Imagine a college movie complete with jocks, cheerleaders and the misfits; replace all humans with colourful monsters and voila, you have this movie! In this first ever Pixar prequel, we find out where Mike and Sulley first met – in college.

Mike Wazowski’s dream started when he was a young monster (and we all know how good Pixar is at making us go “awww…”). At his first tour of the Scare Floor in Monsters Inc., he set himself a goal in life – to work his way into MU, because that’s where all the best scarers come from.

James P. Sullivan, on the other hand, is that jock – the one with the untarnished family track record. His father, Bill Sullivan, was a legendary MU graduate and the top scarer in his day.

The movie tells us the story of how these inseparable buddies from Monsters Inc. came to be. It is complete with laughs and cries, perfect for a family night out. While I definitely missed the presence of Boo, many new monsters were introduced. They include some faculty members like Dean Hardscrabble, the Dean of the School of Scaring, and Professor Knight who teaches SCAR101: Intro to Scaring.

If I dive into any further detail, I’d risk spoiling the movie for you. But the good thing is: we know how it ends. It is a prequel after all.

Called “the best science fiction film ever made” by author Michael Crichton (“The Andromeda Strain”, “Jurassic Park”), The Thing From Another World is certainly a classic of the genre and has influenced countless filmmakers since. Producer Howard Hawks’s influence is felt throughout with the fast, overlapping dialogue and the somewhat cynical professionalism of the group of soldiers and researchers facing an alien threat in the wastes of the frozen north.

The film features some classic and oft-reproduced moments, such as the iconic shot of the team spreading out to identify the shape of the downed aircraft they find encased in ice; the scare of the monster appearing from behind the door; the use of a geiger counter to track the monster’s proximity and the crazy scientist using precious blood supplies to study the life form leaving his compatriots to get transfusions from their colleagues. Serious science fiction fans have criticised the movie for its attitude to science and for initiating a cycle of ’50s horror/monster/sci-fi films, but it’s very much a product of its time. The team faces their task with grim determination and with a cynicism toward their military bosses.

The reckless quest for knowledge of some of the science team echoes a world where science’s splitting of the atom a little over a decade earlier had brought the atomic bomb.  The film also establishes a strong sense of location harnessing the claustrophobia of the besieged base. An entertaining yarn with some fine moments, for both students of the genre and those looking for some classic thrills.