrospective, January 7-14. See showtimes & get tickets.