But with the Thing movies the only similarities are the artic setting and the circumstances of finding the creature. It's motives and the entire physiology of the creature itself are totally different.
In one you have a single lumbering, humanoid plant thirsting for blood and terrorizing a camp.
In the other you have a organism that is cellular in nature that mimics, absorbs mind & matter and wants to basically take over (Infect) the entire planet.
Because of this the movies both play out much differently. As Alucrid mentioned, Yojimbo and Fistful are literally swapping samurai for cowboys.
I think they just didn't have the technology nor the budget to adequately portray the creature close enough to the original book's description of it in the 50's version so they just took some creative measures at the time.
BTW, as a side note...IMO Carpenter's Thing still IMO has some of the best effects ever done in a movie. They are existing physical effects that just cannot be beat. There is a reason why the making of documentary is infinitely more interesting in that regard than say watching the making of the Star Wars prequels. It was fascinating seeing how Bottin did that stuff, compared to spending an hour watching a guy create special textures in a computer for Jar-Jar's pants.
