John Carpenter's The Thing, etc.

For a while it seemed I was the only person I knew who hadn't seen this movie, but I finally got around to seeing it and I thought it was awesome.  The make-up and practical effects were amazing and pretty outrageous, and the psychological elements of the story make it a pretty compelling film.  I'm a big fan of movies set in barren, snowy landscapes, or where characters are trapped by a snowstorm or other elemental forces, which is one of the many reasons I love The Shining as well.  The effects reminded me somewhat of the effects in Videodrome, and I definitely prefer the early 80s practical effects and puppets to modern CGI, even if they sometimes look fake or goofy.
Speaking of snowy movies, I watched most of Rare Exports, which Tom recommended, and though it was well-made and pretty interesting, I didn't really like it as: 1. I'm a fan of the real Santa Claus, and 2. I think Santa Claus is scary enough as is.  If you think about it, he is an immortal man, living with an army of elves in seclusion from the rest of humanity, who spies on you all year long and breaks into your house every year to give you things you want, without you having ever met him (or having met him once briefly in early December).  The fact that he seems to be a nice guy makes it creepier for me, as these behaviors would be understandable for a "bad" person.  I understand that it is a gimmick, but the whole "taking a familiar character and making him evil just to see what happens" just isn't that compelling for me.