Shameful confession time: I have never actually seen John Carpenter's sci-fi/horror movie, "The Thing." But I have read John W. Campbell's classic novella "Who Goes There?", which the movie is based on -- a lean, dialogue-heavy novella that is brimming with paranoia and uncertainty. Even the reader won't know who is what. 
 A team of scientist in Antarctica discover a strange alien craft, buried in the ice for millions of years. After they accidentally destroy the craft, they find a frozen alien creature and take it back to the base -- only to discover that it's not truly dead. When the ice thaws, the creature vanishes out from under their noses. 
 But soon the scientists discover that the creature is very much alive -- and even worse, it can absorb and mimic living creatures perfectly. Nobody on the base is free of suspicion, and they must find and kill every part of "the thing" before it has a chance to spread across the Earth. If they don't, all life is doomed. 
 "Who Goes There" is a story with no padding -- every character has a reason to be in the story, and every scene ramps up the intensity and paranoia. It's kind of top-heavy with dialogue (there are several scenes with just people hanging around asking, "What should we do?") but at least the dialogue is all necessary. 
 And Campbell does a brilliant job with the simple plot, slowly building up the sense of suspense and paranoia -- one person goes nuts and hides in a room singing hymns, while others just lie in their bunks and throw up. It especially helps that this is a third-person narrative, so even the READER doesn't know who is an alien and who isn't. 
 Campbell also errs on the side of leanness when it comes to the characters. We don't hear anything about their families, pasts or personal quirks -- he shows what their mettle is by what they say and do over the course of the story. And really, it works. 
 The only problem is the test the scientists perform on the dog -- it doesn't seem to make sense in context, and creates a plot hole near the end. 
 Considering that two successful movies were spawned by it, "Who Goes There?" is kind of underrated. But it's also a tight, lean little horror/sci-fi novella.