The party going on at the back of Kurt Russell's head is one of the longest-running parties in recorded history, with film historians dating its origins back to as early as 1975.
In honour of SBS Viceland's screening of The Thing (and no, that's not a direct reference to the mullet), we're taking a look back at the evolution of the follicular phenomenon that is his ever-changing mullet, from the humble '70s Disney daytime movie beginnings, the '80s glory days, all the way to its welcome revival in the Tarantino era.
The Strongest Man in the World (1975)
Stunned mullet.
Escape from New York (1981)
The pirate-style Plissken mullet. Give us a swivel, Snake. That's the way.
The Thing (1982)
Frosty the spray-on snow mullet. Because you can't fend off a shape-shifting beastie with a cold neck.
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Special Red Lipstick Edition™. The must-have mullet for shaking the pillars of Heaven.
Overboard (1987)
The Goldie Hawn fantasy mullet.
Captain Ron (1992)
Cultural appropriation edition.
Escape from L.A. (1996)
Wet look mullet. For when you're high-fivin', hangin' ten, and cashin' in the sweet sequel bucks.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Existential crisis mullet. Don't let people convince you it's only a shaggy back and sides.
Death Proof (2007)
Stuntman Mike '80s revival mullet. No helmet can hold it.
The Thing
SBS VICELAND, Wednesday 29 Auguts, 8.30pm
MA15+
USA, 1982
Language: English
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley
What's it about?
U.S. Outpost #31, Antarctica, 1982 – Twelve men are commissioned to gather physical and natural science data. It is the dead of winter. With six months of darkness ahead of them, they uncover the find of the century. Of a thousand centuries. If only they could put it back.
Source: SBS Movies
