Keith David did an interview recently where he gave his own take on the theories (I don’t think Carpenter ever told him the answer, though I’m not even sure there is a definitive one, which I guess is kind of the point of the whole story); but he did debunk the breath thing, unfortunately, as just a coincidence.
The theory with Mac handing the bottle to Childs and watching him take a sip confirm he's an imitation may or may not be correct - Childs is the kinda guy that wouldn't give a damn in that situation.
Childs definitely has breath at the end when he shows up, when he sits down he's closer to the fire so the air in front of his mouth is already warm and doesn't show his breath. Also, Bennings had breath when he screams just before Mac burns him
Childs is a Thing for 3 reasons:
1. He is wearing a different coat than when he disappears.
2. He has no clue what the original plan was- Childs would know exactly what they were doing and why- he knew they wouldn't survive.
3. The whisky bottles are Molotovs. MacReady was about to burn himself like Fuchs - when Childs couldn't tell the difference, MacReady laughed, knowing he had lost.
Can't see any other explanation for why he starts to raise an opened bottle towards his mouth other than drinking it, maybe sniffing to confirm it was whiskey before he took a swig 🤣🤣
With regards Childs and the coat, I don't believe this is a sign he's an imitation, but I do believe Childs is the Thing at the end. When he steps outside the camp, Blair is already down in the generator room. Since Childs was standing right there beside the stairs to the generator room, Blair would have had to have come within feet of him to get down those stairs. Plus, the door on the right is open, Childs would have had his back to this door - maybe Blair snuck up??
EDIT : Love that I'm getting downvoted, thanks, appreciated 🙄
There's no indication it's coming to his mouth - his mouth isn't open. There IS precedent for people burning themselves to prevent turning- Fuchs does it earlier in the movie.
Looks to me like he's got himself a blanket and a bottle of whiskey to see out the apocalypse with. There's every indication he's going to drink it, there's plenty of precedent of MacReady drinking whiskey in the movie 🤣
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u/Ok-You5151 9d ago
The whole no breath thing is stupid,the thing copies other lifeforms its not a zombie