For our money, the ending of The Thing is one of the best finales to a horror film.

After the absolute mayhem that precedes it, we see Kurt Russell and Keith David - both heavily wounded and nearing death - sitting in the wreckage of the base and asking each other what they're going to do next. It's been endlessly debated amongst fans as to what was really happening; whether or not Kurt Russell or Keith David were humans, aliens or both.

Our own theory? They were both aliens and had assumed human form because, well, it was easier and the alien was essentially discussing with itself about what to do; hence the "see what happens" bit and everything.

Well, we can now put all those theories and thoughts to one side because we now have a definitive answer from the cinematographer of The Thing, Dean Cudney. During the new commentary for the Blu-Ray restoration of The Thing, Cudney was asked by writer Rob Galluzzo if there was any cinematography nod or wink to let the audience know who was human and who wasn't.

Look away now if you want to stay in the dark about the whole thing.

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...Still here?

So, Cudney and Carpenter basically worked out a system that an actor would have certain glint in their eye that would tell they were human. Think Blade Runner, for example. Any time you see red in the eyes, it's a Replicant. Here, whenever there's a glint in the eye, it's human.

Now, let's watch the final scene with that in mind.

Now, because it's us and we like to hyper-analyse, let's freeze-frame the two of them.

 

There you have it.

They bought have the little glint thing in their eye, meaning they were both human at the end. Case closed. Move along.